It is very weird hearing that people back in the U.S. are just now starting their fall semesters of the new school year, whereas I have been in class for over 2 months now at Otago. Two weeks ago we had midterms and I had a busy week of 3 papers, a test, and an in-class writing assignment. After this hectic week it was time for the 2nd spring break of 2009. It was very weird to think I was having a spring break in August, but it was extremely necessary after the amount of work I was doing. For my spring break, 8 of my friends from my flat complex and I did a massive roadtrip up to the north island with two cars full of kids. I'll give you a play by play of what we did.
Friday, August 28 - we packed the cars at around noon and were on the road at about 1:00. It was a day of driving and nothing else. A lot of us have explored the south island pretty thoroughly so we didn't spend much time there. We drove from Dunedin, up to Christchurch (4 hours), then continued up to Kaikora, and onto Picton which was our final destination where the ferry would take us from the south island to the north. We stopped at some cool spots along the way. We saw some crazy round boulders on a beach and some other interesting towns. It was a total of about 9 hours of driving from Dunedin to the very top of the south island and a very scenic drive (when isn't it in NZ?) all the way there, especially along the coast.
The Moeraki boulders
Saturday, August 29 - We slept in our cars in a parking lot Friday night because the ferry was leaving at 6:00 am Saturday morning. After an uncomfortable 5 hour sleep in the car (some people in sleeping bags in the parking lot) we woke up, checked in at 5 am, and drove onto the ferry. The ferry ride was pretty cool. It was a 3 hour drive from Picton to Wellington, which is the lower part of the north island. When we got off the ferry at around 9:30 am, we spent the better part of the day in Wellington, just walking around the city and enjoying a break from driving. After walking around Wellington and enjoying the city, we hopped back in the car mid-afternoon, and drove up to Whanganui National Park where we spent the night camping. Whanganui is located more towards the western and southern part of the north island. We pulled our cars right up to the campsite and because of our lack of tents (which we later purchased more), some people slept in the car, some slept outside on sleeping bags, and 3 of us in a tent.
Sleeping the night before the ferry
Sunday, August 30 - We woke up early in Whanganui and gathered our things before going on a hike (or a tramp as kiwis would say). Right next to our campsite there was a 5 hour long track each way. Because we had to get back on the road later that day we only hiked a couple hours and then decided to turn back. Although it wasn't as scenic as other hikes we've done, it was still good to get out and do something active and to hike in a new area too. After our hike, despite being soaking wet from the rain, we all hopped back in the cars and continued driving. Our next destination was Raglan, a surf town on the west coast about 4 hours north of Whanganui. We stayed there for two nights in a very cool hostel.
Monday, August 31/Tuesday, September 1 - The next two days we spent exploring the scenery that Raglan had to offer. A couple of us brought surfboards and gear hoping to surf (because Raglan is known for amazing surfing) but the waves were massive and choppy the whole time we were there. A big bowl of chop. So instead, we drove to a couple beaches and relaxed and also went kayaking. Some of us used the ocean kayaks and went across to the bay to an area for cliff jumping. My friend Christoph and I decided to take out the other kayaks and just cruise around the estuary in front of the hostel, which was very scenic and relaxing. Wetsuits were a must for the cliff jumpers. Even though the water was warmer than Dunedin it was still freezing. I didn't wear one kayaking but I can assure you that after kayaking, the hot tub in the hostel felt amazing. Tuesday afternoon, we drove to Auckland which is about 2 hours north of Raglan. We stayed in Auckland for a few hours and walked around just enjoying another new city. Auckland is New Zealand's biggest city with around 1.5 million people. Because most of the country is so laid back and slow-moving, it felt weird being in a fast-paced big city, especially because I had only been driving in NZ for a few days. After a few hours, we decided not to spend a night in Auckland and just to drive up to the Bay of Islands, way up on the northeast coast of the tip of the north island. Tuesday night we decided to camp in the Bay of Islands and drove our cars up this dirt road in the forest and literally parked on the side of the road, walked into the forest with our gear, and set up a campsite in a random spot. This is where we camped for the next three nights.
Wednesday, September 2 - after driving and walking around the bay of islands and simply taking in the amazing scenery, we decided to go for a hike. It was a very cool jungle-like hike through the forest along a river until we got to a cool waterfall at the end. We had some bad luck with rain again but it was worth it. The entire hike was 10 km roundtrip.
Thursday, September 3 - Thursday might have been the most fun day of the entire trip. After a fun night of camping, we packed up our things at around 9:30 am and drove tot he pier in town. We decided to rent two boats and go for a cruise. The Bay of Islands is a chain of 144 small islands all clustered together in what creates a massive bay. It is a very, very cool area and it was really fun to be able to explore the islands on our own. The 9 of us rented two small 90 hp speed boats for 5 hours and spent the better part of the day driving around, seeing all of the islands from the water, and anchoring and spending time on a random beach. The water was still very cold, but the sun was out and it felt great to get some warm sun in compared to Dunedin's cold rainy weather. We camped again that night.
