Northland to Southland

My first post from New Zealand!  I've only been in the country for eight days and already it seems like longer.  When we first arrived, my boyfriend Cory and I rented a stationwagon in Auckland and took to the highway headed north, destination, well, north.  Driving on the left side of the road took a little getting used to, but we managed for five days unscathed - except that every time we wanted to turn, we turned on the windshield wipers instead of the blinker; the levers are reversed from the way they are in US cars.

Armed with Cory's GPS and some excellent road signs, we followed the Twin Coast Discovery scenic route upwards along Northland's eastern coast, marveling at the green countryside and lack of interesting radio.  On a whim, we stopped at some hot springs I'd heard about and decided a dip in the warm water was a good way to wash off the seventeen-hour flight.  Clean and relaxed, we pulled over in a parking lot before a toll road for some sandwich dinners and some zzz's.  We awoke early in the morning to some flashing lights outside our car, and since neither of us can see past the point of our noses without glasses or contacts, we spent a few frenzied seconds of thinking we were in police trouble until we found our glasses and realized it was the lead car for a caravan of overloaded semis driving the windy road in the wee hours of the morning to avoid traffic.  A couple hours later, we hit the road again, as the sun rose to our right, and on another whim (are we noticing a pattern yet?) found this lovely beach, which we had all to ourselves for a yummy breakfast.

Scenery along the road.

Still undecided about our destination, we stopped at a coffee shop and did some research - we had two days before our return to Auckland and too many sights to be able to catch them all.  We decided to head as far north as we could, so that we could start recovering ground on the way back to the city.  This choice took us up to Rarawa Bay and a long, windy white sand beach which we once again had to ourselves.  Tired of being cooped up in the car for most of the day, we went for a nice stroll, and found some incredible shells - up to the point of there being all shells and no sand in some alcoves between the big rocks on the beach.  I've never seen so many in one place before.  As Cory put it, this was a beach waiting to happen.

The next day took us to the western coast along fun windy roads until we reached this lookout point over Hokainga Harbour, where we wandered along the coastal walkway for a good few hours.

We walked down to that beach.

The little sea lion friend I made in a sea cave.  She actually hissed at Cory when we first walked in and then I just sat looking at her for a while and realized that she was pretty young and probably injured, because all she moved was her head.  Her eyes told me she was in pain.  It took all I had to walk away without helping her, but there was nothing I could've done.  :(

Little mussels the size of my fingernails growing on the rocks.

Next, our road turned south to the Waipoua Forest, with a beautiful lush environment and the largest Kauri trees around.

The largest Kauri tree in the world.

The Cathedral Grove.

The following day on our way back to Auckland, we stopped for a hike at the Dome Forest lookout, a steep set of stairs leading to a viewpoint over the valley to the south.  A tougher muddier trail continued on from the lookout, down the Dome Hill and up and over the next one too.  It ended in another grove of giant Kauri trees, though not nearly as large as the ones we saw the day before.

Climbing on a fallen Kauri.

Refreshed from a dirty forest adventure, we made our way back to the city (ah, the traffic!), returned the car, and checked into a budget hotel near the airport.  Our way of splurging.  The next morning meant our flight to Queenstown, the adventure capital city of the South Island.  It was wonderful to see mountains again, even with a good bit of snow on them, and the young active vibe of the town was fun.  We spent the day exploring the area in the rain until Sunday, when I hopped on a bus down to Te Anau, my new home away from home until the end of April.  Here are some shots from the drive down:

The Remarkables over the Kawarau River.

The Remarkables are truly remarkable.

Some of the Fiordland mountains.

Since arriving in Te Anau, I've started working for the Department of Conservation (DOC, said like dock) in the Fiordland National Park Visitor Centre (VC) and fallen in love with the area.  Everyone that I've met thus far has been really nice, and actually quite international - in the VC alone, we have Kiwis, Brits, Swiss, Dutch, Germans, Japanese, and one US-ian.  In that sense it's far more diverse than I would've hoped for, and I don't feel as strange about being a foreigner working for the NZ government.  I've got a steep learning curve since I don't know much about the area, but my boss Megan has planned a long training for us (myself and two other new girls) so that we all have time to let things sink in before we start actually helping people in the VC.  I've not been here that long, but I feel I'm settling in nicely and I see a lot of possibility for it to be a very good summer indeed.

Love, yours truly.


P.S. A picture of me and Cory in Salida, for those of you who are curious.  He's had a haircut since then, I promise.

All photography copyright Kendall DeLyser.