I’d set up a tour for this morning so I could see more of the North Island. Viator.com had one (with FlexiTours NZ) that included three major landmarks in one day and I jumped at the chance to pack so much into my limited available time. When I woke up (0515), I packed for a varied itinerary. Even though the weather was very nice, I had seen enough weather changes to know better... While waiting outside the hotel for my ride (0615), I walked around near the Spark Arena and listened to many loud birds in the surrounding trees. The Flexitours NZ minibus picked me up at my hotel at 0630. For a little while, I'd actually been worried about whether she'd actually find me (I kept thinking "maybe I'm in the wrong place") but then I learned there was actually a problem meeting up with five of the other passengers - eventually (after we drove around in the city for a little while), it all got sorted out. In total, there were 11 of us (several from various parts of the US, some from Japan, one from Spain). The Driver and Tour Guide was named Michelle (from Wellington). Leaving Auckland, we drove (via Highway 1) through the Waikato Plains. I ate some of my snacks (for breakfast) on the way. The road quality wasn’t great and, sadly, it started to rain on the way. On the plus side, Michelle did a great job of telling us about New Zealand (flora, fauna, language, culture, geology, etc.) and the time (1.7 hour trip) passed quickly. We passed fields of cattle and sheep (normal for NZ) but I was most surprised to see other fields that had domesticated deer and turkeys in them! After an hour and a half on the “Motorway”, it turned into a two lane highway again. Not long after that, we turned off onto Karapiro Road and followed it to to Matamata. By 0845, we arrived at the Hobbiton movie set location (used to film the LOTR and Hobbit trilogies). Michelle got our tickets while we browsed the gift shop; I sent a postcard to Mollie. At 0910, we boarded a huge touring bus (with lots of other people) and began our Hobbiton Tour commenced. It rained off and on but the tour guide (a young man from Raleigh, NC who called himself “Merlin”) provided umbrellas. We walked slowly through The Shire, stopping at various times to look at (and inside) dozens of different Hobbit homes. Of course, the highlight was Bag End! I took lots of photos and soaked up the ambiance of the amazing place. At the end of the tour, we all got a free beer - I chose a Hobbit Southfarthing Girdley Fine Grain Amber Ale) at the Green Dragon Tavern. I also bought a muffin since I didn’t know when we’d eat lunch. We were each given a souvenir mug from the Green Dragon as a parting gift. Since Michelle wanted us to depart from this location (the tour continued), I said goodbye to Merlin (he’d been telling me about work visas for NZ) and walked to our bus. True to the name of the company ("Flexi"), we lost a couple of fellow riders but gained a new one for the next leg of our journey. At 1100, we headed east on Karapiro Road (and some other back roads) and made our way to Highway 5. It started raining much harder as we proceeded east towards Rotorua. A few highlights of the hour long drive included passing through the Fitzgerald Grove (completely unspoiled New Zealand bush) and transiting an area of interesting mounds that had large rocks on top of them (they looked like pimples on the flat landscape). The latter landmarks were apparently completely natural but looked like ancient standing stones placed by humans. At 1200, we arrived in Rotorua. Michelle had tight deadlines to keep all day so could only show us a few sights in this amazing town of hot springs, geysers and other volcanic activity. Just as we got there, the rain stopped. This allowed Michelle to take us to Kuirau Park, located right in the city (near the hospital). While walking in this area, we encountered lots of places where there was scalding water, boiling mud, sulphur fumes and hot steam. Seeing these things spread out across a rather large area made me think it seemed like a very hazardous place to build a town… We next went to see a historic spa building in the center of town (Michelle said she thought it was the prettiest building in the country). Unfortunately, city inspectors recently learned that the foundations are sinking due to conditions underground. Since this discovery, the locals have been planning extreme measures to save the landmark. While there, we met members of local bowling (read “bocce”) team. Just after 1230, we drove over to lunch at Te Puia, a Māori owned property that included the Pohutu Geyser and a cultural center. There, we were treated to a delicious buffet! Among many delicious dishes, I also tried some succulent lamb and found it to be much better than anything I'd had in the US. Michelle said that many Kiwis believe that "Americans violate the lamb when they