New Zealand Bus tour PT 2

We were half way through the North island in PT 1. Picking up right where we left off, my next stop was…

Rotorua

The mecca of the Maori! (not really but it is a hot spot for its people). This town is one of the larger ‘small towns’ and is the geothermal hub of New Zealand. Back in the day, Maori tribes settled in this area due to the richness of the land and they’re all still very prevalent there today – they continue to own much of the land and businesses (I remember pulling up thinking “Yay brown skin people!”). The place carries a distinct sulphur smell, but there are geysers and a variety of under ground earthy things to see. It reminds you that there’s a lot more going on underground than we think. We arrived at our hostel, walked around town for a bit (Manuel and I) and chilled out for the rest of the time. The next day, the bus took us to Te Puia – the main geothermal park – where we received a full tour and had eggs boiled by mother nature herself. The experience min sell arf (much like the geyser).

Taupo

This stop was special because I arranged to meet and stay with an Antiguan connection while in this area. The town of Taupo (prounced ‘Toe-Paw’) itself is about one size down to that of Rotorua (they’re also about an hrs drive away from each other). It’s popular for it’s gigantic lake that formed from a super volcano thousands of years ago. It also has NZ’s longest river running through it so there are loads of adventure activities available (Jet boating, kayaking, sky diving etc). My Antiguan connection hosted me at her house for two nights (SO nice of her 😭😭!). She has direct access to the river from her backyard and with friends in the area, she treated me to a personalized tour of a New Zealand dairy farm where I got to see cows being milked up close! (This is no joke, there’s some serious machinery that’s replaced the average Joe squeezing the udder of a cow for the milk now). My experience there was unlike any other however for this reason: I learnt that her New Zealand bloodline had Antiguan in it! She shared her Antiguan family history and put pieces of a puzzle together that not many knew existed. (More of this family story is definitely to come). I’m forever grateful to Ngaire (Parker) for the hospitality shown to me.

River Valley

Literally at the bottom of a mountain in the middle of ‘nowhere’, there’s a hostel. There’s no signal for your phone and the nearest supermarket is 45 minutes away. It’s just you and nature. This is the place where you do white water rafting and/or horse back riding. (I opted out of both with funding in mind but looking back now I wished I hadn’t). I used the time to chill out and hang around in this place that allows nothing but the opportunity to connect with nature. My partner in crime was occupied doing another activity, so I was left to fend for myself. I did meet more people (some who I’d seen previously on our bus but never said hi to) but in the end, I just hung out by myself. I stayed for one night and was happy we stayed there, but also grateful we left and had signal again.

Wellington

The last stop for the North Island, we finally reached the bottom. Wellington is New Zealand’s capitol and is the second largest city in the country. Beautiful on a good day (which luckily I had when I first arrived), it’s located right by a harbour and has a lot of action going on. My traveling friends and I walked about, checked out some festivals, the museum (Te Papa), took a cable car up to see some views and had a fantastic night out. This is where a chunk of us who formed a group split as some were staying for only one night, while others (like myself) were staying for 3 or 4 nights. I spent the first night in a hostel and my other two nights I was hosted by a wonderful Vincentian family (aka The family is from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent). I hung out in a suburb and enjoyed the luxury of having a double bed and a room to myself. Wellington is a VERY windy city though. I was making food in the kitchen one day and swore there were tropical storm winds going on outside – to discover that dat is ‘normal’ in Wellington. I got dropped back to the bus one early morning by a friend of the family who had a rasta flag and Bob Marley playing on his radio (trippy moment). Once dropped off, I headed back on the bus which took us to the ferry building on this now rainy day. Thus began our trek to the South island. Where EVERYONE said the true beauty of the country was, and where it really had been at.