Sweet-AS!

Well, I'm glad to report that things have improved IMMENSELY here in New Zealand, and I've spent the last few days talking advantage of all this crazy place has to offer. I'll start with Thursday and work my way forward.

Thursday:
Wednesday night I was fortunate enough to meet a fantastic new friend in my dorm room. Her name is Iris, and she's from Israel. She was new to Auckland as well, and was travelling alone. We bonded over a mutual need to do laundry, and agreed to spend the next day touring the city together.

Thursday was a day full of busts that still managed to turn out absolutely superbly. There was a problem with the hostel administration Thurs. morning when Iris went to pay for another night, which ultimately resulted in her not getting a room. We decided that, first thing's first, we had to get this girl a bed. Thankfully if you spit in any direction in Auckland you'll hit a backpackers of some sort, and we were successful on our second try.

After that was sorted, we headed to the SkyTower (picture CN Tower with a different view). I wanted to know how much a ride up the elevator would be, and our next stop for the day was leaving from there anyway, so off we went.

Well, it was $25 to get up the tower, and there was a sign warning that because of the cloud-cover, visibility was minimal. As Lee would say: BARMP. Next stop.

The free bus to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter left from the SkyTower, so instead we went down to a café to grab a coffee and wait for it to arrive. It got there, people got on before us... it was full. Next one to arrive in an hour. Bah, fine. Iris and I decided instead of trying to navigate our way there by public transport, we'd just go sit back down at the café, get to know each other better, and keep a sharp eye out for the shuttle to arrive.

One hour and 15 minutes later we reach the aquarium, and find that it's FULL to the BRIM with RUGRATS. I'm talking kids EVERYWHERE. The line up to get in was two hours long, and even then the place would be full of screaming ankle-biters. After a quick round of FRIG SAKES!!! we took a seat in the parking lot, whipped out my Fodor's guide and were determined to find something to occupy the remaining hours of the afternoon.

The answer wound up being taking the ferry to Devonport, a small town across the bay, and climb Mt. Victoria, which promised excellent views of Auckland and surrounding areas.

The sun was shining by the time we got to the ferry., and the $9 return ticket sounded great, so we went for it. It was worth it! Mt. Victoria is actually quite small, but did deliver on its promise of great views. Iris and I spent a few hours up there, just chatting, taking in the scenery and the odd photograph:

Mt. Ragitoto, one of 30-some-odd dormant volcanoes that dot Auckland's landscape.

At the end of the day, after we'd gotten Iris all settled in her new room, we decided dinner was in order. She and I both a had groceries that we needed to finish off, so I brought my stuff to her hostel (along with a 6-pack, for good measure), and we cooked up a feast. It was a blast.

Friday:
Rain. Lots and lots of RAIN. It was coming down in sheets. I would have been miserable if I hadn't talked to Robyn the day before. She knew I'd been feeling down when she last saw we, and decided the fix was to get me down to Waitomo (about 2.5 hrs south of Auckland), for a look at the glow-worm caves. We decided to be adventurous and try the Blackwater Rafting Adventure, which I'd read about and heard was amazing.

IT WAS SO COOL!

Obviously the wet meant I couldn't bring my camera, but check out the website and you'll see how completely awesome this is.

After you've paid your money and they've gotten you down deep into the caves, they promptly let you know that the term "glow-worm" is only a marketing tool, and they're actually just maggots whose excrement becomes phosphorous due to a chemical reaction. "Shiny-shit maggots" I believe was the technical term used by our guides. Still pretty though :D.

The tour lasted about 3 hours, and ended with a cup of hot soup and a bagel to get the circulation flowing again. I slept practically the whole way back to Auckland. I was so contentedly exhausted by the whole experience (THANKS ROBYN! And extra kudos goes to Alex for all the driving. Thanks dude :D).

Saturday:
I had made the decision on Thurs. that another four days in Auckland was not an option, so I went ahead and booked a three-day tour to the Bay of Islands and Cape Reigna, the most northerly part of New Zealand. The Magic Bus left at 8:00 and I was on it.

The ride up was fun, with a lot of cool little stops along the way. We even visited was is thought to be one of the oldest trees in the world, a native kauri tree named Tane Mahuta (named after the Maori god of nature). This tree is--quite literally--older than Jesus.

I made another friend, and Welsh girl named Helen, and we spent the day touring around. There was a BBQ at the hostel when we reached the Bay of Islands, and the two of us had a great time drinking cheap beer and filling up on everything form the grill.

Sunday:
Today was--in a word--spectacular. The bus picked us up at 7:10 a.m., and we were off to Cape Reigna. We walked around another kauri forest, drove across the Ninety Mile Beach in a BUS, did some sand-boarding (video to follow), and walked right up to the Cape for what is quite possibly the most beatufilly amazing thing I've ever seen. I can't even describe it, just look:

The cape is not quite the northern-most tip of New Zealand, but it's only off by a mere 3 kilometres. It's also where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea, which creates this unbelievable effect:


SOOO AMAZING. This is what I came here for. I couldn't have been happier. We had lunch on the beach, made a few more scenic stops on the way back, and then got some fish & chips for a dinner on the road.

Tomorrow I have a dolphin cruise before heading back to Auckland for a few hours. I then have to leave at about 3:30 a.m. to catch my 6:30 a.m. flight to Sydney.

I'll be on the Australian tour for 10 days, and I have no idea what kind of Internat access will be available, so this might be in for a while. I'll try to put some more pics up when I get back to Auckland tomorrow.



Holy crap. I'm in New Zealand.

SWEET-AS!!