Whitianga & New Plymouth, New Zealand

The scenery here has not been over-hyped; it's just as pretty as everyone says it is. We stayed the first night on the harbor in Auckland, looking out over the city lights and the boats (and enjoying the cool weather, after finally taking a shower that actually felt clean). We didn't do much exploring since we will be going back to Auckland before we fly to the south island. Our main challenge in Auckland was getting the rental car- driving on the wrong side of the road is so bizarre! But interestingly enough, the hardest part isn't actually staying on the left side of the road, it's using the blinkers- they are now on the right side of the steering wheel, which means we keep wiping the windshield when we turn.

Our first destination after Auckland was the Coromandel Peninsula. Shortly after you leave Auckland, the roads here turn into windy, narrow, hilly roads with insanely high speed limits and crazy drivers willing to test that limit, so we were passed many times en route. However, the peninsula is gorgeous. Stunning cliffs bank the ocean, looking out over rocky towers jutting up out of the ocean. Nearby, forests are bursting with trees and birds you've never seen. We did some sightseeing at the beautiful Cathedral Cove, where a natural arch frames one of the rock towers, and then enjoyed the natural hot springs bubbling up at the hot water beach- they are apparently a blazing hot 65 degrees Celsius! You have to build a fortress around a mix of the hot spring water and the cold ocean water in order to create a reasonably hot pool, but ours kept getting destroyed by the incoming tide, so fortunately a nearby family offered us their well-established pool when they left.

In the Coromandel peninsula, we were treated to our first taste of the "real" fruit of New Zealand, the feijoa. Our host at a winery informed us that despite being called kiwis, New Zealanders don't actually eat the kiwi fruit much- they're named after the bird. What they do eat is the feijoa, a sweet green fruit also found in Brazil. They're out of season right now, but fortunately he keeps some frozen just for this purpose. It was delicious! Even more delicious, though, were the feijoa cider and liquer- yum!

Next we journeyed to the New Plymouth region of NZ, rarely visited even by kiwis. We had the pleasure of staying with a lovely couple of Canadians in the process of moving to NZ, and they were spectacular hosts. Our first night, we climbed the nearby Paratutu hill for a panoramic view of the city and the harbor- a rough climb that in the States would have been prohibited, but here they just put up some chains to help you on your way. They also took us for a hike in the foothills of Mt Taranaki, which brings you through pastures of baby cows, sheep, and full-sized cows while climbing makeshift stairs over electric fences! The forest here looked distinctly jungly, and our final destination, an old gold mine, was straight out of a movie. We got caught in a torrential downpour on the hike down; the winds were gusting so strongly that it was actually raining sideways! Being on the incredibly exposed ridges of the pastures, our left sides got soaked (although our rights stayed suspiciously dry), but we still enjoyed the hike.

In New Plymouth, we also enjoyed the Puke Ariki museum, fought seagulls for some excellent fish n chips (and pineapple fritters- yum!), sampled a selection of New Zealand beers and ciders (they have a lot more ciders here than in the States- frequently even in tap!), and attempted to learn to surf! Our hosts had boards and wetsuits, and it went ok- we each at least managed to stand up on the easier board- until I smashed my hand with the surfboard and we had to end our day early. Don't worry, the concensus was that it isn't broken, but it sure did swell up a lot, and turned some really fantastic colors! Despite that, though, we had an excellent time on the first half of our North Island adventure.