We did a trip two years ago that hit most of the big tourist spots. My wife wrote up a long trip report so you can see what it was like from an American tourist prospective:
Sunday 3/25/07
We are VERY tired after our 12 hour flight to Auckland and then another 2 hour flight to Queenstown. But we manage to get out and see the town before crashing. We had lunch (served disappointingly by a guy from New Jersey) and rode the gondola to the top of the Queenstown hill. The view was amazing! We walked the 30 min hike along the top of the mountain to get blood flow back to our legs. Then, against my better judgment, we took a street luge ride down the scenic windey path and had a latte. After a little shopping and dinner we turned in for the night.
Monday 3/26/07
Fully jet lagged we are up early and after a visit to Joe’s Garage for breakfast, we are ready for our jet boat tour. The Shotover Canyon jet boats soar through beautiful canyons and can operate in as little as 4 inches of water. We flew at 80 km/hr past shear canyon walls. We spun out past rock corners coming within 20 cm of the wall. The driver made a circular hand motion and the boat pulled many 360 deg turns in small canyon spaces. It was exhilarating, but mostly beautiful scenery with stunning blue water. After drying out and having lunch we took at 2.5 hour hike through the hills surrounding Queenstown. There were shady tree covered trails, fern gullies, and waterfalls. After a nap and some shopping we caught the tail end of an impromptu native Maori concert in Queenstown harbor. Dinner and packing and we were off to sleep.
Tuesday 3/27/07
We are up with the alarm at 6:00 am and ready for our tramp (hike)! After breakfast, we don our backpacks and head for the bus station. We are transported to the start of one of New Zealand’s Great Walks- The Routeburn Track. Just a short way into the tramp we come across one of its signature swing bridges that we bounced across. We walked a gentle upgrade through mossy forests and past crystal blue rivers. We had lunch in the valley on the banks of the Routeburn river (where a glacier had created a grassy meadow) and then started our ascent from Routeburn flats to the Routeburn Falls hut where we would spend the night. After a steep ascent, past a sketchy rock slide area, a waterfall, and another swing bridge, we ended day one at a lovely hut overlooking the valley we just hiked up in just over 5 hours. We tucked into our bunk beds and rested up for day 2.
Wednesday 3/28/07
Up early again, we cooked breakfast by light of headlamps. After repacking our bags a short hike took us up to Routeburn falls- a series of waterfalls. Another short steep climb landed us in a valley surrounded by green craggy mountains. At the opposite side of the valley we ascended a steep mountain side up to BEAUTIFUL reflective Harris lake. We crossed Harris saddle to Harris shelter. Here we dropped our packs and began the side trip of a vertical ascent to the top of Conical hill. From the top we could see all the way to the ocean! After lunch we climbed/slid back down and began our alpine crossing surrounded by breathtaking views of snow capped peaks. Rounding the side of the mountain we were on, we see our first glimpse of Mackenzie Hut where we will spend night 2. It took another 2 hours on shaking tired legs to get to Mackenzie Hut as we descended sharply into the valley passing through enchanted looking moss covered forests. Arriving about 8 hours after we started, very tired, at the hut we jumped into Mackenzie lake for a VERY cold dip before changing, eating, and making conversation with a table full of Americans.
Thursday 3/29/07
Day 3 we had a bus to catch at the end of the day and so I was a little nervous about time. We walked out into the mist covered valley at 7:44 am. Then it was straight up the other side of the valley to the top of the tree climb. At the top we were back in view of the mountains we had watched yesterday. We continued weaving up and down on the trail in and out of the tree line. There were numerous waterfalls and so many pictures. About ½ way through the day we reached Earland falls which is a thundering 80 meter waterfall where we met up with the couple from Truckee, CA who we had had dinner with. From there we all hiked to Howden Hut and everyone stopped for lunch. Torrey convinced me to do the side trip to Key summit despite my nervousness on time. We therefore just about ran to the top of key summit, flew around the nature walk, and ran back down. From there it was a gentle descent on sore feet to the Divide at the end of our hike. We took a bus to Milford sound past huge bare mountains carved with Yosemite like waterfalls. Absolutely breathtaking.
Friday 3/30/07
We awoke in our hostel to the sound of our bunk mate’s snores. After breakfast, we took the shuttle to the harbor for Milford Sound. We cruised on a small 2 deck boat around the length of the sound with mountains jutting straight up from the water and large waterfalls adding a layer of fresh water over the salt water. We passed seals and got a little wet from the sprinkling rain and the waterfalls. A quick lunch at the café and then we picked up our stuff and took a bus back to Queenstown.
Saturday 3/31/07
Back at Thomas’s hotel, we slept in for the first time. After breakfast and some last time in QT shopping, we took a lazy stroll through the Queenstown gardens where we watched the ducks and smelled the roses. We had some ice cream, bought snacks at the local grocery store and then took the shuttle the airport where we flew to Auckland. Matt and Christine met us at the airport. We drove on the wrong side of the road and laughed all the way to Waitomo.
