My time in New Zealand got off to a rocky start. My flight out of Melbourne was supposed to leave
last Friday at about 7pm but when I got to the airport the flight had been
delayed 3 hours. Uuggghh! That meant I wouldn’t get to the hotel in
Auckland until around 5am Saturday. Not
ideal, but at least I would still have the entire weekend to get out of the
city and explore the area. So I checked
in for my flight; I haggled with the lady at the check in counter over how much
I was going to have to pay for my overweight bags (I was able to talk her down
from $160 AUD to $100 AUD); I walked to a separate counter on a different floor
to actually pay for the overweight baggage; I walked to yet another floor to
locate a computer I could rent to print out my itinerary details for my flight leaving
New Zealand in a couple of weeks (Apparently the New Zealand government won’t
just take your word that you will be leaving their country sometime within the
next 3 months. You have to actually show
them printed proof); I made my way through security and then made my way
through Customs. I had walked about 40
yards past Customs when the agent that had checked my passport comes running
down the terminal right towards me yelling “Ma’am, Stop!” For a split second I thought “Oh my goodness,
what have I done?!” But when she reached
me she told me that my flight had been cancelled and I needed to go back to the
check in counter to get booked on a different flight. Well, there went my weekend! The airline put me up in a hotel near the
airport and provided dinner as well. The
new flight was scheduled for a 7am departure the following morning. The second flight did depart on time and I
made it to the hotel in Auckland around 2:30 Saturday afternoon. It was sunny but rather cool and windy in the
city, only around 50 degrees. So can you
guess what the first thing I did was?? I
went for a run, of course! J I had heard about the Coast to Coast Walkway
which is about a 9.5 mile hike from one coast of Auckland to the other. Supposedly
there are signs along the route pointing you in the right direction but I only
saw 1 within the first couple of miles.
I only got about 2.5 miles out when I had to admit defeat. I was lost and I wasn’t going to be
completing the Coast to Coast Walkway that day.
I eventually found my way back to the hotel, showered and then headed
out for dinner and a stroll through the city.
But I’m not giving up on completing the Coast to Coast. I will be back!
The past few weeks of this “working vacation” finally
caught up with me. I went to bed around
11pm Saturday and didn’t wake up until noon on Sunday. I could not believe I had slept so long! Auckland is currently 18 hours ahead of the
US East Coast so I knew the Iron Bowl kickoff wasn’t until just before 2pm
Sunday here in Auckland. I had just
enough time to shower and then find a sports bar that would be airing the
game. I found The Fox and pretty much
had the place to myself through the entire first half. The placed started to get a little crowded
around halftime and by the start of the 4th quarter I was
outnumbered by the locals and all the TVs were changed to something other than
the Iron Bowl so I left and walked around the city a little more before heading
back to the hotel.
The next 5 days was just work, work, work. The nice part about work is that the office
is on the 19th floor of our building and we’ve got a beautiful view
of the harbour.
The real fun began the following Saturday. I rented a car and drove about as far away
from the city as I could get in one day.
I headed South towards a city named Rotorua. I rented a GPS too and set it to avoid
highways and to take the longest route.
It took me close to 4 hours to get to Rotorua but driving through the
New Zealand country side was a wonderful experience – beautiful green rolling
hills, herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and the views of Lake Taupo were
simply stunning.
Rotorua is known for its geothermal activity so once I reached
the city I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed out to find a hot,
thermal spring. I first stopped by
Kerosene Creek. You drive about 2km down
this rocky road and then about a 3 minute walk down a small path and then you
arrive at the hot spring complete with a small waterfall and a pool of hot water. Yes, a pool of hot water! Finally, a pool made just for me! J The pool is completely shaded and the water
is about 80-85 degrees so I jumped in and hung out for about an hour and just
soaked it all in.
A little further south, my next stop was Hot&Cold. This place is really interesting as you have a
scalding hot water stream coming at you from the left and cool river water coming
at you from the right. Where they meet
the water temperature is just right. So
I again jumped in and hung out for a little while.
Continuing southbound, up next was the impressive Huka Falls! There’s enough water flowing over these falls
every minute to fill up 5 Olympic swimming pools! Simply amazing! Pictures and videos don’t do this place
justice. I hung out for a long while
just watching the water rush through the channel that is only about 15 yards
wide and then burst out over the falls and into the river below. As the water is falling it picks up a lot of
air bubbles and it turns the water this incredible pale blue and white
color. Absolutely stunning!
It was late in the day when I left Huka Falls so I
decided to keep driving South until I ran into a hotel or restaurant. I took a turn and drove through the Tongariro
National Park for about 45 minutes and then I came upon a road sign for a
placed called Whakapapa Village and there was both food and lodging there. So I took the left turn and about 6 miles
down the road I saw the hotel where I would be staying the night – the Chateau
Tongariro. I couldn’t believe my
eyes. Here in front of me was a beautiful
hotel at least 100 years old, sitting in the middle of the Tongariro National
Park, very quiet, secluded and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. I literally squealed with delight when I saw
it! I checked in, showered, grabbed a
bite for dinner and then spoke with the concierge about which trails I should
try to hike the next day. I ended the
night with a flat white in my hand (similar to a latte), sitting outside for
about an hour just adoring the moon rising above the mountaintop. It was pretty cold and windy but so quiet and
peaceful.
I could travel the entire world and view every beach,
waterfall and mountain top and I would never stop being amazed at God’s
handiwork.
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