North Island, New Zealand - The End!

The final ten days of our trip were spent on the North Island of NZ. This island holds most of the population of New Zealand (which is only about four million in total) and is more known for its towns and cities rather than scenery. Because of this, we opted to rent a car and stay in Airbnbs and budget hotels rather than continue in our minivan. While we missed being in nature, it was nice to sleep in a proper bed.

We had a really short flight from Christchurch to Wellington where we stayed the night in an Airbnb (Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and it at the southern tip of the North Island). With its steep, narrow streets and bayside location, Wellington reminded us a bit of San Francisco. Walking the streets, it felt like any big city with lots of business people walking around, restaurants, bars, etc. We didn’t spend much time in the city and we were okay with this considering our two hour parking ended up costing us $24 NZD ($18 USD). Yowzah!

From Wellington we made a five hour drive to Napier, a funky beachside town known for its art deco style buildings and wineries. We stayed at an awesome Airbnb here, the private room had its own bathroom and the hosts made fresh bread! (No gluten free though.) We enjoyed walking the streets of the cute town, visiting a chocolate shop and museum on Valentine’s Day, and getting to witness parts of the “Art Deco Festival” that was beginning to ramp up while we were there. The beach was also very pretty with turquoise waters and black pebbles but it wasn’t really swimmable (I guess there’s a steep drop-off and the rip currents are really strong. Our hosts said a few people drown every year).

After hitting some rain on our way out of Napier, we headed to Taupo, a quaint lakeside town in the center of the North Island. Lake Taupo is the biggest lake in Australasia (yeah I guess Australasia is a thing). Our room at our budget hotel pleasantly surprised us and we were able to finally watch some of the Olympics. I picked up a bad cold as we left the South Island and it always helps the recovery when we have a nice home base. In our full day, we did a walk to Huka Falls and relaxed at the beach on Lake Taupo.

Just an hour away from Taupo, we spent the next two nights in Rotorua, which is known for its geothermal pools (which made it stinky). We stopped on the way at a couple of “thermal wonderland” parks which contained geothermal mud pools and some geysers. After pulling into the crowded parking lots and finding the tickets too expensive we decided to skip them. We’ve done so many touristy things on our trip that we didn’t feel bad not going to these thermal wonderlands. Instead, we did a couple low-key walks through a Redwood forest and around Blue Lake. Rotorua was also our place to meet up with Jack and Jamie again since they were working their way south from Auckland. We all spent the evening together catching up over dinner at an Indian place. After dinner we had a rematch Euchre game in our shared hostel room. Jack and Jamie beat us this time around. We all had breakfast together the next morning and then we said our goodbyes, for real this time, as they continue with their world travels. Our last night in Rotorua, Al and I also decided to go see a movie at a small little movie theatre in town (only 15 seats in total). Since they speak English here we could have a normal movie experience here. The place didn’t have popcorn which was a bummer but the movie, The Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, was good.

We left Rotorua bright and early and headed to Whitianga (pronounced with an “f” sound. The Maori influence and language is very evident in the names of the towns and streets in NZ), a sleepy beach town three hours north and part of the Coromandel peninsula. This area is known for its nice beaches. Our drive was rainy but we still made a couple stops along the way at Owharoa Falls and the famous Hot Water Beach. Luckily, it wasn’t raining at Hot Water Beach and we got to enjoy it. Basically, during low tide, you dig a hole in the sand and in certain spots it will fill with really hot water, creating your own personal jacuzzi (there’s some geothermal element that runs right under the beach and warms water that is under the sand). Pretty funny experience sitting in a little jacuzzi right on a nice beach with waves crashing. There were a lot of tourists since this is a “must do” attraction in the area, but we managed to help two American guys (who are in the Navy) and a couple from the Netherlands create one big hole (it helps to join forces since the hot water is only in certain spots). We all chatted and hung out in our big jacuzzi for a couple hours. After getting a bit pruny, we left the beach and headed to our accommodation for the night in Whitianga. Jack and Jamie had recommended a good pizza place in the area. Even though it turned out to be a twenty minute drive from the town we were in, we’d figure we’d check it out. As we walked to the patio of the restaurant, a girl started waving at Al, which was confusing because we didn’t expect to see anyone we knew. It turns out it was the Dutch couple from the Hot Water Beach! They happened to be at the same dinner place and invited us to sit with them. Out of all the holes to hang in at the beach and out of all the restaurants in this area, we ended up at the same place both times. The world can be small sometimes. We spent several hours eating pizza, sharing stories, and learning about each others home lives. We’ve met a handful of Dutch people along our trip and have realized that we seem to easily bond with them (them and Germans. We seem to have similar lives. It also helps that the Dutch and Germans both learn English in school, which we take for granted!)