Sunday 4/1/07
All of us were up early and off to the café at the Black Water Rafting home base for breakfast. We fueled up and then headed out on our 5 hour caving adventure. We were suited up in wet suits, shorts, jackets, socks, booties, harnesses, racks for rappelling, hair nets, helmets, and lights. We rappelled down 110’ through a narrow pass into the cave. We walked through water a little ways, then did a zip line through pitch blackness to cross a crevasse. We had tea and cookies staring over the edge of a cliff. Then we jumped off the cliff into the water with an inner tube attached to our butts. We floated for awhile, made a tube train and got pulled for awhile as we stared at the glow worm constellations on the cave ceilings. We held onto each other and tried to navigate the cave in pitch darkness without our head lamps. We crawled on our bellies through narrow passages and did some rock climbing up 2 waterfalls to exit the cave. We headed home glowing with adventure, made dinner and hit the indoor rock climbing wall for 2 hours before bed time.
Monday 4/2/07
A very early start the next day landed us on the bus at 7:00 am for transport to the best day hike in all of NZ, the Tongariro Crossing. This is a hike across a volcano and was fantastically unlike anything we had done before. We walked in along a flat path over volcanic rocks and wooden bridges. We completed a VERY steep ascent that just about killed us up to South crater where we skipped the opportunity to climb straight up the side of Mt Doom (from Lord of the Rings) (Matt and Christine- were not as smart and decided to attempt it.) We crossed the flat crater and ascended steeply again to red crater. Here we took an optional side trip of a ridge hike out the to point of Mt. Tongariro. Back to red crater we stared in awe at the red and black volcanic remnants. One more steep ridge to ascend past venting steaming rocks and we were in view of the 3 crystal green emerald lakes. The whole hill smelled like sulfur and the ground was hot to the touch. Past blue lake, we rounded a ridge and began the steep and then VERY steep descent down to the end of the hike past the black water stream where we met up with a very tired and hurting Matt and Christine. This hike was FANTASTIC!! Matt needed time to recover before agreeing. A 17 km hike (plus the side trip) in just over 8 hours.
Tuesday 4/3/07
After breakfast everyone piled into the car for the drive to Rotorua. We checked into the hostel, booked some activities and then went ZORBING! We stuffed ourselves one at a time into a blow up, double layered plastic ball, filled with a little bit of water and rolled down a zigzag hill. It was AWESOME! We sloshed around like a big waterslide to the bottom of the hill. Back at the hostel we took a quick dip in the mineral water pool and then headed out for dinner (hangi) and a traditional Maori (native New Zealander) show (much like a luau). There were fierce warriors, dancing, and messages of peace. We left in good spirits with full bellies.
Wednesday 4/4/07
Rotorua is famous for it’s volcanic activity with many mud holes and vents steaming away throughout the whole city. Torrey, Matt, and Christine went off to go sledging in the morning (going down class 3 rapids with a hard boogy board, fins, and a helmet). I toured a local park with volcanic vents, went shopping and then had a massage under 6 jets spraying local mineral water. We all met back up, had ice cream and did some more shopping. We went out for Thai food and then called it a night.
Thursday 4/5/07
We drove Matt and Christine to the airport and then headed north for the long, windy, and beautiful coastal drive to the Coromandel peninsula. We passed cows, sheep, and rolling green hills. We checked into a lovely bed and breakfast for the night. After a short nap we visited Hahei, hot water beach. Here you can dig a hole in the beach, and due to the volcanic activity under the beach the hole fills in with hot tub like water. We laid in our hot tub until the tide came in and then cleaned up and took the 5 min ferry into the town of Whittianga for dinner.
Friday 4/6/07
After a lovely breakfast served on our deck in the morning, we decided to hike the coast line. We tramped across Cooks Beach (Capt Cook landed here) and collected sea shells. After a short up hike, we descended down several stair cases to Lonely Beach –so named because you can only reach it by hiking or boat. We explored the shell strewn beach and then continued our hike up to Shakespeare’s Cliff. Here we had views of all the beaches and the blue water with volcanic rock jutting out like islands throughout the bay. We hiked back to get our bathing suits and then met at Hahei beach for our kayaking adventure. We were linked up with Carlos, a classic New Zealand kayak (read same as surfer dude) bum. Carlos and his antics toured us around island volcanoes, through a cave tunnel (where Torrey and I hit the wall…twice) and onto Cathedral cove beach. We pulled the kayaks up on the beach and Carlos somehow made us cappuccinos, lattes, hot chocolates, and teas with a camping stove and a plunger thing to froth the milk. The beach was interesting with a through rock cave with a peaked ceiling (hence the cathedral cave name). Back in the kayaks, we toured past gemstone bay, and then headed back to the beach. Yeah man! Sweet as! (NZ surfer/kayaker talk)
Saturday 4/7/07
Today we drove to Auckland. We stopped to see a native Kauri tree grove and a waterfall. We checked into our last bed and breakfast and set out to explore Auckland. We took a long walk through Auckland and rode the elevator to the top of the sky tower- the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. We stared down at the harbor, volcanoes surrounding Auckland, and the city lights. A bite to eat and we called it a day.
Sunday 4/8/07- Easter!
Easter Sunday and we are in Auckland. GREAT!! Except everything is closed. We toured to the top of 2 of Aucklands volcanoes which were touristy, but you could stare down into grassy craters. On descending the 2nd volcano we came across a pasture of sheep and stopped to take pictures. We even got to pat one! We headed to the only thing open in all of Auckland… The Royal Easter Show (their version of a country fair.) We watched a cow judging contest, a senior division sheep shearing contest, a lumberjack contest, and went to the petting zoo. Then it was off to the airport for a 4 hour wait and then a 12 hour flight home. It was long, but FUN!