New Zealand - Travelling in North Island

Edit: All posts and itineraries have been shifted to http://totravelanywhere.com :)

Read about my NZ's South Island trip here: South Island - 4 weeks
Read about my Preparation for a 6 week solo trip to NZ here: Preparation
Read about the list of Thrift Stores / Opporutnity (Op) Shops I went to in NZ: Op shops

I'm finally getting down to blogging about my 6 week trip in NZ :) Gonna split this into 2 parts, the North Island (in 2 weeks) and South Island (in 4 weeks).

So I flew off to Auckland on the 7th of May and it was still Fall season in NZ, wasn't too cold initially. In fact, Auckland had the best temperature, it was about 18deg and I only needed to wear one layer over there. I got to the city centre from the airport via the airport shuttle which they called Airbus. Was about NZ $16 for one way, which I thought was pretty decent. I also bought a phone line with 4G data plan from Telecom at the airport. I personally thought Telecom was better than Vodafone because of the bundles they had, don't ask me why.

I stayed in Newton Lodge (in Auckland), I think it's at upper Queen Street if I remembered correctly! The location was quite alright I thought, Queen street is generally the "orchard road" in Singapore with all the shopping and stuff and there were lots of Asian restaurants there (chinese, korean and japanese food). But anyway, the hostel was pretty good, facilities were great, I liked it that the toilets were individual rooms, rather than a shared toilet so there's more privacy if you want to brush / floss your teeth etc. It was extremely clean as well. I didn't really like Auckland for its steep slopes, kinda reminded me of San Francisco, the roads were hilly and I walked so much my calves ached after 2 days LOL.

I didn't really enjoy Auckland because there wasn't much to do, I think I only spent 3 days there. On the first day, I just walked around to familiarise myself with the country. Did grocery shopping and stuff, there are so many different brands of supermarket in NZ (Pak n Save, First Choice, Countdown, New World, Foursquare). Pak n Save is the cheapest supermarket, Countdown seems to have the most outlets, New world had the most variety and 4Square is the most expensive. I was supposed to go to Mount Eden on the first day but I read the map wrongly and somehow ended up at Auckland domain... It's this place with tons of rugby fields, saw so many different school students training there so I was just watching them play, there's also a museum nearby but I didn't go.

Daisies at Auckland Domain

On the second day, I went to Campbell Bay School, it's an elementary school where I had a friend's friend who is a teacher there, so I contacted him to visit the school. The staffs and principal were so hospitable, I was able to sit in the entire day! The only problem was getting to the school and out of it, buses come on an hourly basis so it was quite troublesome that I didn't have a car with me.

First full rainbow I saw while walking to Campbells Bay School.

The following day, I went took a bus service from intercity to Paihia to do dolphin watching :) As I've mentioned in my previous NZ preparation post, I went around NZ with Intercity Coach service. I bought the flexipass 15 trips, so I could use 1 of the trip for dolphin watching as one of its specials, meaning I used 3 trips in total (1 bus trip from Auckland - Paihia, 1 from Paihai - Auckland, and 1 trip on the boat itself to dolphin watch). It was on the boat that I realised this flexipass was such a good deal because if I were to purchase the ticket to dolphin watch separately, it costs about $105?! I met 4 Singaporeans on the same boat by coincidence, 2 of them were NUS students on exchange at Auckland University, the other 2 were Medicine students doing their electives in NZ! What are the chances of meeting Singaporeans on my 3rd day in NZ?!?! The dolphin watching tour was well worth its money, we got to see the iconic Hole in the Rock as well, but I really thought watching the dolphins was good enough! When the boat sped away, all the dolphins were jumping at the back of the boat.

Dolphins jumping just behind the boat! This was how close they were.

Hole in the Rock

 Paihia

 Paihia (Dusk)

Stayed in Peppertree Lodge for a night at Paihia before returning to Auckland. The hostel was alright, not heated and not exactly that clean... But it was cheap and the location was great! I mean, it's totally fine to live in there for a night. Plus I made really nice friends over there, we watched 2 movies (Bridesmaid and V for Vendetta) together that night in the lounge. I also met this guy who told me taking Intercity coach lines was a right choice. He took Nakedbus (which is ALOT cheaper usually), but on 2 occasions, the bus either didn't turn up or left without him. There was once the bus didn't pick up the whole group of passengers at Christchurch lol. So I would rather pay more for intercity than to risk the bus not turning up.

