Must-Do When In Auckland #2

Only an 11 dollar ferry ride away, right across the harbor from Auckland, is the town of Devonport. In an earlier blog post I noted how seeing the city of Auckland from the height of Mt. Eden was a must do, well this is one of those as well. The view from across the harbor is uniquely different, and equally as spectacular.

The hike up Mount Victoria

View of Auckland City from North Head

One lazy Sunday afternoon my spontaneous and always full of energy friend, Chris, came downstairs, collected myself and my friend Eric, and told us we were going to go check out Devonport. After a run down Queenstreet and barely making the ferry we were on our way.

No sooner than getting there did Chris excitedly explain to us that he wanted to climb the two giant hills we had seen on the way in. Later on I found out that these “hills”, Mount Victoria and North Head, are actually old volcanoes. Looking down at my feet in flip-flops I realized I was not prepared for this hike. Seeing the coal black pavement I was on daunted me as I could feel the heat of the day rising off of it as well. Brand new water bottle in hand, I sucked it up and followed Chris and Eric.

Soon enough the pavement turned to grass. All I could see looking upwards ahead of me was this pale yellow-green springtime grass reaching for what seemed like it could have been miles (huge exaggeration). The only thing that I could see beyond this was the crystal clear, baby blue sky with this one wispy angelic white cloud. While one would think this perfectly picturesque sight would have calmed me down it only daunted me further. I knew that this straggly and bushy grass, combined with the steepness of the slope would only make things slippery. And yes, I did slip and fall on the way back down.

Auckland City on the left, and Mount Victoria on the right

All things aside, the treacherous steep hikes up these mounts proved to be worth it in the end. Set against the deep teal of the ocean water in the harbor, the city of Auckland looked like a shimmering mass of silver and white. The fluffy and friendly marshmallow clouds completed the serenity of the view. I even had a better view of the volcano Rangitoto. Being closer to it, this faded brown land mass set against the array and gradient of all these different amazing shades of blue perfection certainly makes it seem very mysterious looking indeed. 

Disneyworld is Overrated

Disneyworld is seriously overrated is what I’ve decided after our final Loyola trip to Rotorua and Taupo. Disneyworld works really hard to take you on all these magical rides, adventures, and journeys, but really they are all just crafted and fake. All I have to say is if you want a real life experience of rides with thrills take my advice and go to the following four places for some extraordinary times that are out of this world (or at least they aren’t in the US).

Waitomo Glow Worm Caves

On our first day in Taupo we visited the famous Waitomo Glow Worm Caves; they were truly unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Upon entering, the caves blew a fresh breathe of cool air my way that tingled my spine. In two very different ways were these caves giving me the chills. As our guide led us through I couldn’t help but marvel at all these stalagmites and stalactites posing ever so stilly for me. He explained to us how if we looked at certain ones we could make out different images. He showed us one set of stalactites that very closely resembled the castle of Hogwarts. Pressing onwards he brought us deeper into a back part of the cave. As the darkness encircled us, and our eyes adjusted, all of a sudden all these brightly glowing glow worms began to pierce our eyes. Our guide warned us that we were in for a lot more than what we were just seeing, and guaranteed us we were about to take the boat ride of our lives. Turning down a different corridor the darkness cackled in our faces and became quiet daunting. Not really quiet sure where I was being led, I managed to make my way into a boat of sorts. I can’t say that I can explain it because I couldn’t see anything. As the boat pushed off through the water there was dead silence.  The air the water both eerily crept along with us. When I looked above me though, absolute amazement took over. It was a sight that I have never seen before and will always remember, millions and millions of glowing specs on the cave ceilings, the glow worms. Cameras weren’t allowed inside so sadly I have no pictures to share. But trust me; it is worth going and seeing for yourself.

Hukajet

New Zealand has this pretty cool invention that is what they consider to be a jetboat. While this might sound pretty lame and boring, it certainly is quite the opposite. These jetboats use they water they are on to propel themselves forward by ejecting a jet stream of water out of the back. When it comes to shallow waters they come in very handy. The jetboat we went on was called the Hukafalls Jet, since it was taking us to see the Huka Falls. The second day of our trip, in Rotorua, we went on this boat. Once we were all on the boat our driver told us that if we saw him put his finger up in a circling motion that we were to hold on, it was going to be one hell of a crazy ride. During that whole ride to the falls it was if nature was out for some skin. Trees kept jumping out at us, shallow waters teased us, and rock walls laughed right in our faces. Our driver, one could say, was pretty skilled in cutting it just close enough in order to get a rise of thrilling/scared excitement out of us. Once we got to the falls, we saw another jetboat splurging right into the rapids. Our driver took it as a challenge to do it better. Never have I ever been up that close and personal to the main attraction of the day. I’m glad he took the challenge.

