I’m doing it! Finally going to New Zealand to visit my two travel buddies, Dana and Hayden! They live in Wanganui, towards the south of the North Island. To get all the way there, I’ll fly from Boston to LA, wait around several hours, then take the 13 hour flight to Auckland… officially my longest flight ever! Yikes! Haha, here we go! Oh, and then another hour flight down to their town a day or two later. So much travel time!
I’m happy to say, the 13-hour flight wasn’t that bad! I mean, it was long, and my ankles were swollen by the end, but I actually slept, and I fared much better than I thought I would. I guessed I would be very restless and annoyed and just dying to get off the plane, but I suppose I was so tired that I knocked out, and that was that. In total, I flew for about 19 hours before arriving in Auckland.
While waiting in the immigration and customs line, a woman walking near me, also sporting a Cotopaxi Allpa 35L bag (is that the international symbol for a backpacker? Haha). She asked if I was a solo traveler as well! I said yes, and we shared snippets of what we’d be doing in New Zealand, and we realized we are staying at the same hostel! What a coincidence! Although, it IS the first hostel that pops up when searching for Auckland. 🤣 She offered to share an Uber with me, but before leaving the US, I booked the “Super Shuttle” from the airport into town. A great service for around $20 USD; a shared van ride with hotel drop-offs! Perfect! So my new friend, Julia and I, parted ways for now, but hoped to meet up back at the hostel.
I arrived at the Lylo Hostel too early to check in, but they had a luggage room for my backpack while I left to explore the city! Nothing like starting the adventure immediately, hehe. First up on my list was to buy sunscreen and other small toiletries I didn’t want to travel with. The sun here, I was warned, “just hits different,” haha. On my weather app, it also showed the UV index at a 10. So, yeah, I want the sunscreen, hehe.
On my walk, I quickly realized just how hilly Auckland is! I had no idea and was quite surprised by that, haha. It felt good, though, after sitting for so long, to walk around and move my legs. I quickly decided I needed a coffee for both caffeination and planning; perfect excuse for a pit stop. Hehe
I ultimately decided to go up to the Sky Tower to see Auckland from above. I debated, but I was right next door, so it was an easy thing to check off the list. It was nice; the views were fabulous, but unless you wanted to buy refreshments or do the Sky Walk or Sky Jump, there wasn’t much to do once you were up there.
Something Hayden recommended I do was check out Mt. Eden, a volcanic hill right in Auckland. Turns out there are several of these scattered around the city. And you know I love a good volcano, hehe. No matter the size. This was easily my favorite part of the city, and it confirmed my realization that I prefer nature to cities. Auckland is lovely: clean, tons of places to eat, the people are friendly, but, send me out into the woods, please. lol.
I discovered a long “city trail” on All Trails that included three of these volcanic peaks. I ended up doing a second peak, Mt. Hobson, and it was beautiful from the top, but after a 40-minute walk to get there, I felt more impressed by Mt. Eden. Although, I witnessed the strangest thing: two young girls “sledding” down tall grass on the hill. Hahaha. Is this a thing here in Auckland?
At this point, I decided it was time to try out the public transit. I checked online to see if you could tap to pay, and you can! I may be behind the times, but I don’t think that’s totally universal yet? 🤔 However, not needing to find a transit card kiosk to purchase the card and load money on said card, is SO AMAZING. I feel like I can go anywhere! Haha. The bus I took was a double decker, and you betcha I was on the top, enjoying some city views.
By the time I got back to the hostel, I was able to check in, and this was done at little iPad stations. I opted to stay in a dorm room with “pods.” The pods are nearly enclosed/built-in bunk beds. They offer more privacy than typical bunks with no curtains or anything to close yourself off. I will say it feels like a cozy little cocoon! Hehe, I love it! 🤗 Except that the rooms are hot, and if you close the sliding door of the pod, it’s even hotter, haha. Oh well, I guess my New England blood will have to adapt. 😅.
Overall, the Lylo hostel is awesome! It was recommended to me by a co-worker, and I am super pleased with it. It was easily one of the best hostels I’ve ever stayed in. And the largest. The room network is crazy!
I ran into my new friend Julia, and she didn’t have any dinner plans for the evening, and I happened to have made a reservation at a restaurant called Ahi for a tasting menu experience. Julia was interested in joining me, and I was able to have them add her to my reservation! Yay! So after I had a MUCH needed shower after traveling for nearly 24 hours and hiking and walking around the city… we met up and walked down to the Queenswharf neighborhood right by the water. It was a beautiful walk down hill… That return walk is gonna be rough, haha 😅.
The tasting experience was incredible! Not super cheap, but it was worth a splurge, and I never wanted it to end. I highly recommend that restaurant… each dish was such a perfect combination of flavors. I also tried an orange wine for the first time. It gets its orange hue from the grape skins that are left on during the fermentation of the wine.