After two nights in Whitianga, we headed to the other side of the peninsula to the town of Coromandel. The odds were not in our favor as we stopped at two different beach areas en route and were rained out within twenty minutes each time. The weather here is constantly changing so we were unlucky. This was also the leftovers of Cyclone Gita which was moving through New Zealand. We did manage to treat ourselves to a nice dinner since it was technically our last night (our flight to LAX leaves at 6 AM so our real last night is in a hotel next right to the Auckland Airport). We each enjoyed a glass of wine, gluten free pizza for Al, steak for me, and we shared a delicious piece of chocolate cake for dessert.

Our last day, we headed to Auckland, the biggest city (population wise) in NZ, to walk around. After paying $30 NZD again for parking, we both remembered why we are not city people. We spent a couple hours walking around the streets of Auckland but again it seemed like any average city. We returned our rental car, checked into our budget airport hotel, and spent our final night and of our trip (AHH!) eating our favorite New Zealand food chain, Tank. We became slightly obsessed with this place while here, they have delicious smoothies, salads and wraps.

Tomorrow, February 23rd, we will board our 6 AM flight from Auckland which, after a layover in Melbourne, Australia, will arrive at LAX at 6 AM on February 23rd. Pretty crazy! I guess my desire to “go back in time” since the trip is over is coming true!

While New Zealand wasn’t in our original travel plan, Al and I are so happy we decided to come here for our final month and leg of our trip. New Zealand is a beautiful country with such diverse landscapes, very friendly people, and a non-hectic, relaxing way of life. While we are ready for some nice weather and roads without constant construction, we will miss our spontaneous days of caravanning, camping, hiking, driving by (and trying to take pictures of) sheep and exploring sleepy little towns. It was refreshing being in a country that is so uncrowded compared to many of the other places we have been (except for Auckland). We found ourselves saying “where is everyone” and “this town is empty” so many times but realized its just because there aren’t that many people here! Although we didn’t get the best weather in certain parts or learn as much about the Maori culture as we would’ve liked, we were lucky to see as much as we did!

So here we are, en route to the airport and we couldn’t be more ready and excited to come home! That may be surprising to hear knowing how tough its going to be to adjust back to real life again, but Al and I have realized that we are homebodies. We miss having a place to call home and being able to see our friends and family. And it’s said all the time, but Southern California really does have the best weather (especially San Diego). Some people can travel for years and years but I think six months (to the day, maybe the 23rd is a cheap day to fly on?) was the perfect amount of time for us.

Our trip flew by and I’m happy to say after 185 days of 24-7 time, Al and I are still happily together. HA! Experiencing life is so much better when you have someone to share it with. I’m so lucky I found a travel partner that was always on the same page, interested in the same things, activities, places, and foods as me. I think we knew this prior, but this trip only made Al and I realize just how compatible we are. Things could’ve totally gone the other way since traveling can bring out different sides in people. (Al here, after I heard Rach toot for the third time I just about booked my ticket home…HA just kidding. I agree with what Rachie had to say.)

While we are still processing it all, we feel so fortunate for everything we got to experience in Europe, SE Asia and New Zealand. We witnessed some incredible landscapes; swam in the prettiest waters I’ve seen to date; trekked in some of the most breathtaking mountain ranges; experienced the hustle and bustle of many big cities and the unique charm of small towns. We visited international friends, traveled alongside old friends, and met many interesting people along the way. We learned how to budget, research, plan, negotiate, “go with the flow”, communicate with all types of people, navigate big cities, drive on the left side of the road (took some major adjusting - oy!), and properly use chopsticks and earplugs (just me). We tried new foods, drank lots of coffee and wine, and learned how to cook some of our favorite cuisines.

Like a lot of things, traveling is usually “glorified” on social media and we’re guilty of this, but it hides a lot of the difficult times. The constant planning and research, living out of a backpack, sleeping in a new place every few nights, having to navigate anywhere and everywhere, waiting out transportation delays, dealing with communication barriers, itching bug bites, getting sick, gaining weight and losing muscle made every day challenging but also made us learn things about ourselves and each other and what is and isn’t important to us in life. (Al again, hopefully this doesn’t come across like we’re complaining about traveling. We know that not having to get up and sit in an office all day is the dream, but the accumulation of all these things is what makes us excited to come home)

Although I’m sad our world trip is over already, I know traveling will always be a part of our lives and I think we’re both looking forward to some stability, routine, and familiarity back home. I am so glad we took this risk to put our lives on hold to travel and gain new perspectives on the world. One of our main pushes in doing this was the realization that life throws curveballs at you and waiting until we are older or retired to travel like this is no guarantee that it will happen. For anyone who has thought about taking a travel break, I highly recommend it! The personal takeaways and life lessons can be so much greater than what you learn in school or from work.

Lastly, a BIG thanks to all who supported and followed our travels! I hope you enjoyed our blogs and they weren’t too frequent or boring. We felt pretty disconnected from friends and family while we were abroad and getting comments about our posts and pictures really made us excited. We will miss the everyday excitement of exploring a new place and getting to write blog updates and share it with you!

Cheers!

Rach & Al