New Zealand - Auckland to Cape Reinga

Welcome to my new location!  I got fed up with Tumblr, so I moved to blogger.  It's a much better and easier way for me to do things.  Not to mention, it's easier for me to upload photos, so this blog will look a whole lot better.

Having said that, I apologize for my lack of posting.  I've been crunching to get my law school applications in on time, and thought that if I were writing for the blog, I should probably be doing application work instead.  Now that the applications are nearing completion, it's time to catch everyone up!  I spent a month in New Zealand which was absolutely incredible.  I'm now sitting next to a fish market in Bangkok where I am actually picking up some wifi.

So, here's how New Zealand was:

We spent a couple of days in Auckland waiting for our friend Colin to arrive.  Once he did, we rented a minivan and prepared to head out.  The night before we were set to depart, we met a Norwegian girl named Aurora in the lobby of our hostel.  She accompanied us on a barcrawl and after a few drinks, decided she would be our fifth member for the trip.  Seeing as New Zealand was very expensive, we were thrilled to have her join to help us pay for food/gas/blah blah.

We rolled out of bed the next day, and Colin and I headed out to pick up our minivan.  Upon arrival, we were told we were going to be spending the next month driving around in ‘The Homer’

It took much longer than expected to get everything sorted out, so by the time we picked up Blove, Veber, and Aurora from our hostel, picked up food and other last-minute supplies, the sun was beginning to set.  So our hopes to get out on the road during the day quickly vanished.  It was about this time that we realized that the van would not sleep 5 people.  As a matter of fact, it would barely sleep one.  We stopped at a shopping area and spread out to find a tent.  Colin and I found a blue and green piece of crap tent that actually ended up working out well.  The other three returned with a 1940’s era French Army tent they got on discount at a surplus store.

HMS Aurora on the Left, USS Topenga on the right

We drove out with a road map and a brochure saying where campsites were located.  After driving for a bit, we ended up in the Bay of Islands.  The main hut at the entrance to the campsite was closed and the lights were off.  The gate for our van to enter was closed.  We had no idea what to do or where to go.  Having a lack of options and exhausted from the drive, we parked out van in front of the gate and set up two tents on the grassy side opposite.  We then had a couple of beers, lit a couple of tiki torches, and drew straws for who slept where.  Blove and I got the blue and green POS that was nicknamed ‘U.S.S. Topenga,’ Colin and Aurora slept in the Army tent, which henceforth was known as the ‘H.M.S. Aurora,’ and Veber slept in the Homer.  I stayed awake for a while looking at the stars, which were as brilliant as I’ve ever seen them.  Unfortunately, there was never a night with a sky quite like that first night again.  It was amazing again when we were in Fjordland National Park, but it was never as clear and cloudless as that first night.  

We awoke the next day to find ourselves on a gorgeous beach with small mountains surrounding us.  The Dept. of Conservation (DOC) rangers that ran the campsite were very nice, and did not mind us blocking the gateway.  So, wanting to stay another day to explore the area, we moved to a better area of the campsite, right on the water, and set the tents back up.

Veber and I went on a hike to explore the area, while the others entertained themselves swimming or messing around.  Here are some of the photos from our hike:

The Bay of Islands

View to the Pacific Ocean

That night, we had a proper dinner cooked by Brian Love and Brian Veber, which henceforth became known as ‘B & B Productions.’  For the rest of the trip, Colin and I did the navigating and driving, and B & B cooked the meals

B&B are doin' the cooking, while I'm in the foreground, loving my job

The amazing sunset we got from our campsite just after dinner

We spent the next few days in that Bay of Islands area, mostly in Kerikeri and Russell, changing campsites a few times and enjoying our honeymoon-like phase of beginning this fantastic road trip.

Afterwards, we headed north to a campsite near Cape Reinga, on the northern tip of the North Island of New Zealand.  I’ll continue my New Zealand story with a post soon...