Part one: Auckland to Tongariro National Park. Today was the first full day of driving like a Kiwi! And it was a successful one! No turning onto the wrong side, no getting lost and no accidents. Traffic around Auckland was not bad and once we were outside the city, it was pretty light. The scenery outside Auckland was mostly rolling hills with lots of cows and sheep. The speed limit on the main roads is 100 km/hr (about 60 mph) and in towns is 50 km/h. So even though the distances are small, it takes longer to get places due to the slower speed and winding roads. Our first stop was the Waitomo Glowworm Cave. It took us about 2 and a half hours to get to the Cave and we arrived in time to take the 11:00 tour. You start with a walk through parts of the cave, learning the history and about how the cave was formed. The cave was first discovered by a Maori leader in the 1880s. Since that time, the cave has slowly been made accessible to visitors. The main draw is the glowworm population. They are basically teeny tiny flies that spin a sticky thread and sit inside it. Then they glow to attract other insects for food. The brighter the glow, the hungrier they are. The cave tour ends with a silent boat ride in the dark along the river at the bottom of the cave. It is amazing to sit in silence staring up at the hundreds of little glowing lights that look like stars. Renee and I truly enjoyed the tour and it was worth the slight detour off the highway and the entrance fee. We had a nice lunch of PB&J in the parking lot and then continued on our way. The road became windier and the scenery more and more beautiful. It was nice that the traffic was so light as I wasn’t rushed and was able to drive the speed I was comfortable at. By the time we got to our hotel at the park, it was cloudy and starting to drip. We were able to check in and then took a drive into Tongariro Park. The goal was to take the road to see Mordor. Unfortunately, the clouds blocked all views. That was fine with me because the road was so steep and windy and I usually have my eyes closed when driving on such roads. This time I was the driver and had to watch where I was going. Renee was disappointed that we weren’t able to see Mount Doom or any Orcs. We also did not see any Kiwi birds, but did see a sign on the road warning to watch for them at night. Our hotel, The Park Travelers Lodge, was more geared towards the backpackers who frequent the park. We did have a room with two twin beds and a tiny bathroom. We had dinner at the Lodge and shared an order of bruschetta and a bacon cheeseburger and fries. It was delicious. Then we settled in for the night. Unfortunately, the other residents didn’t seem to want to go to bed and were out in the hot tub outside our room from probably 1 AM to who knows when. So it was probably good that we went to bed at 7 since we were awake for several hours in the early morning.
Part Two: Tongariro to Wellington. We woke up to pouring rain and gusty northerlies (saw that in the newspaper and I love that description!). Luckily it was down to a drizzle when we had to load up the car. The drive to Wellington was lots of up and down hill, tons of curves and, since it was raining most of the time, I was going pretty slow. The good thing is that New Zealand drivers are pretty polite and I never felt too pressured to go faster. There are lots of places to pull over and let others pass and we also stopped at a few scenic waysides. One was a nice waterfall and others were just nice lookouts over valleys. Eventually we descended out of the hills and the road became a little straighter. The rain was around most of the day and varied from a light mist to a full on downpour. Luckily, the downpours were after we were out of the winding mountain roads. About an hour outside of Wellington, we came around a curve and there on the right was the Tasman Sea! The waves were huge and the road went right along the coast. I was hoping for a place to pull over, but they were on the other side of the road so we weren’t able to get any photos. It was such a sight when we rounded that corner! You then head back inland and come into Wellington, which is in what looks like a bay. Our hotel is up on a hill and our room faces a garden area. After we checked in, we put on our rain gear and headed down the hill into the city. Went to the Te Papa Museum, which is a free museum with lots of exhibits about New Zealand. There was a special exhibit with an actual colossal squid! It was pretty gross. Then we headed out to find the way to the Mt. Victoria lookout. I guess this is also featured in LOTR. Luckily for us, it required a very steep uphill walk. The walk was labeled easy and if that was easy, I would hate to see the moderate kind! We only went halfway because it was just too far and I could not go up anymore. So we walked back down, back to the center of town, got McDonalds and walked back to the hotel. I am glad we are taking a 3 hour ferry ride tomorrow as my feet cannot take much more walking! Hope to post again in a few days!
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