Trip date: December 2023
On Christmas Eve, after a few days in Auckland, we picked up our car rental and started driving south. For the next 10+ days we would be driving throughout the North and then South Islands of New Zealand. We were really excited!
The North Island is called Te Ika-a-Māui in Māori which means the fish of Maui. This is also where almost 90% of Māori live.
No photos are allowed in the caves so you'll just have to believe me when I say it was such a cool experience! We followed the guide deep inside a tunnel which brought us to the upper section of the cave. This area has some amazing stalactites and stalagmites! It's very dim and damp and claustrophobia could be an issue for some.
After listening to the guide explain the history of the cave we walked deeper into almost pitch darkness. In this chamber you could see thousands of tiny glow worms clinging to the ceiling. It was pretty incredible! But not as incredible as when we boarded boats and were pulled through an underground river by ropes attached to the ceiling and lit only by glow worms! Our guide requested silence also which really enhanced the experience. He also let us snap a couple of photos right as we were leaving.
I highly recommend these caves if you are passing through this area; it's important to make reservations in advance as most of the tours were completely sold out on each of the days we were looking at. We also had a great lunch at Huhu which is right next to the park.
2 hours later we arrived into Rotorua where we would spend the next 2 nights. It was great to get off the road as it had rained so hard it was difficult to see and I was still getting use to driving on the left! Rotorua is known for its geothermal activity- hot springs- so we had booked rooms at the Regal Palms which has big spa tubs in the rooms and also pipes spa water in the showers (they also have a big swimming pool of spa water but the pool was closed when we were there).
Rooms were big with kitchenettes and small dining tables; lots of room for drinks, aperos, and game nights.
On Christmas morning we had reservations at the Polynesian Spa where we soaked in different pools fed by 2 different springs right on the banks of Lake Rotorua. I had also booked a massage for after my soak but Forest and Thibault just spent their entire time in the hot pools. It was a super relaxing and chill way to spend the holiday morning!
Later on Christmas day we went to Te Puia which is a Māori cultural center. This could have very easily been a real gawdy tourist trap but instead it was so great! We all learned a ton about the Māori here; we visited an art school and saw how certain crafts are made, learned about their tattoos, we saw an amazing geyser as the center is also on geothermal land, and even saw a Kiwi bird (no photos allowed)!
We also had a really good dinner, a buffet of so many different regional foods including the famous green lipped mussels, and watched a performance in the beautiful carved meeting house which included the Haka. Again, could have been really Disney-ish but instead was excellent!
While in Rotorua we ate and drank at Atticus Finch & Number8 Wire. Both were fine but nothing to really seek out IMHO.
The next day we were on the road again, stopping in Napier for a lovely lunch outside at the Boat Ramp where we tried whitebait fritters & fried fish burgers. It was a stunning day, the kind we had been expecting from New Zealand, finally!
We spent that night in Wellington, about 4+ hours total drive from Rotorua and pretty easy with Forest and me dividing it up. The Bolton Hotel was a great location, with lots of easy street parking around, very cozy rooms, and a surprisingly good restaurant for both dinner and breakfast!
Forest and I went to check out a few cocktail bars but unfortunately most were closed since it was Boxing Day. The one that was open was great though- a cute little punch bar called Night Flower- unfortunately they closed just 6 months later.
Our final day on the North Island was a busy one as we had planned to go wine tasting in Martinborough but the highway was closed because of an accident! We had to pivot plans while on the road so we turned around and went to the Mt Victoria Lookout. Our friend Gail was flying into Wellington that afternoon to join us and it was a great spot to see her plane approach!
Then we drove to Queens Wharf for lunch at Dockside and Gail joined us once she had her luggage. This is a great restaurant, definitely one of the best outside of Auckland, with a lovely menu of local and seasonal dishes. And it's right on the water!
After lunch we wandered around the docks, we were catching a 8:30pm ferry to Picton on the South Island and the ferry boarded not to far from here. We hadn't planned to take this last ferry of the night but they sell out! So if you are planning on doing the boat over, book as soon as you possibly can!
When it was time, we joined the queue to drive our car aboard the ferry Kaitaki, meaning challenger in Māori. It's a huge ship and can carry up to 1,000 passengers. There are restaurants, a movie theater, a bar, a few lounges, private cabins, an atrium, and outside decks to wander.
We hadn't booked a private cabin but we found a good spot for the 4 of us to hang out and also checked out the bar and restaurant. It was a 4 hour crossing of the Cook Straight, which connects the Tasman Sea to the South Pacific Ocean. We were lucky and had a pretty smooth sailing and also had a gorgeous sunset! South Island, here we come!!
All photos from the North Island here.
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