Zorbing

What in God’s name is zorbing you may be asking yourself right now. Well only one of New Zealand’s greatest inventions that the rest of the world is certainly missing out on. For me, this was the highlight of day 3 in Rotorua. For all of you kiddies who don’t know what zorbing is, allow me to grace you with my knowledge. Zorbing is the recreational sport of going downhill in what is essentially a giant hamster ball made out of plastic. For us we had two options of different zorb experiences to partake in. The first was being strapped in, so, as the ball rotated so did you. The second option was not being strapped in, and having water splashed in, so that as you rolled down the hill you were sloshed around everywhere (the more fun option). Naturally we all chose option #2, and got in pairs of three to go down. Zorbing, this was an experience like no other. It was almost as if we were going down a water slide, which course had no set direction and could change as it pleased. The ball would chuck us one way and then spin us around so that we were going another. It threw us for a loop of utter un-expectance. For the last group going down, the people working there told us we were all going to run up the hill and lay down so that this zorb would run us all over. As we all lay down on the grass, the giant zorb bellowed toward us. Did it hurt? No. Should you try it? Yes.

Skyline Rotorua Luge

Okay, so yes I do know one can do luges in the US as well, however I can guarantee that luging anywhere in the US is not going to have the same beautiful scenery that you will find here in New Zealand. On our fourth and final day in Rotorua we all got to experience their skyline luge. Carried to the top of a mountain by a Gondola, the city of Rotorua gifted to us a picturesque view of its scenic volcanic wonderland. With this view in sight, blatantly distracting our minds, our luges raced us downhill through the forests at top speeds (or well whichever speed you decided, as you were in control of that). With the track twisting and turning us about in all different directions, my only wish is that it had been longer. New Zealand has certainly spoiled and treated me to the fullest. Luging anywhere else is never going to be the same. 

EAT THIS

Of the four days I was in Queenstown, in the south island of New Zealand, I purchased three Fergburgers. At around $13nz a piece, I have no shame or regret in spending my money on them. My only regret is not buying more and bringing the back with me.

The only food I’ve really missed or craved from back in the US whilst being here has been Mexican food, more specifically Chipotle. I would find myself at times just thinking about Chipotle and desperately craving it, getting super excited to eat it when I get back. Well, let me tell you guys Fergburger is the new Chipotle in my mind. Just even thinking and writing about it is making my mouth water. All I want right now is a Fergburger. I just can’t stop thinking about how delicious it is, and it pains me that the only food I want is still a plane ride out of my reach.

Now I know writing about all the three delicious burgers I had isn’t going to sustain my extreme appetite and desire for Fergburger right now, but really I feel this is something that needs to be shared with the world.

While there I got a Bombay Chicken Burger (grilled chicken tenderloins marinated in a chili, ginger, and coriander yoghurt with cucumber raita, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli, and mango chutney), a Holier Than Thou Burger (tempered tofu with a  spicy  satay, coconut and coriander sauce, lettuce, tomato, red onion, cucumber, snow pea shoots, and aioli), and a Bun Laden Burger (falafel patties dressed with lemon yoghurt and chipotle chili sauce, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, avocado, and aioli). The sauces were so sweet and creamy; the meat cooked to perfection; the lettuce, tomatoes and other topping all fresh and piled high; the bun so big, fresh and soft. As you can see I’m not really a big beef eater, so one of the best parts is they have different kinds of burgers for everyone! They are also open 21 hours a day from 8a.m. to 5a.m., with hours like that what could be better?

With a discovery as great as this I’ve made I just want to share how awesome these burgers are with everyone. It really saddens me that I can’t. Describing their awesomeness simply doesn’t do it justice, and it’s frustrating that I can’t just ship them to all my friends. Hopefully having a whole blog post dedicated to their superiority will help get my point across. Thanks Ferg (whoever you are) for making my life so much better. Your burgers rock!

Canyoning

I love those days where you just can’t stop smiling. Let me introduce you to an activity called canyoning, something I’m sure many of you have never heard of before. Microsoft Word doesn’t even recognize the word ‘canyoning’ as a real word, but I can assure you it is, or at least it is over here in New Zealand.

Here is how the internet defines canyoning:

canyoning
— n
	the sport of travelling down a river situated in a canyon by avariety of means  including scrambling, floating, swimming, and abseiling

On Saturday March 21^st, I had the absolute pleasure in partaking in this activity. With Awol Adventures, myself and a few other friends traveled from Auckland to the western coast of the north island to a place called Piha. Here a spectacular adventure was about to begin.

Now in order to partake in canyoning one must be wearing the finest of clothing. Everyone is our group got equipped with the most attractive and form fitting wet suits possible (I really would hope that everyone can pick up on my sarcasm). Once we were all geared up it was off to the mountain.

Before we began our hike our guide had set up two roped attached to posts to help us get a little practice in and a feel for what abseiling actually is. To further add to the beauty of our clothing he gave each of us harnesses that made us look like we had baboon butts as well. To abseil one would put the rope inside the harness, and then with one hand hold the tail end backwards behind them. Now when walking backwards if you are falling, you pull the rope tightly behind you and the way in which the rope is placed in the harness will naturally stop your fall. Everyone also worked as backup belayers at the ends of each rope to pull it tightly in case the person they were spotting was falling. After all our practice we were pretty much pro and ready to take on the waterfalls.

Hiking up a mountain in a hot and sticky wet suit is really not that much fun, but the fun we were about to have was certainly worth it. Taking those first steps over the side of the cliff to walk backwards down the waterfalls that we did was incredibly exhilarating. It was such an adrenaline rush. Besides abseiling down these waterfalls we also scaled the side of rock cliffs, climbed through caves filled with water, and even jumped off some ledges into water.

I think I have a new hobby .