This week was our mid semester break, so we finally got to New Zealand! We planned this trip way back in July, so I have been looking forward to it for forever!
On Monday we woke up at 3AM and headed to the airport for our 7AM flight. New Zealand is 3 hours ahead of us so by the time we landed it was already 3PM.
The first thing we did was head to the dealership and pick up our Campervan!
It was a little bit bigger than we expected - Jess and I each got our own bed! It felt crazy that they just handed us the keys so quickly, but Jess did an amazing job driving on the wrong side of the road and navigating the mountains.
Heres a little video we took right after picking up the car and grabbing some groceries:
We travelled about 3-4 hours to get to our first campsite in the Coromandel Peninsula (not the cape). It was such a gorgeous drive, even if it was a little scary getting through some of the mountain roads.
It got dark pretty fast, but we got a few photos of the drive there! The amount of cows and sheep on the island was hilarious. You couldn’t go 2 minutes without seeing a massive herd.
We got to the campsite just in time to make a quick dinner, get ready for bed and sleep! The bed set up was actually super comfy, and the facilities of the campsite were much nicer than I expected.
Heres me stuffed in the top bunk:
Our campsite was right on the ocean so Tuesday morning started with a coffee and a walk on the beach!
After our walk we quickly packed up the van and drove just 5 minutes up the rode to hike to Cathedral Cove! The hike itself was so gorgeous, and the beach itself was amazing. I had never seen anything like it before, I love the little rock islands on the water.
Right after the hike we drove another few minutes to Hot Water Beach (which was false advertising) because I desperately needed a swim to get the sweat off of me. We made another sandwich and spent a short time just laying out enjoying the sun!
We got back in the car pretty quickly after that to start our long drive to Taupo!
It was so sunny and hot, and the drive took us through mountains and farm-fields on our way towards the lake!
About halfway through the drive we stopped at the Te Waihou Blue Springs. This was maybe my favourite thing we saw the entire trip. The pictures don’t do it justice, but it felt like we had just stepped onto an alien planet. It’s supposed to be the purest water in the whole country!
After driving for another hour or so, we pulled up to our campsite as the sun was setting! We stayed in a trailer park right on the shores of Lake Taupo.
We were completely wiped out so we had another quick dinner and fell asleep pretty quick.
The next morning we had breakfast in the van and walked along the lake. The stone beach reminded me so much of Lake Ontario! The only difference is the massive volcano on the horizon.
After our walk we got in the car and headed to our first stop of the day, which were natural hot springs! They were located all along the Waikato river, so we just found a hotbed at a local park!
After our quick dip we went to Craters of the Moon, which is a geothermal field! Taupo sits on an active volcanic zone, meaning it has fumaroles, geysers, mud pools and hot springs all year round. This walk was also so cool, it felt like we were in Star Wars! It did smell super weird though, like rotten egg and farts.
Around noon we hit the road again to head to Clarks Beach, our last stop before Auckland!
We got to the campsite before dark this time and spent the evening wandering around the beaches on the point.
We also got to enjoy a beautiful sunset:
And took a few pictures with the van!
We spent the rest of the night reading and playing cards: it was a perfect camping evening! And the last night of our true road-trip portion of the adventure.
The next morning we drove an hour into Auckland and parked in the city for the day. Jess went off to skydive super early (I opted out due to my fear of heights and fear of not-breathing), so I spent the morning exploring the city on my own! It looked a lot like Toronto - it even had its own CN Tower - but it was much much smaller.
Jess joined me in the afternoon for some shopping, and we got dinner and some ice cream with a friend from Monash who happened to be there at the same time as us! I really liked the vibe of Auckland, it was super artsy and very young, with lots of thrift stores and cute boutiques.
Our campsite that night was just 20 minutes north of Auckland, and was right in front of this super cool black rock beach:
We had been lucky enough of avoid the rain for the past 4 days, but it finally found us on Friday morning. Since it was our last day, we parked the van on North Head, one of the volcanic cones in the area, and just enjoyed the atmosphere before returning to the airport.
We dropped the car off at 4PM and headed over to catch our flight. It was pretty sad to come back to school after such a big adventure, but it was definitely time to get out of the van! We were both losing our minds a bit by the end.
Overall I think this might have been my favourite trip I’ve ever done. We were both so amazed at how New Zealand seemed to have every kind of biome, from farm fields to jungles to lakes to beaches. It felt like we went all over the world!
The whole week felt like a real adventure, and I’m really grateful that I was able to finally do the van trip I’ve been dreaming of! I am also so grateful for Jess, who did most of the work as the driver, and who was the perfect companion even when things got stressful.
Heres a little video montage of the trip I made using my digital camera:
Now that we’re back theres only 3 weeks of classes left until the semester’s over! I can’t wait to adventure more then.
Love you all and miss you more!
INCREDIBLE
Absolutely amazing for both of you. Thank you “HIPPIE” for providing safe transportation. What a trip 💯❤️