New Zealand - Kiwi Nation

Why is Imran visiting New Zealand?


I have always wanted to visit New Zealand and have heard by everyone who has visited New Zealand how beautiful it is.  Before embarking on my RTW trip and hitting up six continents I was debating between visiting New Zealand and Australia.  My brother had visited Australia for his honeymoon and had warned me beforehand how expensive Australia was so I decided to go to New Zealand as it is slightly cheaper than   Australia.

This was my fifth stop in my Round The World trip in 39 days.


What I did?


Things to do in New Zealand


Bay of Islands


New Zealand is split up into 2 bigger islands the North Island and the South Island, both islands with their own share of natural beauty.  The North Island is flatter while compared to the South Island which is much more mountainous.  There is so much natural beauty to see in New Zealand that one can easily spend 2 months in New Zealand without seeing the same kind of terrain twice.  I started my trip in Auckland which is situated in the North Island and decided to stay in the North Island as getting to the South Island would have been time consuming and/or expensive, it is a 7 hour drive from Auckland or a $200 flight.  The best way to see New Zealand is to rent a car and drive around the country.  Driving in New Zealand is fairly easy although the cars are right hand drive.  My first stop in the North Island was the Bay of Islands which consists of 140 or so smaller islands.  The Bay of Islands is about a 2 and a half hour drive from Auckland and is a popular sailing, fishing and tourist destination.  The Bay of Islands has activities to suit the taste of every kind of traveler individual or group be it with friends, family or your significant other.  I drove to the Bay of Islands from Auckland and decided to do the 4 hour Discovery Dolphin Cruise.  The cruise takes you to all the major spots within the Bay of Islands and guarantees dolphin viewing and if you are lucky depending on the time of the year you go, you can also view whales.  The cruise also takes you to the famous hole in the rock and if conditions permit it also goes through the hole.  Taking a cruise is a definite must do when you visit the Bay of Islands.  TT: Do make sure you take a light jacket on the tour as it tends to get very windy and cold if you decide to sit outside on the cruise.

On my way to the Bay of Islands.

This is the view from the rest stop - gorgeous.

Me with my rental Ford Falcon GT.

The Bay of Islands.

View from the Discovery Cruise.

I have never seen a rainbow in water.

Panoramic view of the Bay of Islands.

The first sighting of the Dolphins.

You can also take a cruise to swim with the Dolphins.

These 2 came really close to the cruise ship.

Lighthouse - apparently its a 6 hour trek to get to the lighthouse.

The Whole Hole in the Rock.

We couldn't go through the hole in the rock because the conditions didn't permit.

Auckland Downtown 

Auckland is known as the city of sails with more yachts per capita than any other city in the world.  Sailing is big in Auckland although I didn't get time to try any kind of sailing.  The Auckland downtown is fairly small and quiet than any other downtown I have been to, it also has the best air quality of any downtown I have been to.  New Zealanders are generally very laid back people, the true kiwi stays away from crowded areas and as such you won't find a lot of locals in the downtown area. I actually met more tourists than locals while in New Zealand.  There are also a bunch of movies that have been shot in New Zealand with the most famous being the Lord of the Rings trilogy, unfortunately I didn't come across a lot of hobbits although I did see golum and king kong.    

Auckland Sky Tower & the Moon.

New Zealand is the adventure capital of the world with a lot of activities that you can try depending on the amount of risk you are willing to take.  The Sky Tower in Auckland offers the option to either walk on the outside or do an assisted controlled descend.

Sky Tower.

You can do a controlled descend from the top.

I did see King Kong chillin.

Golum with his precious fish.

Some character from LOTR - I am not a nerd so I don't know the name.

In a Maori structure.

With the Avatar Smurf chick.

I almost got run over by the LOTR bad guy's horse.

Devonport

Devonport is a suburb of Auckland and is about a 15 minute cruise away from Auckland Downtown.  It is a sleepy old town and has a lot of cool antiques, gift, and book shops including a lot of small restaurants.  The town is extremely laid back and is a good place to visit to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  You can either drive to Devonport or take a $18 return cruise from the harbor, the cruise takes approximately 15 minutes each way and leaves every 30 minutes from both harbors.  There is a small mountain in Devonport called Mount Victoria which gives you a good view of Auckland from up top.  The steep trek to the top takes about 15 - 20 minutes but is all worthed once you get to the top.  

