From October 26 through November 2 we made our way to the North Island of New Zealand. During our short stay, we saw much of the island, but did not get to do our first open water dives. My first impression of the country was a positive one. We flew into Auckland early in the morning, quickly rented a car and experienced driving on the left side of the road, and explored the city. It was somewhat quiet; the only life we saw for a few hours were the many runners on the city streets. Everyone seemed to be so fit!
We hiked around Thames, drove along the scenic Coromondel Peninsula, wine tasted at Mills Reef, and went wherever the wind blew us. The vegeation in New Zealand is vast. It's not uncommon to be looking at gorgeous beach views that quickly morph into a mountain range and then again into green rolling hills. It truly is beautiful and unlike any place else I've ever seen.
On Day 5, we drove into Whakatane where a boat was waiting to take us on a journey to White Island. White Island is an aquatic active volcano in the Bay of Plenty. How many people can say they've walked in a crater created by a live volcano?
In Rotorua, New Zealand, there were lots of touristy activitites to do. On the top of the list was zorbing. Unfortunately, I was too short, but Captain J had a great time rolling down a hill in a giant ball. He was completely soaked and somewhat dizzy by the end of the ride, but he was happy to have zorbed in the place where it first began. We woke up early one morning and went kayaking in the lake nearby. This was my first time in a kayak. I found it relaxing, but also a bit of an arm workout. I really enjoyed that, too.
3 comments:
[...] Force guy who seemed to have traveled all over the world. He had been to a lot of the same places Jordan and I visited while we were in New Zealand a couple of months ago. He was a pretty cool dude and interesting to talk to! He spoke of running marathons, climbing [...]
[...] Yeah, yeah…these photos are sorta old, but I don’t think I’ve shared them before. They’re all from our trip to New Zealand back in October/November 2009. That post can be found here. [...]
[...] you- a bit of a recollection, if you will. Exactly a year ago to this very week, I was arriving in New Zealand with my (now) husband and two of his friends. They had been planning this adventure as a [...]
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