A whirlwind solo tour of New Zealand

My trip to New Zealand was likely one of the most inspiring and life altering experiences I've had in my life. Although it was not my first completely solo trip (Canberra was), it was my first time on my own, in a brand new country, for a week, by myself. I had a vague idea of my plans for the week, although most of them had been planned the day before leaving, but I quickly learned how fast plans can change. I've always been a person who is a perfectionist, hygienic, obsessive over time, and extremely organized, but when you are in a situation like this, those things are thrown right out the window. Let me start at the beginning (be aware, this is going to likely be a very lengthy post)



Sunday: I took a taxi to the airport with four of my friends, and got on our Aerolineas Argentinas flight to Auckland. It arrived in Auckland at 5, and I split off from them to begin my solo adventure. I found the bus into the city, which was $20 and told the driver I was going to the YHA. He told me where to get off, and I walked down the street and bumped right into the YHA! Well, apparently there are two YHAs in Auckland, and this one was not mine. Luckily the other was not too far, so I found it and checked into my 8 person dorm room. I then set off to find an ATM and dinner, as I had about $15 NZ on me. It was a little nerve-racking navigating an unknown city at night, but I found the busy Queen Street (the main strip, per se) and found an ATM and McDonalds. This was the first of my many fast food venture of the week--one thing NZ seems to be lacking is in food choice. After a very calorie filled, albeit delicous dinner, it was 9, and I didn't want to go to bed yet, so I went to the movies and saw Slumdog Millionaire, which was a great, relaxing, way to start my trip. Once I got back to my hostel, I ended up with about 3 solid hours of sleep, because with 7 other people in and out of the room ALL night, it was tough to stay asleep.



Monday: I woke up at 6:30am to catch a bus to Paihia, the gateway to the Bay of Islands, in the Northland. I got to the bus early (of course) so I walked down to the harbour to have a look around the main bit of the city. I got back to my 8am bus, and four and a half hours later, at precisely 12:29 I was stepping off it in the tiny village. I didn't really have a plan for the day, but I noticed a sign for a four hour dolphin cruise, departing at 12:30. I ran inside and asked if I could still get on, and with a bit of hesitation, I was allowed on! I ran down and jumped on the boat, basically as it was pulling off. The next four hours were heaven. The Bay of Islands is likely the most beautiful place I've ever been. The water was an amazing blue, and there were all sorts of islands and rock formations surrounding you. Throughout the cruise, everyone was on the lookout for dolphins, beacuse as it is the wild, you never really know where they will pop up, but I had my eyes peeled. The first thing we found though, were penguins. The famous "Little Penguins" of NZ, which I absolutely love. At first they could be mistaken for a duck, but you quickly see their features, and they are the most adorable little things. After about 2.5 hours of cruising, we caught a glimpse of one of the dolphin colonies. The first six people (myself included) were told to get on the bow of the boat, so I ran on up. We then put half of our body out of the boat (I cannot believe no-one fell off) and looked underneath at the open bottom. At this point, about 20 dolphins were surrounding us, playing with us, jumping up and down, right in front of my face. It was absolutely surreal. We spent the next hour or so cruising around with the dolphins, although we weren't able to swim with them, as there were babies in the group (who were absolutely adorable) and it is illegal to swim with the babies. All in all, it was a fantastic experience that I will always remember. That night I grabbed a pizza in town, watched the sun set on the beach, and then stayed in an 8 bed hostel by myself, which was a drastic change from the night before. It was kind of creepy, but okay. I woke up in the middle of the night with a strange feeling, and realized my cell phone, which was my only form of time and alarm was dead. This was a problem since I had to wake up at 7 for my bus back to Auckland. As there were no electricity sockets, I shut off my phone, and hoped that the automatic turn on would work (you never know on a $40 phone), but it did, and I saw up bright and early.



Tuesday: After my early morning bus back to Auckland, I spent the afternoon wandering around the city. One of my favorite parts of being in a new place, is just exploring it, going down all the back streets, with no real set agenda, and no-one else to have to worry about, so I was able to just go wherever aimlessly. I must say, I was not impressed by Auckland, and found myself struggling to fill the five hours before my 7pm flight to Christchurch, and I ended up spending about two of them in Borders. You know when you see someone in the airport, and they stand out, and then you just know you are going to be seated next to them? Well, I had that feeling, and I knew I was in for an interesting flight. The man I was seated next to, Reece, seemed nice enough at first, he was about 60, had a few kids, and was giving me advice about Christchurch. But then he asked me what religion I was, and I knew this could only be going in one direction. As I explained that I was very spiritual, technically Catholic, but did not like "religion" he began to tell me that when the world is going to end (which according to him is quite soon, as the antichrist is living on earth currently) I will basically be screwed. Only those who believe will be saved, and will 'vanish' before the earth ends. Hmm. Luckily, Air New Zealand served free wine, so I was able to tolerate the conversation pretty well, considering. I arrived in Christchurch, and I hopped on a shuttle to my hostel. After a bit of a panic when the door was locked, and no-one was in sight, someone finally came after my ringing the buzzer several times. I went off to find food, but was in a very seedy area with only one place open, so I grabbed a very strange piece of food, and went back to the hostel. This night I was staying with three french people, two guys and a girl, and Sarah (who quickly became a friend). But more on them later.



