Long gone, but now back… sort of. :)
In the morning (see previous New Zealand posts), we headed to Taupo (“toe-paw”), but first took a brief detour to the Murupara Area School, where we delivered extra hangi from the previous night’s feast. (We’d all pitched in to help package and refrigerate the leftover hangi, after the meal.) The Murupara area has many Maori…
Taupo (the town and eponymous lake) was our next stop (see previous New Zealand posts); a 2-night stay that would allow the group to scatter for planned or ad hoc activities. But before I get to that, let me jump ahead a bit with this silliness: On the afternoon when we arrived at Lake Taupo…
After lunch in Te Puia (see previous New Zealand posts), we next headed out into the very rural countryside, to the Kohutapu Tribal Lodge, where we’d have a communal Maori meal and stay the night. On the way to the lodge, we stopped for a brief hike to some stone carvings made by the original…
We didn’t have far to go the next day, so we had an easy, 10AM start in Rotorua (see previous New Zealand posts). Piling back into the bus, we rode the short distance to the Te Puia Maori complex, featuring a “living village;” an outstanding cultural center; traditional schools you can tour (e.g. watching master…
Rotorua was to be our base of operations for the day, as members of our group scattered off to different prearranged and ad-hoc activities and locations. (See previous New Zealand posts.) My wife went to the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves; where bioluminescent fungus gnat larvae dot the walls and ceilings. I went on a self-guided…
After a reasonably comfortable night in a small cabin (see previous New Zealand posts), we joined the group for breakfast — fixings for make-your-own hot or cold breakfasts are included in the Haka tour; but lunches and dinners are on your own — and then we headed out for a long and interesting day. First,…
We’d signed up with Haka Tours for their “North Island Adventure Tour;” scheduled to originate at breakfast at a backpacker’s hostel in Auckland. Early Sunday morning, we Uber-ed from our airport hotel to the hostel. (There’s no Lyft in NZ, and I had trouble setting up the local rideshare company accounts — Ola, Zoomy, etc….
It took 2 flights and 22 hours in the air to travel the approximately 10,000 miles (16,000km) from Boston to New Zealand via San Francisco. We left Boston on a Thursday afternoon, and touched down in Auckland around dawn Saturday. The domestic flight, Boston to San Francisco, was on United; cattle car seating with stroopwafels…
I just got back from an 18-day trip to New Zealand. It was wonderful. For example, this was the view behind our first-night’s hotel, just outside Auckland: It got better from there. 🙂 Over the next few days, I’ll post some notes and pix from the trip which I hope will ease any winter blahs…
