Te Anau Glow Worm Cave adventure

the picture we could not afford to buy from the tour.

Milford Sound

Dun Dun Dun (edin) Dunedin New Zealand and 300 days on the road!

We went about the town in the freezing cold weather.

We walked around the city center which is an OCTAGON and called exactly that.

We say the train station which is an impressive Gothic style building and just massive.

We saw the Law Courts and old historic buildings and churches often in Victorian style architecture. Hard not to stare. The buildings are incredible with notable architecture.

Next, we enjoyed a free visit to the local art museum. They have one Monet painting and enjoyable, talented local artist's work. The installations were a little out of this world with no description. I particularly liked the work of maybe half of the artist Séraphine Pick.

We finished the day with a wonderful tour at the Speight's Brewery.
A very information and entertaining tour taught us that Dunedin has the last standing copper brewery style in the WORLD!

We sampled 6 types of beer and a delicious beer ice cream.

We finished our day realized we left the fuel cap on the car when we left the gas station. We went back with no luck of finding it.

South Island of New Zealand. CHCH

We landed in Christchurch from Auckland 2 days ago.

We spent some time settling into the south island. Which only really means we have been lazy.

We decided to take it a bit slow. No surprise it is exhausting staying at every hostel, hotel, backpackers place for only one night and taking off the next day. It definitely helps to have a rental car to throw everything into, without having to pack perfectly.

After 2 nights at a backpackers place called Point Break we are heading south to hopefully see yellow eye PENGUINS! (In Oamaru) Then heading to Dunedin.

Christchurch has been a nice start off point. Yesterday we took a scenic drive to Akaroa. Stopped at Barry Bay cheese and wine shop. Learned how they make cheese and watched a cheesy video.

It has been nice and snow will visit us soon. I am sure. Let's hope we don't have to put on the snow chains anytime soon!

A new meaning for "Glow Worms"

I used to always associate glow worms with this:

After a 15 minute drive from our backpacker's hostel in Rotorua, we parked in a dark lot at nearly 12am and walked towards rushing falls. Once our light shone on the rushing water, we realized how dangerous this area was at night. We stood on the steps in the dark. We turned off our flashlights, let our eyes adjust and there appeared tiny little speckles of glow worms. Another once in a lifetime opportunity and a first in my life.

Lake Taupo, HUka Falls and Honey Hive

Thanks to some recommendation from our couchsurfing host in Auckland we went to the Honey Hive.

First: Huka Falls

as a 3 year old next to me said it "This isn't a water fall" They are called falls and are more like cascading falls. A wonderful aqua and eventually a heavier fall, you can take a speed jet boat up to it or for FREE, walk to the viewpoint. It was a nice day and the rain let up enough to visit and take photos.

Second: Honey Hive. Free samples GALORE! We tried mead wine, Feijoa wine (look up feijoa) and another honey whiskey liquor of some sort. All tasty with a 3 liquor max. We then moved on to the unlimited honey samples. Apparently, bees pollinate from different bunches of flowers and it produces vastly different tasting honey. Wonderful! I tried maybe 11 different types and appreciated the Manuka honey, we got from a farmers market days before, even more.

WE COULDN'T RESIST. Manuka Honey and Chestnut ice cream. Kevin enjoyed his Pohutukawa ice cream (I had to look up the name). That was a simple but nice sweet honey flavored touch to it. Yum Yum. I tried all the natural face creams and hand creams I could and we had a picnic in the cold green open space behind the shop.

Third: Lake Taupo. A nice entertaining surprise to find "Lake Taupo, Hole in One tour" There was a square of green in the LARGEST CRATER LAKE IN THE WORLD . People were driving golf balls to get a hole in one for a 10,000$ prize. They were close, but no cigar. Thankfully, we made it to the lake by sunset and it was beautiful. Not raining at this time and we were able to spend more than a few minutes outside and watch people golf into the lake.

Goodbye, Taupo. 2 hours later Hello, Napier.

Before Rotorua, there was the Lord of the Rings

So of course, we had to visit the place where The Lord Of The Rings was filmed.

We drove to the town called Matamata which was conveniently on the way to our next stop.

