New Zealand is a small country located in the Pacific Ocean with a population of almost 5 million people. It has picturesque landscapes with lots of culture and and of course, rugby fanatics. It is actually made up of two main islands referred to and the North Island and South Island which are divided by the Cook Straight.
The Land of the Kiwis
New Zealand is famously known as the land of the kiwis so let’s start off with clearing up a few things about that. While kiwi fruit is grown in New Zealand and important to their economy, that is not why New Zealanders are referred to as Kiwis. The reason is all about the bird. T’he kiwi is New Zealand’s nation bird, not the furry brown fruit you may initially associate it with. The kiwi is a flightless bird with a long beak. One of the many unique features this bird has is that is the only bird in the world with nostrils at the end of its beak. Kiwis have feathers that resemble hair, has tiny wings but cannot fly, lay enormous eggs (up to 20% of the females body weight) and for those that make it to adulthood can live between 25 and 50 years.
While the kiwi is the National bird, don’t expect to see them running around if you come to visit. The bird is mostly nocturnal and the only time we saw them was in the Kiwi Conservation Centre. The birds are much larger than I expected. They are similar in size to a chicken standing up to 25 inches high and weighing as much as 11 pounds.
We had three weeks scheduled to try and see as much of New Zealand as possible so let’s cover what we did and what we learned while on the North Island first!
Rotorua
Our first stop on our tour of New Zealand was Rotorua which sits within the Pacific Ring of Fire and is the heart of New Zealand’s Volcanic Plateau in the North Island. Known for bubbling mud pools, shooting geysers and hot springs, it is a geothermal wonderland. Other distinct features of this area would be the redwood forest and its thriving Māori culture. Below are a few highlights of what we did in Rotorua:
Where we stayed
We flew into Auckland but just had a sort of layover night at a hotel in downtown Auckland. We grabbed a bite to eat, checked in our larger luggage with the concierge to keep safe for the next few weeks and tried to get some sleep after the last 24 hours of travel. We had 4 different flights and touched down in 3 different countries getting from Sorong, Indonesia to New Zealand so we were zonked!
We arrived in Rotorua and checked into the Wai Ora Lakeside Spa Resort. On their website they boast “Let time stand still and the pressures of the world dissolve as your relays and enjoy your 4.5 star Rotorua Accommodation.” Well, time must have been standing still for a while for this quaint little hotel. While it may have a Spa somewhere on the property, it wasn’t screaming resort and spa by any stretch of the imagination. It was though, in fact, located on the lake so that was the one part they got right. My recommendation would be to stay somewhere downtown and forego this little gem. There seemed to be several hotels to choose from and you would be within walking distance to the lake and dining options.
What we did during our stay on the North Island
Te Puia Thermal Reserve: Te Ra Guided Experience is a must if you are in Rotorua and the guided tour was perfect for our introduction to New Zealand and the Māori culture. This is where we learned about the native kiwi bird at the Kiwi Conservation Centre, saw the mud healing pools, witnessed a geyser in action and got to tour the New Zealand Māori Arts and Craft Institute. If you could only choose one thing to do in Rotorua I would pick this as it as it has a little bit of everything including the area and history of the Māori culture. (Side note: Te Puia Thermal Reserve is not be confused with Te Puia Springs which is located in a village on east coast of the North Island)
Waitomo Glowworm Caves are listed as a must see for any traveler in this region of New Zealand so we didn’t want to miss out. The only disclaimer I would give you is that this is a pretty short attraction. There wasn’t a whole lot to it but worth visiting if you are traveling through the area. You also won’t see many traveler photos online from inside the caves because cameras aren’t allowed. They will take a photo of you when you arrive and will superimpose it on a background of your choice. Just don’t expect to snap any photos while inside the cave. I thought the glowworms were fascinating and even more interesting was that these worms can only be found in two areas of the world with Rotorua being one of those. So if you have made it to Rotorua, you must see the glow worms. There are some trails near the cave you may want to enjoy because the cave and boat ride to see the glowworms is a pretty quick tour. We had a very informative guide and the walk into the cave gave us a chance to learn a little about the history of the caves. You board the boat inside the cave and will float into the Glowworm Grotto where the majority of the glowworms live. Your guide will spin your boat around a few times so you can get a good look and then you are guided out to the Waitomo River when the tour will end.