Friday, September 4 - Friday was another relaxing day. We decided we wanted to spend our last night before driving back in a hostel instead of in the woods. So after waking up Friday morning we loaded the cars and drove straight to a hostel so we could have somewhere to relax during the day. It was another very cool hostel with very cool people. This place had a hot tub, a game room with a pool table, ping pong table, dartboard, a tv room, a big kitchen, and free kayaks and bikes to use. All of this for $20 NZ ($13 US) for a whole day and the night! After getting settled we all decided to do different things. Me and 4 others drove to the west coast where we planned on going sandboarding. After that fell through we just hungout on a beach all day, hiked some sand dunes, and saw some wild seals in the ocean. We also went to this forest that has the largest tree in NZ. I believe it was 58 meters tall and 15 meters wide if I remember.
Saturday September 5/Sunday, September 6 - We woke up early and drove straight through to Dunedin. A 24 hour drive with a 3 hour rest on the ferry in between. I took the night shift from Whanganui to Wellington, slept 3 hours on the ferry, and then drove from 5:00 til around 10:00 to Christchurch. I really enjoyed the morning shift because the sunrise along the coast was amazing. It was a really fun roadtrip, but after all of that driving it felt great to be back in Dunedin.
Here is a picture that shows where we drove in New Zealand. My school is on the southeast coast of the south island in Dunedin. We drove a total of 3700 km (about 2500 miles) roundtrip.
I finally have taken the time to post pictures online. They are on facebook. Because it takes so long to upload pictures to Blogspot, I am posting the link instead.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2048477&id=1145100154&ref=mf
Enjoy.
Monday, August 31/Tuesday, September 1 - The next two days we spent exploring the scenery that Raglan had to offer. A couple of us brought surfboards and gear hoping to surf (because Raglan is known for amazing surfing) but the waves were massive and choppy the whole time we were there. A big bowl of chop. So instead, we drove to a couple beaches and relaxed and also went kayaking. Some of us used the ocean kayaks and went across to the bay to an area for cliff jumping. My friend Christoph and I decided to take out the other kayaks and just cruise around the estuary in front of the hostel, which was very scenic and relaxing. Wetsuits were a must for the cliff jumpers. Even though the water was warmer than Dunedin it was still freezing. I didn't wear one kayaking but I can assure you that after kayaking, the hot tub in the hostel felt amazing. Tuesday afternoon, we drove to Auckland which is about 2 hours north of Raglan. We stayed in Auckland for a few hours and walked around just enjoying another new city. Auckland is New Zealand's biggest city with around 1.5 million people. Because most of the country is so laid back and slow-moving, it felt weird being in a fast-paced big city, especially because I had only been driving in NZ for a few days. After a few hours, we decided not to spend a night in Auckland and just to drive up to the Bay of Islands, way up on the northeast coast of the tip of the north island. Tuesday night we decided to camp in the Bay of Islands and drove our cars up this dirt road in the forest and literally parked on the side of the road, walked into the forest with our gear, and set up a campsite in a random spot. This is where we camped for the next three nights.
Wednesday, September 2 - after driving and walking around the bay of islands and simply taking in the amazing scenery, we decided to go for a hike. It was a very cool jungle-like hike through the forest along a river until we got to a cool waterfall at the end. We had some bad luck with rain again but it was worth it. The entire hike was 10 km roundtrip.
Thursday, September 3 - Thursday might have been the most fun day of the entire trip. After a fun night of camping, we packed up our things at around 9:30 am and drove tot he pier in town. We decided to rent two boats and go for a cruise. The Bay of Islands is a chain of 144 small islands all clustered together in what creates a massive bay. It is a very, very cool area and it was really fun to be able to explore the islands on our own. The 9 of us rented two small 90 hp speed boats for 5 hours and spent the better part of the day driving around, seeing all of the islands from the water, and anchoring and spending time on a random beach. The water was still very cold, but the sun was out and it felt great to get some warm sun in compared to Dunedin's cold rainy weather. We camped again that night.
Friday, September 4 - Friday was another relaxing day. We decided we wanted to spend our last night before driving back in a hostel instead of in the woods. So after waking up Friday morning we loaded the cars and drove straight to a hostel so we could have somewhere to relax during the day. It was another very cool hostel with very cool people. This place had a hot tub, a game room with a pool table, ping pong table, dartboard, a tv room, a big kitchen, and free kayaks and bikes to use. All of this for $20 NZ ($13 US) for a whole day and the night! After getting settled we all decided to do different things. Me and 4 others drove to the west coast where we planned on going sandboarding. After that fell through we just hungout on a beach all day, hiked some sand dunes, and saw some wild seals in the ocean. We also went to this forest that has the largest tree in NZ. I believe it was 58 meters tall and 15 meters wide if I remember.
Saturday September 5/Sunday, September 6 - We woke up early and drove straight through to Dunedin. A 24 hour drive with a 3 hour rest on the ferry in between. I took the night shift from Whanganui to Wellington, slept 3 hours on the ferry, and then drove from 5:00 til around 10:00 to Christchurch. I really enjoyed the morning shift because the sunrise along the coast was amazing. It was a really fun roadtrip, but after all of that driving it felt great to be back in Dunedin.
Here is a picture that shows where we drove in New Zealand. My school is on the southeast coast of the south island in Dunedin. We drove a total of 3700 km (about 2500 miles) roundtrip.
I finally have taken the time to post pictures online. They are on facebook. Because it takes so long to upload pictures to Blogspot, I am posting the link instead.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2048477&id=1145100154&ref=mf
Enjoy.
