A Weekend in Auckland

When we woke up last Saturday morning, it was light out. Thats not good, I thought. Scott told me it was just 3 minutes before the alarm was set to go off. Huh, the sun sure is coming up early these days... how is it the sun came up at 7 last week, and 6am this week?

It's not 6am, is it?

CRAP!!!

So instead of having breakfast, coffee, washed faces and brushed hair, we threw our clothes on, grabbed our bags that we (thankfully!) packed the night before, brushed our teeth and ran out the door. Time from bed to car: approx. 4 minutes. Time until flight departed: 55 minutes. 

We made it to the airport in record time (there might be less police out at 7am on Saturday morning- thankful for this too) and surrendered to the fact that we'd be paying for the privilege to park on asphalt laid close to the airport instead of far from the airport. Dammit.

We ran through the airport like George Clooney in that one movie about airplanes. I'm brilliant, so I had already checked us in and our boarding passes had been texted to me. 

We sprinted to security with just carry-on luggage and were immediately reminded why living in New Zealand is awesome. 6 people in the whole security line, and you don't have to take your shoes off. Win.

We bolted to our gate! We made it! Where do we board? Oh, we've got 10 minutes to spare?... damn, could have parked further away. Anyways, we bought a questionable parfait and a coffee as our reward for making it on time- and to replace the calories from the morning that had turned into a work out. 

Weekend getaway, at last.

Flying over the Kaikoura range

So in the hurry to go, I was really pleased that I remembered the iPad and the camera. In the end, I never once touched the iPad, and the camera got trucked around with no memory card in it. So every single picture here is substandard Windows Phone quality. (Lesson #89: buy the phone with the better camera. I wish I did.)

We arrived in Auckland to rain. Relentless, windy, gray rain. And unfortunately for us, that's the way it was destined to be for the better part of our holiday. In the past we've always been so lucky with weather on our vacations. I guess our turn was up.

Anyways, we made the best of it. We had lunch, walked by the water, through a few parks, through the university, and over to Auckland Domain, which is kinda like a botanical gardens but also a bunch of playing fields. We were soaked. There were a few greenhouses we took cover in, with some beautiful tropical flora.

Pretty sure this pitcher plant traps kittens instead of flies.

 We ended up a few miles from town, so taxi'd it back into the city centre, where we walked some more, and eventually found dinner at a taco truck (!). It was a bit disappointing, but still, a taco truck! View from the truck:

The next day we boarded the ferry to Waiheke Island. The journey took about 45 minutes, and we quickly felt like we were out of the city. Apparently lots of people commute from Waiheke to Auckland every day, and I could see why. It's kind of calming to watch the city shrink away in the distance. Waiheke is an island half way between Auckland and Coromandel, it's tropical and quiet, with lots of wineries and 8,000 permanent residents. Beats city life if you ask me.

When we arrived to Waiheke, there was still no weather change. We scrapped our idea of renting and riding bikes around the island (plus, lots of people had told us that was a crazy idea) and we rented a car. A real winner of a car too... every time it was idling, or in first, or second gear, it lurched and stopped and went like a faulty carnival ride. Good times.

It takes about 2 hours to drive around the whole island, so we made a few stops along the way. We checked out a bird sanctuary, where apparently the birds had been put off the the weather as well. We still had an enjoyable muddy hike through some tropical scenery. 

After a few more stops for scenery we pulled over at the Man O War Vineyard on the rural east coast of Waiheke. If you check out their website, you can see what Waiheke looks like in the sun. I can't say enough good things about their wine, which is surprisingly all grown on Waiheke Island. Who knew a subtropical island could grow so many varietals, so well? Also, they are the only winery on the island (there are 20+) that have complimentary tastings. Oh, and their honey (of all things) is fantastic! We brought some home. I have no photos, but do check them out!

Driving north on the rural road away from Man O War, we stopped for one last walk in the rain, on what would obviously have been an amazingly beautiful hike if it were sunny. But there was one thing... lambs!

As usual, we used AirBNB for our accommodations throughout the weekend, and although I have nowhere to really rave about, every spot was nice, quiet, comfortable, etc, etc. If you don't already use Air BNB when you travel, you are missing out.

The following day we woke up in Waiheke to overcast, but dry(ish) weather. Before we returned our rental "car"- strictly at 10:30 - we drove to the north side of the island to explore a bit more. We found a pretty little cove in Palm Beach and hung out as long as time would allow.

About 10 minutes.

This day also marked 8 years Scott and I have been together. So that's fun :) 

I thought this tree growing on the rock was neat. A little confusing in the picture but whatever. It's my blog.

We returned our rental car promptly at 10:30, but decided no to get on the ferry quite yet. Especially since I had just gotten a text from our next place of accommodation back in Auckland which read:

Hi Kristen. Horrid Day. Let me know when you'll be here. Sally.

