New Zealand |
Part 3: North Island (Auckland)

Auckland

Britomart

Out of the entire downtown area, I found this small section to be the most enjoyable place to spend a few hours at night. The ferry terminal where tour boats and cruise ships dock is on one side, making it an easily accessible landmark. One of the more festive additions were string lights across various streets that lit up every night while wer were there. The area has a few cafes and restaurants so it could be a good option to look for dinner. 

Waitomo Glowworm Caves

When we looked up what to do in Auckland, this was one of the things that people reviewed highly. It is about a 2.5 hour drive south of Auckland city in a small town called Waitomo. You need to book your tour of choice well in advance since tend to sell out, especially during high travel season. There are options to go in a boated tour of the caves, or release some adventurous energy and tube. We went with the Black Labyrinth. There is also the option for the Black Abyss if you have the time and willingness to do so. We thought that the 3 hour tour would be enough for us. Waitomo is an extremely small town so make sure you take everything you might need with you. We packed swimsuits, towels, change of clothes, water, and snacks. 

After we checked in and meet the rest of our group, we were given a 5mm thick wetsuit with a jacket and boots. You are strongly encouraged to leave all of your belongings, especially jewelry and watches, in the provided lockers. Putting the wetsuits on was a workout on its own. The material is supposed to be skin tight, which is great for the water but not so great for yanking up your thigh. Once we finally got it all the way on and waddled back out to the meeting point, the guides gave us headlamps and told us how to turn those on. Then it was time for a quick family photo before heading onto the van. We somehow managed to squeeze all 15 people into a van for a very short drive up the hill to the cave entry point. They threw us each a tube and instructed us on how to hold it behind our backs. We then came to a river where we could test jump into the tube. We later learned that getting the wetsuits wet before we went into the cave would help us stay insulated. One by one, we turned our backs, held our tubes behind us, and fell onto the tube into the water. For anyone who did not feel comfortable jumping, there was also the option to just lean back into the tube. After everyone had gotten a little taste of the river water, we climbed back out and walked through the trees to the actual cave entrance.

Moving inside the caves was a combination of walking, wading through the stream, jumping off of mini waterfalls into tubes, and then floating on the tubes. Inside the caves was also where we could finally see what we came for: the glowworms. Or, as our tour guide put it, "the glowing butts of cannibalistic maggots." They made parts of the cave look like we were looking at a sky full of bright stars. My favorite part was towards the end when we all lined up and just floated with our headlamps off. That was when we could see the most amount of glowworms. 

3 hours later, we were back in the same little shack we started in. In between the cave and there, we got to take a hot shower and change back into our normal clothes. The tour promises a hot cup of soup after every tour. Since the soup of the day was not vegan, our guide made us a special cup of onion broth. While we sipped our soup, we watched the revolving photo screens showing pictures of our group. We were not allowed to take cameras into the caves but the guides have cameras with them to take pictures of the glowworms and the people. We ended up buying a photo package as a memento of the trip. 

On our way back, we were very hungry for dinner but knew most places in Auckland would be closed by the time wer drove there. The halfway point was a suburban city called Hamilton, which had a decent number of places that were still open and had vegan friendly options. 

Rotorua

This small town is known for preserving Maori culture. There is a town center that looks like your typical beach town with small shops and restaurants and street parking in front. About a 10-15 minute drive from there is Hell's Gate, New Zealand's most active geothermal site. The main reason we wanted to go there was for the sulfur and mud baths that are claimed to be detoxing among other health benefits. The drive was around 2 hours from Auckland. 

When we got there, we were given a map of the different geothermal vents on the property. A 1 hour walk takes you through each of these sites, and the map explains how each one is significant. Some of them are bubbling sulfur pools while others look like geyser vents. There was even one pool called the "Map of Australia" because of how its shape resembled the country. 

After the walk, we went back to the lobby to rent swimsuits and towels for the mud bath. You could use your own, but the sulfur smell lingers for a long time, so we decided that the $5 rental was much more worth it than having to lug smelly clothes and towels around. The "locker" system is through a big storage box that can be shared between two people and has a key. Men and women have separate changing rooms. The women's room had a shower area in the back with around 8 shower heads, a large changing area in the front, and 2 toilet stalls on one side. Neither the shower area nor the changing area had stalls, which I found to be a bit uncomfortable initially. Many women were holding up a towel for their family member or friend and then switching when they were done. Make sure to take off any jewelry as it will tarnish with the sulfur. 