Went back to Auckland the next day, and finally headed to Mount Eden. I took a public bus this time round and if anyone is wondering, I actually relied on google maps to determine what bus to take and from which bus stop. Google maps was seriously my bestfriend for the entire 6 weeks. Buses are really expensive though, it ranges from $2+ to $4+. 

 At the top, where I had a full view of Auckland.

I gave Auckland bridge a miss, because I kinda passed it when I was on my way to Northshore where Campbells Bay school was... The bridge wasn't fantastic considering that I've already seen Golden Gate Bridge and Brooklyn bridge in the US before.

The next day, I headed to Rotorua via Intercity Coach lines. I stayed at RockSolid Backpackers. The backpackers was huge, they even had a rock wall at the basement hence it's name. It was pretty cheap as well, location was decent. Rotorua is actually pretty small but there were quite a number of things to do if you've a car to get around. On my first day there, I visited the Whakarewarawa Thermal village. My initial plan was to go to Te Puia, but thankfully I didn't prebook it... Because when I was in Auckland, some friends told me there was this website (http://bookme.co.nz) which has special deals. So I went onto the website and realised there were 50% off tickets for the Thermal Village so I bought it instead, think it was only $19 or less? When I reached the place, I realised that the village is just beside Te Puia.. And... The thermal village I went to is the actual village where these Maori people live, whereas Te Puia's one is government owned, so the experience will not be as "real". It was pretty cool learning about the Maori culture, though I honestly can't remember much HAHA. 

I walked to the place from the town centre because I wanted to save money on bus fares. It took me about 35 minutes one way. On the way back, I happened to chance upon this supposedly famous fish and chips stall at Fenton Street. $13.90 for 2 huge pieces of fresh fish, extremely worth it I thought.. But the store was run by an Asain lol.

Found a place to take pictures near the village, so I snapped like 50 pictures here I think. LOL. Thankfully NZ is so empty, there isn't anyone around to judge me.

Mummy cat with 2 kittens drinking milk.

See those smoke / heat coming out from the ground? It felt so good to have some heat during the cold weather, but I can't imagine how hot it's gonna be during summer?!

The following day, I went to do Dry Caving under the Legendary Black Water Rafting Company. It was quite an experience to climb the Ruakuri cave in the dark, with rushing waters right under us. We saw some glowworms as well :) I was initially contemplating whether to do the dry caving or the black water rafting... But I decided on the caving because I wanted something more adrenaline pumping. The place is actually pitch black, except when we turn on our headlights.

I also visited Lake Rotorua which was just round the corner of the town centre. There were so many swans and their babies! There're quite a number of other things that I wished I did in Rotorua as well, like the Zorb ball thing? But I didn't have transportation there, damn.

Then, I headed down to Taupo, I stayed in blackcurrant backpackers. The beds were not bunk beds, finally a break from it. Also, I coincidentally met the 2 Medicine students there again! Taupo is my favourite place in North Island(!!!) On the first day, I walked around Lake Taupo (which is apparently the size of Singapore, but I checked online and I think Singapore is now bigger because of our reclaimed land). I love the place, but the wind was so strong and I almost froze.

Lake Taupo

So anyway on my second day, I went to Huka Falls (it's said to be 2h round trip, but it took me about 3h from where I stayed). I walked along Spa road -I'm amazed I can still remember the road names-, passed the bungy jumping site and I regret not doing my bungy there. Participants could opt to have a water touch for this! Sadly I don't think Huka Falls was amazing. The walk there was really nice though, especially when I'm walking alone in the bushes it's quite cathartic. 

The beginning of the walk to Huka Falls

 The ONLY beauty of Spiders.

Somewhere in between.

 Huka Falls, see nothing that spectacular?