At least we were in a place that was dry. From above, anyways. So from the rental car spot we tramped up and over the hill to a couple of vineyards. Admittedly, they were the tourist trap wineries, being close to the ferry and all, but hey- we're tourists, and usually pretty happy to be trapped by wine. It was amusing to walk into each one with muddy boots (and Scott with a muddy backside as he went sliding down a hill on the hike over). If they were put off by us, they hid it well.

We were pretty happy both both Cable Bay and Mudbrick, although both used lots of grapes grown in the south island and from other parts of New Zealand. Not nearly as impressive (or tasty!) as Man O War!

Entrance, and questionable photography, at Cable Bay Vineyard. Great pino gris and syrah, skip the sauvignon blanc!

Mudbrick. It looks better than it tastes. And tastings are a rip off. Yep, I said it.

We finally boarded the ferry in the early afternoon and headed back to Auckland. And our dry, gray skies turned... well, horrid. What a horrid day. We taxi'd up to Sally's house in Ponsonby- a poshy little neighborhood recommended to us by friends for shopping and eating. Unfortunately, the weather was so foul that even shopping was pretty uncomfortable. We settled in for a crazy snack of mushrooms and bacon, and I had a pear and vodka smoothie... or something? Anyways, the most exhilerating thing we did this afternoon was eat, so I took a picture of it.

That night we went to a comedy show across town in New Market at the Lumsden Free House. If you'll recall from some post a year or so ago, a "free house" is a bar that has a license to sell whatever kind of booze they want instead of being regulated by "big beer" companies in New Zealand like Macs, Steinlager, or Heineken. Gross. Anyways, this just means you're guaranteed an actual craft beer selection. And to be fair, good craft beer was not hard to find in Auckland.

The comedy show was good- minus one or two of the acts, and it was free, which is my favorite number. We felt like we had kind of salvaged our night.

Oh- and on a side note, we took the bus from the ferry to our accommodations in Ponsonby, from Ponsonby to New Market, and back, as well as around quite a bit the next day. The public transportation system in Auckland is amazing, and each ride anywhere in the city, bus or train, is $2 per person. Christchurch, San Francisco, Paris: take notes.

The next, and last, day we woke up to the sound of silence. No rain. No wind. Blue skies.

We jumped out of bed and got to it, because there was so much time we had spent indoors looking out. It was Sept 2, the second official day of spring, but it was like Auckland got the memo a day late. But the memo was received: it was a beautiful, sunny, warmish spring day.

We bussed over to Mount Eden, one of the largest of Auckland's many craters. It's a volcanic area, with 53 volcanoes locally that have erupted at least once. Anyways, view from the top:

Hole in the ground.

 After taking in the sun and views from Mt. Eden we had lunch in Kingsland- another highly recommended suburb for shopping and eating- we ate, and left. It was boring. But we headed down to the waterfront and found....

BIKES! We found bikes! We found free bikes! Well, $2/person to "register" and the first 2 hours were "free". And we actually kept them an extra hour because... bikes!

We rode all around the Auckland waterfront, to a nearby suburb called St. Heliers. After a few bends in the road, the tall buildings disappeared and were replaced with sailboats, and the people dissipated. It was calm and warm and sunny. And bikes!

Taking in the view from St. Helier

Browns Island.

Happy to put the skyline in the background.

We really felt like we fixed our trip that last day. We are people that rely on good weather and thrive on physical exercise, fresh air, and sun. We can't sit in bars and cafes all day and talk about ideas and philosophies. (Though I get mighty philosophical after a few IPAs.) We need to spin, stretch, breathe and sweat. Even though we both know this, it was really apparent by the end of this little holiday. 

We're not disappointed though. We had a good time, and we know more than ever now what really makes us happy. (Ok, we probably always knew. Bikes. Beer. Sun.) But now we really, really know.

When you need sunnies- its a good day!

The Wild Wild West

Last weekend was Anzac Day, which is like New Zealand's version of Veteran's Day. (Yes, NZ has actually been involved in wars- both of the world wars in fact. They were more a part of it than you'd think.)

Anyways, with a long weekend presented to us, we decided to explore an area of south island that we've never been to- the northern west coast. The road up there is a dead end road, making it less attractive to tourists (yes!). Tour buses pretty much don't even go there (double yes!). 

Here's a map of the top half of the south island and our route:

It takes 3.5-4 hours to get from Christchurch to the west coast when the weather is cooperative. Our drive took a little longer. 

The main road through Arthur's Pass: sometimes you have to divert the waterfall over the highway!

On the way, we stopped in a little town called Blackball for some mountain biking. I'd been really keen to do this trail since Scott had been hyping it up since he went several months ago. Unfortunately, I crashed super hard in the first 10 minutes. My confidence was a bit shaken and my elbow busted. We continued the ride, but I spent more time looking at the ferns than really ripping up the trail.