On our walk back to the hostel, we saw the Sky Tower all lit up for Chinese New Year. The tower changes it colors for different holidays and charities. So neat!
Rangitoto Island:
I woke up pretty early today, perhaps due to the jet lag… hehe. The breakfast at the hostel doesn’t start until 7:30 AM, which feels so late! lol. I eventually made my way down and enjoyed my coffee and a delicious eggs benedict and worked on writing from the first day of adventures in Auckland.
As I was trying to write the blog, I was also attempting to plan my day. Turns out, I waited too long the day before to book a day tour for today. Whoops! 😅 I had been heavily considering a day tour to the Coromandel Peninusla. However, I had been told this area of the North Island is amazing and should be visited with plenty of time to enjoy it, and it should not be rushed. Well, chances are, on a day tour, it would be rushed. So I debated and debated until it was too late, lol. Which was honestly fine for me. One less decision to make. 😅🤣 So, that left me with a wide open day to fill.
I ultimately decided to take the ferry over to Rangitoto Island. It’s a prominent sight across the bay when looking out from the city. I saw it many times yesterday when walking around the city, and especially from atop the small volcanic peaks.
I took the 10:30 AM ferry and opted for the 2:30 PM ferry back to Auckland. It didn’t seem like I’d need more time than that, but once I got there, I realized how long each “track” (trail) would take. I asked the park ranger if it was possible to take the last ferry at 3:30, even though I had purchased my ticket for the hour prior. She told me it was highly likely I would be able to and recommended a loop that should take about 3.5 hours to complete.
I started off fast, thinking I could probably walk the entirety much faster than the suggested times, and if I had to, I could run a bit, and maybe accomplish that distance before the 2:30 PM ferry.
Back on course to the summit, I was hustling uphill, my calves screaming, hehe. I’ve recently learned that I am a stair person, not a gradual incline person. Give me stairs all day long! Haha. Before I knew it, I made it to the crater viewpoint. It immediately reminded me of “El Boqueron” in El Salvador. A fully vegetated crater, it is almost difficult to see the iconic shape of the crater, but a volcanic crater nonetheless. I scurried up to the summit viewpoint and took in the beautiful turquoise waters of the bay surrounding Auckland.
The hike up was through a lot of lava fields, and I was so excited to see the black porous lava rock! Hehe. Anything that has to do with volcanoes… Sign me up! 😁🌋 One of the off-shoot tracks was to see some lava caves. I’ve had the fortune of seeing these before and actually being able to walk through them. The ones I encountered on Rangitoto Island were less susceptible for people walking into them and, rather, truly, looked like simple cave entrances rather than full-on tunnels. I was a little disappointed but would have regretted not taking the side route to check them out.
I originally anticipated going around the loop the park ranger had originally suggested, but I ended up back on the summit trail, headed back to the wharf. While realizing my mistake, I decided I didn’t want to hike for the full 3.5 hours, and it would be lovely to find a cozy spot and just enjoy the scenery. And that is exactly what I did. Well, after walking even more. Hehe.
I took the McKenzie Bay Road to Flax Point, which boasted a beautiful view of Auckland. Along the way, I found a lovely little bench and stopped there to lay down on my way back, soaking up the warm weather and the sound of the water crashing on the lava rocks. I waited here until I saw the 2:30 ferry arriving, and I knew I had my fill. I was eager to find some local beer to sample. 😁🍻
There was a brewery right near the wharf, and it happened to be a rooftop location, so that was the easy winner right there. I tried their rotating hazy IPA on tap, and it was quite nice! I don’t usually gravitate towards the IPAs, but I liked this one. And I ordered a ceviche to start. And it was made with coconut cream! Oh. My. God. Was it delicious. I immediately asked my friends who live in NZ if this was normal. It was not confirmed, and now the challenge is on: order ceviche wherever I can while traveling here, and see what it’s like. I will say, so far, my favorite food in NZ has been the seafood. Lots of raw fish. Yum! Hehe. While doing the dinner tasting with my newest solo traveler friend, Julia, I realized I prefer to eat raw fish to cooked fish! #themoreyouknow
After enjoying a margarita pizza to replenish the energy spent on hiking, I walked back up to the hostel, where I quickly gathered my iPad and headphones, as I KNEW, if I dawdled too long in the room, I’d end up staying and napping, lol. I wanted to be sure to write about today to keep up to date with the blog since, apparently, that escapes me sometimes. 😅
Tonight, I have no plans but to… relax? Does that ever happen on vacation? Lol. Tomorrow will be an early start for the Hobbiton Tour! Hooray! 😁
Taking Off With Amelia 