When we were ready, we went to the mudbaths. The attendant took our name and assigned us a pool. They instructed us on how to most effectively use the mud: spread a generous layer over your entire body, wait 20 minutes out of the pool so that it can dry, go back into the pool to scrape as much of it off, use one of the outdoor showers to rinse off all remaining mud. Everyone in that area looked like they had entered a black and white movie at some alien resort. After the mud area, we moved to the hot sulfur pool. This one had no time limit, so we stayed in it until our hands started to wrinkle. Then we got out and showered to try to remove as much of the sulfur smell as we could. It only really went out 2 days later. It also will get onto any clothes you are wearing that day, so make sure to do an extra load of laundry with those clothes. 

The last part of the experience was carving our own Maori inspired wooden art piece. There was a small booth at the end of the geothermal walk in which a man was helping people carve their choice of one of four motifs. After it was carved, he sanded it and coated it to seal all the exposed ends. This made for a nice keepsake, even if my carving skills were not the greatest. 

After all this activity, we were quite hungry. We drove back to the Rotorua town area, since that had more options for lunch. 

Waiheke Island 

Our last day outing from Auckland was to Waiheke Island. This temperate island is known for a Mediterranean climate, making it a perfect landscape for growing olives and wines. The abundance of wineries gives it the nickname, "Island of Wine". If you are a wine conniseur, there are predesigned tours that will take you to many of the top wineries on the island. However, we did get warned by one at one of our dinners that these wine trips end up with a crowd of slightly tipsy people unhappily trudging back to the ferry boat and barely making it to the shore without bringing up all the contents of their tastings. That did not sound like my kind of vacation. We chose to do a more self guided route. Tbere are 3 different ferries you can take to the island, all departing from the Britomart area. Since we were going on New Year's Eve, we knew the crowds would be huge so we went with Island Direct's reserve ferry option that lets you select the time that you plan to take the ferry. If you do not care as much, you can wait in an hour long queue for the regular ferry. The ferry has three decks, and the uppermost one is open air. On a clear day with minimal wind, it can be refreshing to sit up there and see the views as the boat journeys to the island. The boat ride takes about 45 minutes and crosses Rangitoto Island, another major tourist attraction for sunset kayaking. Once we got to Waiheke Island, we walked to Oneroa, one of the bigger city areas. It took around 25 minutes from the harbor and had a mixture of hills and flat land. Both sides were lined with lush greenery, and the climate was the perfect midpoint of warm and slightly humid. Right before we got to Oneroa, we crossed a little park area with two stone chairs as public art. It made for a very aesthetic picture and a brief stopping point. We then turned the corner onto the main street that was lined with little boutiques and a few restaurants. One of the more unique shops sold items that were upcycled, like earrings made out of soda cans. 

From there, we walked around 20 minutes to get to our first tasting: Allpress Olive Oils. I was so excited about this one. The property consists of the estate and olive farms in front with a small tasting room and balcony towards the back. We had reserved a tasting ahead of time but you could walk in. Our guide laid out the four olive oils, a spread, and a honey with a generous bowl of bread. One by one, she carefully explained what made that oil unique and how she would recommend using it. I was surprised by how different types of olives can have such contrasting flavors. One oil was significantly more peppery, while the second was more citrusy. We were sold on all four of them and ended up buying a set of small bottles to take back home. 

Our second tasting was just across the street from there at Cable Bay Vineyards. This one was a wine tasting. The tasting house was very spacious with a restaurant in the front and ample outdoor seating areas for guests to enjoy the ocean views. Once we checked in at the reception, we were guided to the cellar room at the back where they hold the tastings. At the back of the cellar room, the wine storage barrels are on display. We went with the mid-range Signature tasting that came with four different wines. For each one, the host explained the type of wine, where it was from in New Zealand and any significant tasting notes. She then generously poured a tasting glass for each of us. I am not a huge drinker so I chose to just taste a sip and pass it onto my dad. Whether or not that is correct etiquette, I have no clue. The whole tasting took around 45 minutes.

After the tasting, we went back to the main street in Oneroa for a quick lunch before walking back to the port to catch the return ferry.