Day 7: Wellington
Drive: 4 hours
After a quick breakfast in National Park we were on our way to the city of Wellington. It was certainly more of a city than we had seen, and we got there ready to explore. We started with the Wellington Cable Car, which ended up being more like a trolley ride. It was a quick trip up and then we walked about exploring the Wellington Botanic Garden. It wasn't a terribly exciting garden, but a lovely walk nonetheless. We also enjoyed a beer up at the cafe prior to venturing back down in the trolley.
That evening we went out to explore the night scene, and we were thrilled we did so. We ended up at a bar called The Residence and it had quite the crowded. I imagine it was because of the $10NZD (~$6USD) pitchers that resulted in two full drinks. We made lots of new friends and thoroughly enjoyed our evening out.
Stay: Boulcott Suites (apartment suites that were quite comfortable)
Day 8: Wellington and Egmont National Park
Luckily we were feeling great after the night prior and we set off for a drive up to Mount Victoria to enjoy the view.
Next up was the Weta Workshop, a company that creates props and such for popular movies and TV shows around the world. They have a 45 minute tour that we had signed up for and it was highly rated online. Unfortunately, we really didn't enjoy it. It wasn't terribly well put together - certainly not the Disney level quality I'm used to - and there was a rather annoying woman on our tour who was a HUGE Weta fan. How you can be a movie prop maker fan is beyond me. Regardless, we enjoyed posing with the trolls in the front.
Drive: 4 hours and 15 minutes
Did you know that if you talk about a four course meal enough when driving to a remote lodge in a National Park then it will magically come true? Yes, well Maddie and I were completely kidding along our drive saying we would arrive and they would have a marvelous several course meal awaiting us. As we checked in to our lodge, we were told they had a fabulous three course meal and the last seating was in five minutes. Okay, perfect! We obviously decided to do this and we enjoyed shrimp, fillet and the most amazing sticky date pudding with caramel. Boy did we luck out.
Stay: Dawson Falls Mountain Lodge (wonderful, rustic lodge with a phenomenal 3-course dinner)
Day 9: Egmont National Park and Waitomo
A morning start in a national park would be incomplete without a hike or two. So, we started on the Wilkies Pools Loop Track that took just over an hour to finish.
Then we took on the Kapuni Loop Track to Dawson Falls, which was another hour loop walk. Both of these hikes offered awesome forest, waterfalls and all-around great trails.
Drive: 3 hours and 15 minutes (via the Forgotten Highway and we took some turns to see some waterfalls, sheep, and black sand beaches)
We got in to Waitomo and grabbed dinner at the local cafe. We learned that we look under 25 and therefore were asked for ID to get drinks, which we naturally didn't have. We were flattered....but come on the drinking age is 18.
Later on we decided to go in search for glow worms on the Ruakuri Trail. Walking on trails at night is a bit freaky but we were able to find what we were after. Photos don't exactly capture it.
Stay: Kiwi Paka Waitomo (clean sheets were it's only saving grace, not a great spot)
Day 10: Waitomo and Auckland
Our morning started with a glow worm cave tour at Ruakuri Cave. We were told it was the best tour to do because you could see glow worms and a pretty neat cave at the same time. It was like the bat cave! We walked around for a bit and enjoyed all of the glow worms, which are bizarre creatures that eat their brothers and sisters and create mucus traps to kill prey.
Drive: 2 hours and 30 minutes
We had arrived back in Auckland, but this go around we had time to explore. We started with a trip to Tiffany's in the fancy shopping area. We enjoyed happy hour with the locals heading out of the office and then continued on to dinner. We finished off the night with drinks and pizza at Dr. Rudi's Rooftop Bar in Viaduct Quay, a really cool area on the water.
Day 11: Waiheke Island
What isn't there to love about a beautiful island filled with wineries? We grabbed ferry tickets (with the bus tour included) and took the 10:30am departure to Waiheke. Once there, we opted for a bit of a walk instead of immediately getting on the hop on hop off bus. We even took a quick dip in off one of the trails.
After a trail foreclosure we found ourselves back on the bus and heading to our first vineyard of the day, Stoneridge.
We enjoyed a glass of wine before taking the walking trail to our lunch destination of Casita Miro. It was a cute winery with tapas-style food. We were HUGE fans of the fried goat cheese balls with honey.
We were stuffed and in need of some relaxation. Why not do that on a beautiful beach? Then we were back on the bus to go to Tantalus Estate Winery and finally Mudbrick Winery for the beautiful sunset.
Waiheke is amazing and I'm so glad we spent the day here. Next go around I'd try to get on an earlier ferry to get on even longer day of magic and take the bus from the start.
Day 12: Rangitoto and Auckland
Another ferry ride started our day, but this time our destination was unfortunately not filled with wineries. Instead, it was a rugged volcanic island with hikes and lava caves. We enjoyed it but they weren't our favorite hikes of the trip.
The rest of our day seems to have been dedicated to food. We started with the famous Giapo ice cream where we both opted for the hokey pokey flavor, a New Zealand staple.
We then headed for some drinks at Viaduct Quay again, but this time at Parasol and Swing Company. We finished the night off with dinner at White + Wong's where I had the most marvelous fried chicken. I may have ordered more fried chicken because it was so good.
Day 13: Goodbye Auckland
Unfortunately my time with Maddie in New Zealand had come to an end. We ate our last breakfast together at Odettes Eatery before heading to the airport. We were awarded with almost American bacon at Odettes, which was beyond welcome after seeing strange floppy bacon all over the country.
Anyway, our trip to the North Island was filled with some awesome sights and hikes. Maddie did a superb job planning out our self-drive trip all over the North Island, though of course there is more to explore. Up next is the South Island and that will be tackled next in three weeks and lots more driving.
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