After that, I decided to be a little more ambitious... As I had lots of time on hand, I decided to walk further to Aratiatia Dams, which was 4h round trip from Huka Falls. So I walked 7h non stop that day, I almost died from the lack of water and food. My feet was completely sore at the end of the day as well. I think it was about a 22km route. But I was sooooo peaceful that day when I was walking through tracks all alone. There wasn't a single person at sight for a few hours, before I saw 2 cyclists passing by. I was the only dumb fellow who would walk all the way there seriously. I took so many videos of myself walking through the tracks just in case I died LOL.

 See, the place is completely empty. But that's a good thing because I got to take lots of pictures HAHAHA. But I would do this track again for dating purposes. I think it'll be a really nice long walk together. 

I have no picture of the Aratiatia dams simply because I thought it was a waste of my time. Felt so cheated when I saw the dams opening, because it really wasn't as "nice" as I expected. But the incredibly long walk there was worth it. In my mind, I remembered thinking this through and through "this place is so damn nice at every single corner I can't believe nature is so beautiful".

 Spa Road. The road back to my hostel.

 Lake Taupo at night.

Also, at Taupo, I discovered that I can actually do thrift shopping for Vintage stuff hehe. There was a Salvation Army just behind my hostel and I went crazy in there. It was the start of my vintage hunt.. There was a corner of vintage plates and such in the Salvation Army and I bought 2 saucers, 1 bowl, 1 plate, and 2 tea cups. Those that were tagged vintage were actually not that cheap, but I know I won't be able to find in Singapore, so why not? There were 2 really nice picnic baskets in pristine condition as well, one was $10 and the other was $12. I wished I could bring both home because they were SO CHEAP, nice and unique?! Also, there were vintage suitcases and luggages that were priced at $20, my heart broke when I saw them but couldn't buy them due to the bulkiness. :'( Yes I'm still thinking about them after 2.5 months HAHA. I'll take a picture of my vintage loots someday, they're currently all hiding in a huge box in my room until maybe when I decide to have a vintage tea party.

The very next day, I did skydiving with skydivetaupo. :) They picked me up in a huge limousine!!! The total cost was $499 for 15,000 ft jump and with video and pictures. Thankfully I decided to do it in Taupo instead of Queenstown because it's cheaper. I think skydiving is the cheapest to do in Taupo compared to other parts of NZ? It was so amazing seeing Lake taupo from above. On the small PINK aeroplane up, I shivered like crazy... I know I'm such an adrenaline junkie but that doesn't mean I'm not afraid. I am scared as hell but I love the feeling of such intense fear. We had to put on oxygen masks halfway cause it was the 15,000 ft one, then when we jumped out of the aeroplane, I felt my heart went up to my mouth. Not kidding. But to be honest, only the first 1-2 seconds was really scary. Subsequently, it was just like a floating feeling. I felt so peaceful just looking at Taupo from above and my tandem instructor was so funny. He was nice to take out my visors halfway so my pictures would look nicer. :) Anyway my verdict after doing both Sky diving and bungy jumping is that bungy is scarier because you've to jump off the ledge yourself.

That wasn't the end to my epic Taupo experience. I did the Tongariro Alpine Crossing on another day as well. 19.4km hike through the 4th largest National Park and crossing active volcanoes. It was a helluva experience that I thought I wouldn't have survived. Basically it's a 7-9h hike, I took about 6h 45mins because I thought I was going to miss the bus. I'll explain my epic story in a moment.

I had to wake up at 5am that morning because the bus picks us up at 5.45am if I recalled correctly. We reached the National park at 7.45am and that was when everything began. It was pretty much a one way route with no turning back, because the bus would pick us up from 3pm onwards at the other end of the national park. I eventually completed it at 2.45pm, which meant I took 7h in total. 