Devonport from the cruise.

Approaching Devonport.

Auckland from Devonport.

Devonport roads.

Sky Tower and the Auckland CBD in the distance.

On my way to the top of Mount Victoria.

Cool houses in the back.

Houses look like they are made of legos.

Panoramic view from the top of Mount Victoria.

That island is where King Kong lives.

Panoramic view of the houses in Devonport.

Looks like an ad for Volkswagen - Das Autos.

The Tiger Snake Kung Fu pose.

Waitomo Caves


Waitomo is a Maori term for a water sinkhole where Wai = water and tomo = sinkhole.  The Waitomo caves are about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Auckland and consists of a cave system with a diverse ecosystem.  There are a lot of adventure activities to be done when at the Waitomo caves.  No trip to New Zealand is complete without adventure so I decided to get my fix of adventure by travelling to the Waitomo caves.  I had heard about Waitomo Adventures who offer a wide variety of adventures including caving, abseiling and white water rafting.  I decided to give them a try and to do the Lost World adventures tour which includes a 100 meter abseil to the bottom of the cave, followed by a 3 hour trek where you get to see glowworms in the caves and the grand finale is climbing up a 30 meter slippery, muddy, watery ladder to the top of the lost world to exit back to civilization, well actually sunlight as there ain't no civilization on top of the caves.  The whole trip was pretty tiring but the abseil to the bottom of the caves was amazing and scary simultaneously, going through the tree canopy with nothing between you and the trees except a rope.  It is not as adrenaline packed as you would think as after a while your body adapts (at least mine did) to the height after which you can peacefully enjoy your descend.  The lost world adventure has been also done by Tom Cruise 3-4 times.  You can say this isn't mission impossible.

Driving to Waitomo - you can pretty much stop anywhere in New Zealand and start clicking good pictures.

100 Meter descend to the lost world.

Thumbs up for the safety rope yo.

At the bottom of the cave.

Wassup Gangsta!!

Where we came down from.

Trying to show the top of the cave.

Beastie Boys emerging back from the lost world.

It is amazing how quickly your eyes adapt to the darkness.  Once we were in the cave we couldn't see anything but after a while our eyes adjusted to the darkness and we had a general sense of the terrain within the cave.  The light emitted by the glowworms helped us see within the caves, as we were told not to switch on our head lights inside the cave where glowworms were present.

Glowworms.

The 30 meter ladder climb finale.

Glowworms picture shot with lights.

Quad Biking


After all the sightseeing, driving (on average 5 hours a day) and adventure in New Zealand I was a bit exhausted and wanted to do something relaxing on my last day in New Zealand.  I found out about Riverland Adventures which provides Quad biking tours and was located 2 hours away from Auckland.  I decided to give it a try as I had never ridden a quad bike before.  I reached Riverland Adventures on time at 3:00 p.m. for my appointment and was surprised to find out that I was the only one for the tour so it was almost as if it was a private tour.  After being briefed on by Dennis on how to ride a quad bike on what our tour will encompass we left for our 3 hour quad bike tour.

On an Onion farm - those are onions in the back.

After a short ride through some farms and hills Dennis took me to his cultural center.  Dennis is part Maori and part European and was very much attached and knowledgeable about his Maori culture.  He gave me a brief introduction to Maori culture and explained me the purpose of the Maori cultural center and the artwork in it.  The Maori way of greeting is to touch noses with each other which signifies breathing life into each other.  The cultural center is used for various social activities where all Maori families within the area meet for major events of life and also during mourning the death of a fellow member.

Going to a Maori cultural center.

Entrance to the Maori Cultural Center.

Maori Totem pole.

Beautiful fields. 

On the way to the top of the hill.

180 view from where I was on the hill.

You can actually view the Auckland Sky Tower from the top of the hill.

This is the hill where Frodo Baggins house was.

Steep incline to the bottom of the hill.

The slope was super inclined and required no acceleration.

With confused cows.

Chick Fil A Cow.

I rode my quad bike in a field with cows.

The circular design at the top is used as Maori tattoos. 

Gorgeous.

Me riding the Quad bike.

The quad bike tour with Riverland adventures was an amazing experience and the people who operate the tour were super friendly.  I would definitely recommend doing a tour with them if you ever happen to be in New Zealand.  The tour was so good that I was contemplating on moving to New Zealand and becoming a shepherd in New Zealand so I could ride a quad bike everyday, obviously that didn't happen.