Why'd ya have to buck me off?

We stayed the night in a hostel "resort" called the Te Nikau Retreat in Punakaiki. I didn't get any pictures of the place but it was pretty neat. It has the most beautiful rainforest setting ever, and there are lots of 2 person accommodation options including a few private huts off in the ferns (which were all sold out by the time we booked). If you want to spend a night in the Te Nikau, just know you will hear animal noises all night (call it ambiance) and maybe avoid Room 1 (ours) and Room 2 in the main house. They make homemade muffins and bread at 5am every morning, which is lovely unless you have to hear the whole process happening.

Anyways, in the morning we cruised down through their rainforest trail to the beach. I love how everything grows on everything in the rainforest!

The west coast beaches are no gentle, shallow beaches like ours in Christchurch. You'll find beautiful, jagged coastline akin to Northern California. Except here, the rainforest practically falls into the ocean.

Cool wind patterns in the rock hanging over the beach

And a small waterfall over the limestone!

Rainforest (distance) meets beach grass.

 Later that day we did the Poporari River Track. This is a beautiful, easy meander next to the Poporari River. There are massive limestone bluffs jutting out either side of the river, making for some dramatic scenery. As stunning as it was, it was probably still my least favorite thing we did! (Thats how amazing the west coast is!!)

That night we jetted up to Karamea to the Oparara Basin to see the arches. More on that in my next post (because it deserves it's own!).  We stayed at the Wangapeka Backpackers and Farmstay in Little Wanganui. (Say that 10 times fast). They were gracious and accommodating hosts, and although I did not get awoken by a sheep peering in my bedroom window as I hoped, I would still recommend a stay with them. They'll also accept WOOFers, for those of you traveling the country doing that.

I haven't mentioned it yet, but there was a massive storm (surprise, surprise) on the west coast. Its the same storm I whined about last time I posted, but in Christchurch all it did was cause a little flooding. Again. On the west coast, it was apparently a "One in 500 year storm" and the wind damage is extensive. Just about every hike we came across was closed. Trees down for miles in just about every direction. Land slides galore. Probably not the best time to visit the west coast, but that's when we went.

Bill and Leita at the Wangapeka Backpackers and Farmstay have hundreds of trees down on their property and will probably accept any help (WOOFers) they can get in getting it cleared.

For us, it meant destruction of what was probably the #1 thing Scott was looking forward to…

We did this hike that was meant to lead us to a 100m long tunnel cave. Headlamps required. Sense of adventure required. There's a stream running through it, and there were meant to be glowworms. GLOWWORMS. So cool.

Beginning of the hike. A lot of debris, but we could cope...

 About 40 minutes in we got to this atrocity. We tried to see through it. We tried to climb around it. It really looks like nothing in this picture. But there was basically no passing. At least not on a day when we were hoping to have a few different adventures and you know, get out alive…

What a disappointment. No cave. No glowworms.

Consoling himself with a cookie.

Later in the day we drove "to the end of the road" north of Karamea to Kohaihai Beach. This is where the famous Heaphy Track starts, and where all vehicles must stop.

I liked this rock.

The Heaphy Track is one of NZ's 9 "Great Walks". It is an 82 kilometer track that most people walk in 5-6 days or bike in 3-4 days. The Heaphy Track is the only way to get out and truly see the north west coast after the road ends. There's no other access unless you've got a helicopter at your disposal!

Scott and I unfortunately didn't have another 5 days on our hands, so we chose to just walk the first 7 km of the track, down to the coincidentally named "Scott's Beach".

Beautiful rainforest meets beach, very literally.

Heaphy Track

Scott exploring Scott's Beach. Cool rock, too.

Although the Heaphy (ok, the 7km we did) was definitely scenic, I can't say it was any more awe inspiring than many of the smaller hiking tracks in and around Karamea. I'll write a little bit more about those, especially the Oparara Basin, next time. It's worth a look if you have the time, but perhaps skippable if you just want the best of the best.

Ocean view from amongst the ferns.

Our last night we stayed at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Westport. It was a last minute booking, but great for our needs. Quiet, clean, and fairly budget friendly ($90 for a queen/ensuite- pretty good for NZ!). We checked out the West Coast Brewery which is a must for anyone who enjoys real craft beer. And the tastings ("up to 5", wink wink) are free.

We had a 28-minute pedal in pouring rain failure of a ride on our last day before the drive home. We found some really cool looking tracks that just couldn't be done in the conditions, which just affirmed that we will have to come back.

We arrived back to Christchurch just in time for another mega windy flood fest, and then awoke yesterday to snow on the peaks. I think it is officially winter.