cook it!" Bonus, we had a front row seat to some amazing eruptions and steam showers in the distance. Sadly, we didn’t have tickets to get very close and we didn’t have enough time to walk around anyway. Back at the bus, we found we’d gained some new folks for our last stage of the tour (gotta love the “Flexi”). By 1330, we left Rotorua and retraced our steps to Highway 5. Using that road and a series of others (Highway 28, Highway 1 and unnumbered back roads), we first headed towards Taupo but then turned west. We drove through Arupani (“Kiwi Town”) and then crossed the Waikato River at one of the major dams. The gorge below the dam, now empty, was amazingly steep! After that, we used back roads to reach Highway 3 and then followed it to Otorohanga. The rain started again during this part of the trip but that was ok because we were done walking outside. Heading south to Highway 37, we eventually reached the Waitomo Caves (1530). Māori owned, the underground caverns are the home of famous so-called “Glow Worms” that are only found in NZ and Australia. We later learned that the “worms” were actually the larval form of a type of gnat. At 1550, our tour (with a guide named Alex / “Tuoto”) began. Sadly, we were not permitted to take photos for most of the next hour (until the very end). To capture the essence of what we saw I had to look for websites that had images. Our guide was funny and explained things very well. At one point, he even sang a Māori song for us to demonstrate the acoustic properties of the cave. One of the most amazing parts of the tour was when we first got to see glowworms up close and learn about their “hunting” methods. Later, we got in a boat and Alex maneuvered us into the a part of the cave where the ceiling was covered with glowworms. Looking up, it seemed like we were outside under a starry night. During this part of the tour, everyone had to be super quiet, though, or the glowworms would turn out their lights - fortunately, all the others in our boat cooperated. Overall, the experience was amazing! We disembarked from the boat on the outside of the cave (in a strong-flowing river) and then headed back to where Michelle (driver/guide) was waiting for us with the bus. By 1700, we were driving on Waitomo Valley Road towards Highway 39. For the first time all day, the skies cleared and we had some sun. We crossed Highway 23 at Whatawhata (passing Hamilton on its west side). We ended up back on Highway 39 and followed it to Highway 1C, which we then used to reach Highway 1. We stopped for gas at just after that (1815). By then, the dark sky was clear enough that I was actually able to see stars! I found Orion but, because there were clouds on the southern horizon, I couldn’t see the Southern Cross. We continued north on Highway 1 and arrived in the Auckland CBD by about 1930. As Michelle started talking about the complicated logistics of getting everyone back to their hotels, I realized I was looking at 30 plus minutes before I could leave the bus. By then, I was really tired of the bus. Almost in desperation, I asked Michelle if she would drop me at the nearest corner and, fortunately, she replied that she would. I was able to get out near the Sky Tower and said goodbye to everyone. (I remembered later that I had missed taking one of the Green Dragon mugs with me...) About 10 minutes of walking later, I crested the ridge where the Sky Tower was located. One reason I wanted to get out of the bus early was because I wanted to try to make it to the Evening Mass at St. Patrick & St. Joseph Cathedral (I arrived just after they began the Liturgy of the Eucharist). The church was very crowded and the diversity of the congregation was striking. After the service was over, I walked a short distance to check out a bar I’d seen the previous day; the Shakespeare Brewery and Hotel is apparently the oldest such establishment in New Zealand. I was able to have a pint of “Fools Gold” (AKA “Shylock’s Gold”) Lager. While there, I made arrangements to meet up with the son (Ben) of two of my oldest friends (Nancy and Rick) the next morning. After I was done with my beer (2030), I realized that I was lucky to have arrived when I did - they were closing the bar! Walking back to my hotel at around 2100, I marveled at how much I’d been able to see on the North Island of New Zealand in just one day. Before arriving at the Adina, I scoped out the restaurant where I planned to meet Ben in the morning. At the hotel front desk, I asked for a late check-out the next morning (they approved). I spent the rest of the evening in my room, working on my blog and packing. Headed to bed at 2230. In just a short visit to Auckland, I’ve gained a real appreciation for this amazing place. There are definitely many more things to do on the North Island of New Zealand and I hope I can visit again someday to experience them!