Miscellaneous Stuff


People I met


People in New Zealand were really friendly.  I met a few people while I was in New Zealand.  I met Dennis who was my tour guide for my quad bike adventure and was also a super friendly and informative dude.

Dennis & me.

Dean was the tour guide and mountaineer extraordinaire for my Waitomo Cave expedition.  I met Daniel and Jennifer for the cave tour who were newly married and honeymooning in New Zealand for 2 months.

Dean, Daniel with his wife Jennifer and me.

Dennis.

Nancy is the owner of Riverland Adventure and also a very nice baker.  She made the best raisin cake I have had for me to enjoy after my quad bike trip was complete.

Nancy & me.

Random Kung Fu Kids.

The Shang Li Tiger Claw Eagle Fist pose on top of Mount Victoria in Devonport.

Jummah in New Zealand


I was present in New Zealand during a friday and prayed Jummah (Friday prayers) in a mosque in South Auckland.  The khutbah (sermon) was in Urdu and English.

Jamia Masjid Al Mustafa - 30 minutes from Auckland CBD.

Inside the Masjid (mosque)

What I ate?


Things to eat in New Zealand


I feel New Zealand doesn't really have its own unique cuisine but since the produce and meat are all natural and not genetically engineered, anything that you eat in New Zealand tastes great.  There is no fake chicken with 3 breasts or beef with steroids injection.  The beef and lamb tastes amazing in New Zealand.

I am not sure which town i stopped in but this was after coming back from Waitomo.  I was super hungry and hadn't eaten all day except for a light breakfast.  As I mentioned earlier the beef in New Zealand just tastes different and irrespective of where you eat, you will notice the difference in taste.  Even the french fried potatoes tasted different and nutritious.  Although for some reason all restaurants I ate at charged extra for ketchup, so if you are a ketchup lover like I am you would be better of buying a small heinz ketchup bottle.

Burger with fries.

After my quad bike adventure I was treated to a fresh home made raisin cake by Nancy of Riverland Adventures.  It was warm and fluffy and tasted great.

Fresh Raisin cake.

There is a gelato shop in downtown Auckland which serves different flavors of gelato.  It was a bit on the expensive side but tasted great nonetheless.

I really would have kissed the server had she been a girl, since the gelato was sooo good.

During the Discovery Dolphin cruise there is a 1 hour stop at an island with an overly priced cafe.  Since it is a touristy spot where most cruises dock in the Bay of Islands, the overpriced food does make sense.  There wasn't a whole lot of options so I had the fish and chips which were pretty adequate and nothing too spectacular.  I would have may be liked them better were they a little moderately priced.

Fish & Chips in the Bay of Islands.

Want a Fanta don't you want a?

There is a small gyro shop in downtown Auckland which serves good halal gyros and fried chicken.  I had the lamb gyro combo which was a little bland but since the restaurant gives you your choice of THREE sauces I spiced it up with all different kinds of Hot Sauces to give it some life and a super duper kick to the taste buds.  The lamb just tasted way different than any other place it was a lot leaner and tastier as the meats in New Zealand are all natural.  Definitely a good cheap eat option for Auckland - the downtown gyro shop in Auckland next to Burger Fuel.  I am not sure of the name though.

Lamb Gyro with 3 different hot sauces.

If you do happen to find yourself in downtown Auckland and are in the mood for a good burger I would definitely check out Burger Fuel.  Burger fuel is a budget gourmet burger joint which serves different variations of its burgers and also has a kobe beef version of all their regular burger.  I opted for a regular burger with cheese which was pretty good.  Like I said before the meats in New Zealand just taste way different and leaner.

My fuel for the day.

Conclusion:


New Zealand is a great country to visit and also probably live in as well.  It is a country with a lot of natural beauty and different terrains.  It has a really small population of almost 4 million people.  You are bound to meet more tourists than New Zealanders.  The air quality is also different which makes the act of breathing a pleasure.  There was not one dull moment in my trip to New Zealand at is a place which offers activities to do for every age group.  The best way to see the country is to rent a car and just drive around, you will definitely come across scenery you are bound to like and enjoy.  Its a place you would like to visit over and over again, I know I would.