We only spent enough hours to discover the tour was during limited hours and WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. Unfortunately, the movie was filmed on private property and the lucky owners now charge an arm a leg and more limbs to take a bus tour. We skipped that jazz with lack of funds and immensely appreciated the town itself. After taking the photo next to the Hobbiton sign in the center of town we took off to take photos of more green rolling hills, cows, sheep and more green.

This town was another breath-taking stop for just a stopover into another town.

New Zealand has not let me down.

Did someone fart or are we in Rotorua now?

Rotorua and the Maori people

There is a lot to learn about New Zealand. It is largely inhabited by the native people called Maori.

Unlike some of the lack of respect America has for it's natives New Zealand really celebrates and actively participates in raising awareness about its first culture of Polynesian tribes called the Maori.

Rotorua is the place to go to learn all about the culture.

We splurged a bit to take a tour through Te Puia.

Here we started with a typical tribal dance that included other shows and singing. Interactive audience participation, means Kevin got up and I have video of him learning the intimidating way to scare the enemy by popping out your eyes and sticking out your tongue. crazy.

We got to see the Kiwi animal which is the national bird that is the closest to a mammal!

It is WILD! It has bird feet a bird beak but fur instead of feathers. It lays huge eggs, has nostrils and whiskers! On top of all of this, it is nocturnal. The organization set up an observatory so it was in dim almost dark lighting for our viewing convenience. At night they turn on the lights for the animals to sleep. It was incredible to be able to watch these little nearly extinct creatures groom themselves and search for food.

Next we got to see geysers and bubbling boiling mud pools. New Zealand is apparently full of natural geothermal activity and this town called Rotorua SMELLS of the activity. As we have learned these sulfuric acids and natural geothermal sites STINK like fart. The whole town, imagine that! So aside from the smell I got to see a geyser for the first time in my life. Never saw "Old Faithful" in Yellowstone.

We followed these areas with the wood carving and basket weaving areas. Sounds uneventful but their carvings are incredible. Their culture is so closely related to Hawaiian culture and their wood carvings are similar to the totem poles we are used to seeing. There is an on site school for wood carving. This only accepts males who are between the ages of 18 and 30 and of Maori decent. Specific rules, but major scholarships and fascinating outcome.

We were running low on time and after getting a kiwi bird mammal necklace for such a good price we were out of there.

We left Rotorua for Lake Taupo and then Napiers.

New Zealand, Day Seven it is all Heavenly

Lord of the Rings is popular and the trilogy was filmed in New Zealand.

But this is more than a 3 hour movie.

We rented a CHEAP car from JUCY rental cars and are taking a 2 week trip in the North Island of New Zealand and 19 days in the south island, rental car status.

We started in Auckland. It was a busier city, but not too big. It is winter here in May (other hemisphere here) and it reminds me of SEATTLE. When I told this to the couchsurfing host, I sadly realized I wasn't the first to notice. I'm quick to pick up similarities but not as original. haha

AUCKLAND Sky Tower

So a few nights with a host in Auckland, adjusting to passing maybe 5 time zones from Indonesia and we slept a lot! I had some sinus issues with weather and country changes. But I a LOVING it here. Auckland has a posh area called Ponsonby area with a burger chain called burger fuel. I had a vegan burger, yum! Something like every 20 burgers fuels one gallon of fuel foor the delivery car. What a green idea!

After Auckland we headed to Coromandel.

Hot Water Beach!

We dug holes in the sand to reveal hot hot steamy water just under the surface. mixed with holes of cold water or finding the perfect spot and you have tons of people making mini spas and just laying there. We were SO lucky for it to be a perfect sunny day. While it was still a bit chilly, it was possible to walk in a bathing suit with shorts, so we considered ourselves VERY lucky.

After one overnight stop in Coromandel, a very small town, we headed down the east coast.

Next stop, Tauranga. We arrived at a nice hostel with the chain of YHA. We were able to use our Hostelling International cards from Uruguay and got a nice discount. We were also able to stay here for only 1 night so it was only a quick pause to check out the mountain which was a volcano once. We did some thrift store shopping where I picked up a winter coat for super cheap.

cows on a hill in the sunset

After Tauranga was another few hours drive south to Rotorua.