Te Pa Tu (formerly Tamaki Māori Village): Rotorua Māori Cultural Experience & Traditional Dinner Rotorua
To really know New Zealand and understand the history here you have to know and understand not only Māori History but also their culture and there is no better way to learn about it than to take a visit to Te Pa Tu. I will be honest and say that at first I felt the experience was a little hokey or a little too staged for my taste but in all fairness it is a great way to learn about Māori culture. The Māori family that participates in the demonstrations are passionate about their heritage and it was entertaining. My favorite part was the seated performances before dinner.
Redwood Forest Treewalk in the Whakarewarewa Forest is an eco-tourism walk over suspension bridges that give you a birds’ eye perspective of the forest below and the treetops above. We originally planned on seeing the redwood walk at night, which is supposed to be a spectacular experience, but after doing some reading and looking at reviews, we decided to visit the forest during daylight hours. The trees are beautiful and lieu of being awed by lights shining in the trees at night we were able to enjoy their majesty in full view during the day. The other advantage to visiting these majestic beauties during the day is that we were able to take the elevated redwood suspension walk by ourselves. If you wait until dusk to experience the walk at night you stand in line with the other hundreds of people trying to experience the same thing.
We left Rotorua and headed south, where we stopped to enjoy Huka Falls near Taupo. At the Huka Falls, the Waikato River (the longest river in New Zealand), which is normally 100m wide, is forced through a 15 meter wide gorge and over a dramatic cliff drop. One way to visit the falls is from a pedestrian bridge or walkway along the riverbanks. We opted for the Huka Falls River Cruise. We thoroughly enjoyed our time on this little river cruise and of course the best part was witnessing Huka Falls in action!
Our next stop was supposed to be the Tongariro National Park where we had a 12 mile full day hike planned for the Tongariro Crossing. Unfortunately, due to weather, our guided tour was cancelled. We were disappointed to say the least but we decided to just not let it get us down. I mean we were in New Zealand, we had more to see so we just kept on driving and decided to round out our time on the North Island with a couple extra days in Wellington.
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and sits on the southern most part of the North Island. We had a few days to soak up the city and that is what we did! We walked all over the city, visited the Botanical garden, checked out museums, and even attended our first ever rugby match!
Wellington – the windiest city in the world!
The first thing we noticed was how windy it was. Upon a little google search we found out that Wellington is the windiest city in the world! You can fact check me if you want or if you want to see why it is the windiest city because I did that too. I first noticed how clean the city was, not a piece of random trash anywhere, then when you step outside and get blown by the wind you can just assume it all gets blown away, who knows.
The other great thing we noticed was that most all of the attractions we visited were free. Or free to the public I guess would be a better way to put it. Someone is obviously paying for them. The museums, FREE to enter, the Botanical Garden, FREE to enjoy.
While many things were free, the food was not, and from our perspective it was kind of expensive. Then again, we had just come from Indonesia where the cost of everything was extremely inexpensive. But even with that being said, dining in New Zealand will lighten your pocketbook for sure! For example, a burger from a lunch menu was on average around $25. I even walked into a McDonalds, not to eat just to look at the pricing, and the Quarter Pounder Meal was over $13. The only saving grace we had was that currently the US dollar is very strong right now against the NZ dollar. ($.62 at the time I wrote this post)
Where we ate
This section is going to be really short. We ate everyday but honestly nothing was worthy of even writing about. Overall, during our visit to the North Island, food was eh, and service was even a bigger eh. Little bit of a let down but we didn’t come to New Zealand because of their cuisine. Although we do love a good lamb chop! I will keep you posted as we will try and search out for something to write about in this category!
RUGBY
We attended our first rugby match. The Wellington Hurricanes against the against the New South Wales Waratahs. Good thing we did a little research on the game before we got there because unlike American sports, there was no commentary during the game, you just had to watch this fast paced sport and try to keep up with the ball. We succeeded and we seemed to follow the game for the most part. Bucket List Item: Attend live Rugby game = CHECK.
The Modern Nomads 
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