So here comes the horrifying experience that I WILL NEVER FORGET. Basically, I did the hike alone so that meant having to trust my gut feelings on where I should be walking. I started out pretty quickly because I was scared I won't be able to make it in time for the shuttle bus back at the end. So I started following this group of guys who quite pro in hiking... Then after about 2h after climbing endless steps, when we reached this place where there were 2 paths, one heading to the Ngauruhoe summit (also known as Mount Doom in LOTR) and the other was the Alpine crossing which I was meant to be headed for.. But I stupidly didn't read the signs and continued following the group of guys up the summit route cause I was helping them take pictures... (This track was actually meant for pro hikers, and I wasn't even in the right gear. I was in my New Balance shoes?!) Halfway through, they were going up so quickly and I couldn't catch up so I lost complete sight of them. And the worst part was, there was no one else in sight and I was stranded in the middle of nowhere near the summit. Btw, it's a volcano that I was climbing so the soil is so loose and there were falling rocks everywhere, I seriously thought I was gonna die. I didn't dare to move higher up or go back down. I literally shouted HELP like a few times but no one heard me, I started to tear but I checked my phone and was thankful that there was reception. I almost wanted to call the emergency phone line to come and save me from that stupid summit climb that I was at, but I waited for about half and hour before I saw a couple coming up. I shouted and asked them if I was on the right track and they told me NO... :'( I swear at that moment, I just wanted to get out of the damn national park and I just kept praying that I wouldn't die? It's so scary to be stranded ALONE on a mountain. Then I saw 2 guys coming down and thankfully they allowed me to join them so I went down with them and went back to the right alpine crossing track that I was supposed to be on. So basically, I wasted about an hour of the wrong route. So I was extremely panicky that I wouldn't get to the shuttle bus in time and the other end.... I hurried my way through the entire track and to be honest my blisters didn't hurt after a while anymore because I just wanted to get out of the place ASAP. But to my horror, I still had 3/4 way to go from where I got off the summit. 

The climb was so strenuous because I lost all my energy fearing for my dear life. When I came to this part where I had to climb up the top that was covered in ice, I thought I was gonna die AGAIN. I thought it was quite horrible that the organisation didn't inform us about the ice caps, it was actually pretty dangerous I thought?! I had such a hard time trying to walk on ice with my stupid new balance shoes, but I met really kind people along the way who told me how I should be walking to prevent slipping. Also, I happened to meet a SMU graduate as well who was there on a work and travel visa! She told me she actually slipped at the ice but thankfully this guy pulled her up in time and gave her his hiking stick! Thank God for such nice people around, really. So anyway, because I constantly felt like I was running out of time, I didn't take much pictures which I really regret :'( The view was so beautiful but all that was in my mind at that point "I need to get out of here asap". The emerald lakes I saw were too breathtaking. 

So yeah because I rushed like crazy throughout the hike, despite my multiple leg cramps, I completed the entire hike in 7h when I could have used an additional hour to slowly enjoy the scenery. :( I'll probably go back sometime again, but this time with a travel companion. 

This is the Mount Doom I'm talking about :'( I went all the way to where the ice were near the reddish area, and got stranded there because there weren't any defined routes to walk and I was just LOST. It doesn't look very steep nor high here, but trust me, it's really high up and steep!

I told myself that I will never do this hike again, but actually on hindsight after I've completed it.. Maybe it wasn't that bad? I mean, if I didn't deviate from the correct route, I actually think it's quite do-able in 7-9h! In fact I would have only taken 6h.. I think physical fitness is not the key thing here, it's the mental strength. The only reason why I made it out early was because I constantly kept telling myself that I had to get through this alive and there was no way I am gonna allow myself to miss the shuttle bus and spend the night there. (I forgot to mention that it was near subzero at the top)

The next day, I went down to Wellington where I stayed in The Dwellington. This was the 2nd best hostel I've stayed in throughout my 6 weeks in NZ. :) The location wasn't that ideal, but the hostel was amazing. The kitchen felt like I was in a cafe, the rooms were HUGE and clean, so were the toilets. The design of the hostel was extremely modern with wood details.

I didn't really like Wellington as well, mainly because it was TOO WINDY. I gave the legendary Te papa museum a miss because I really wanted to rest from all the walking and adrenaline stuff I did in Taupo. My legs were really so tired from hiking 22km + 19.5km in 2 days. :O But I managed to find some pretty vintage stuff in Wellington, I was hunting for thrift shops and vintage shops. There were a few near Cuba Street, namely Recycled Boutique, Paperbag Princess, Unearthed. (I'm gonna post the addresses of all the thrift shops I went to in a separate post). Other than thrift shopping and cafe hopping in Wellington, I didn't do much. In fact I only spent 2 days there. 

So this is the end of my North Island post! I actually spent 1.5 hour typing this. :O I'll continue my South island travels in the next post if I'm free. :)