Wednesday: I woke up and went off in search of Cathedral Square, which is the heart of Christchurch. I found it, and immediately fell in love with the city. It is a very old English style city, complete with a tram running through it. I got a tram pass, and hopped on for the 25 minute loop with commentary, to get myself acquainted with the area. I then went around again, hopping off at each of the 11 sights throughout the day, including my favorite, the Botanic Gardens. Once I walked into them, I was transported out of New Zealand and into a crisp New England fall day, my favorite season. The smell and look of the leaves just made me insanely happy, and I had a great time. Later that evening when I got back to my hostel, I walked in, and though I was in the wrong room. All of my stuff that I had left was gone. My bed was remade, and ready for the next guest. Of course, I had my passport, cash, and credit cards with me, but I had left all of my clothes, library books, sunglasses, and a few other things on the bed (this was the first and last time I'll ever do that). I ran down to reception, and they said they had no idea what happened, but it might have been the cleaning ladies, and to come back tomorrow. I said I wouldn't be there until very late the next night, so they said they'd look for me, and let me know on Friday. Perfect. I realized I would be wearing jeans and a tshirt for the rest of the week. I was pretty bummed, but quickly realized I could always replace material things, but I could not replace this trip, so I would not let it get me down. I was in bed, when Sarah walked in, and she was wearing one of my sweaters! Apparently, my stuff had been being given away, and she showed me where. I recovered some items, but some will be gone forever...Oh well, that's life!



Thursday: Another early morning, waking up at 6 to go to Mt. Cook. I got on the bus, somewhat prepared for the 6 hour drive ahead of me. I was very sleepy, but once we got on the road, and I began to see the sights, I woke up very fast. We first drove through the Canterbury Planes, which were gorgeous, filled with hundreds of thousands of sheep, cows, and red deer. Then after an hour or two, all of a sudden the Southern Alps showed up out of nowhere, looming in the sky ahead with their snow tipped peaks, and a sense of magesticness. The rest of the drive was spent going through them, and to say it was incredible would be an understatement. If you've seen Lord of the Rings, these are the places it was filmed. I wish I could describe the beauty, but it was truly moving to know that the Earth is filled of such glorious sights as this. We then made our way to Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki. They were the most beautiful turquoise blue I've ever seen. Once I stepped out of the bus, it began to storm, with immense winds (Nor'Western, similar to the California Santa Annas, except much stronger), rain, and hail. Even that hardly tok away from the beauty of the lakes. As we were nearing Mt. Cook, a very New Zealand thing happened, as we were delayed by about 100 cows being mustered down the road! When we got to Mt. Cook, the skies were dark, and we could hardly see the mountain, which was pretty dissapointing, but again, I was not about to let it get me down. I spent an hour in the lodge, eating soup and reading, and just thinking about what an amazing experience I was having. This was when I truly realized that I really love my own company, and being by myself. As I've said before, you have a very different experience when you travel alone, than you would with others, and I really like it. It was then time to head back to Christchurch, stopping at a couple more beautiful sights to photograph on the way.



Friday: I was supposed to go on a dolphin/penguin cruise on Friday, but since I did that up North, and really wanted to enjoy Christchurch more, that is exactly what I did. I spent the morning wandering around the city, enoyed a free starbucks chai for participating in a tourist survey (awesome! Although I of course had already had my first chai earlier that morning) and then went back to the Botanic Gardens. I rented a kayak to go down the Avon river, which was very relaxing, although my arms were a bit sore the next day from going upriver. That evening I went to see The Reader, which was a fantastic film. I then had two choices. I could stay in my hostel that night, and take a 5:30am shuttle or taxi to the airport (for my 7am flight), which would cost me a total of $80, OR stay in the airport for the night. Of course, being the money saver that I am, thought it would be a great idea to stay in the airport. I took the bus there, arriving at about 11:30pm. I walked to the domestic terminal...closed. I walked to the international departures terminal...also closed. At this point, I had a slight panic, thinking that I would be sitting on a sketchy park bench outside the airport all night. Luckily on the other side, the international arrivals terminal was open. Although it was tiny, I figured I was very lucky. I popped a few benadryl, and amazingly was able to pass out on the floor for about two hours!

Saturday: I arrived back in Auckland at 9:30. I hadn't really decided what to for the day, but I had booked a hotel room for the night. Since I desperately needed sleep, a shower, and a place of my own, I realized this was a great investment. Check-in time was not until 2 though. I did most of the 16km coast to coast walkway, going up to the top of Mt. Eden which was a volcano. The view of the city was awesome, and it sure gave me a good workout! After getting McDonalds for lunch (naturally) I finally was able to check in to my hotel. Since my room was not ready, I was bumped up to a suite...Awesome! I immediately took 2 showers, and then relaxed, before doing a simple thing I've always wanted to do. I got a large cheese pizza and garlic bread, sat in bed watching a movie, and ate it. It was glorious. I relaxed the rest of the night, and finally fell asleep (it was a bit creepy staying in a suite alone).

Sunday: Got up early for my 8am flight only to get to the airport to see the sign: Delayed until 17:30. As in 5:30 pm. Luckily they put us up in a hotel for the day, and gave us lunch, so it actually worked out pretty well! Finally got back to Sydney (the flight didn't leave until almost 7) and subsequently had one of the best sleeps of my life.

Wow. That was an extremely long post, but it is so good for me to now have it all written down so I can remember it forever, although I know I would anyways. It was a really exciting week, and although a lot of it involved sitting on buses, planes, trains, etc. I really enjoyed myself. Now that I am back in Sydney though, I have a lot of work to get done in the coming weeks, and as my money supply has drastically diminished, I will be spending most of my time writing papers, reading text books, and studying. Two weeks til Melbourne!