By Nora_Wolcott
As I enter into the last month of my time in New Zealand, unfortunately cut short by the summer classes I have to take back in DC, I'm doing my best to really get the fullest experience of this beautiful country. This was made a little easier with the arrival of the greatest travel buddy, my boyfriend Bryant, who flew the whole 30 hours from the District to NZ to spend the past 10 days travelling the country with me. The whole trip was jam packed, with way too much to write here, but we did hit three major spots which I'll go into: Rotorua, Wellington and the Marlborough Sounds.
Our first stop was Rotorua, where we spent a weekend taking in the alien geothermal landscape of this volcanic town. Rotorua is known by the locals as Rotten-rua, and for good reason; the geothermal activity that makes this town such a hotspot (literally) for tourists is derived from the sulfur vents that waft rotten-egg fumes throughout the area. The smell wasn't so bad in town, or in our nice secluded AirBnb, but when we got into the geothermal parks it was fairly sickening. The first day was spent bathing in Rotorua's geothermal pools, starting with Kerosene Creek, a naturally formed creek complete with picturesque waterfalls, about the temperature of a hot shower. The creek was enchanting, but after walking around wet in the winter weather we were more than ready for our second stop, the Polynesian Spa. The geothermal baths there drew from the creek water, but were filtered into large hot tub-esque pools overlooking the lake. The whole experience was as relaxing as promised, and well worth the three showers it took to wash the sulfur smell from my hair. We kicked off our second day in Rotorua with a walk around the Wai-o-tapu geothermal park, where the water bubbled at over 200 degrees and turned the landscape bright orange and sulfuric yellow. The alien landscape was a sharp contrast with the river we rafted down later that day, all silver fern and turquoise rapids. The rafting was a real high point of the trip, as we went down the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world standing at 5m, plunging under the rapids before righting ourselves at the surface.
After a day of class for me and a day hiking the volcanic islands around Auckland for Bryant, we hopped on a plane to Wellington, where we spent the night in an AirBnb perched on a hill, whose glass walls overlooked the Pacific harbor. But we'll get back to Wellington in a second, because the next morning we were off to Picton, the charming town center of the Malborough Sounds, at the Northern tip of the South Island. After a 3.5hr ferry ride spent playing Gin Rummy and admiring the cliffs passing by, we touched down in this quiet town. The uphill walk to our third AirBnb greeted us with views of the Sounds so stunning that, as we checked in, we decided to cancel the trip we had planned to Abel Tasman and stay in Picton an extra night. Picton was shockingly sunny for an NZ town, a living postcard lined with Palm Trees and mountains. Over our three days there, we hiked the "Snout" peninsula, spent a day sea kayaking through the mountains and tried our hand at mountain biking the many trails hidden among the Sounds. Our day kayaking was undeniably my favorite, the cherry on top being the four fur seals that swam alongside us as we made our way through the channels of the Pacific. Mountain biking was both thrilling and terrifying, leaving us muddy but exhilarated, just in time for our second ferry back into Wellington.
The thing that surprised me most about Wellington was that it was the first NZ "city" outside of Auckland that could be accurately categorized as a city. New Zealand's capital proved to be a bustling center full of restaurants, museums and record stores. After eating at one of the many Cuban-owned cafes on Cuba St, we retired to our eccentric fourth AirBnb, a fully furnished treehouse just outside of town. The treehouse was a real highlight of the trip, every bit as cozy and enchanting as you'd expect, reminiscent of my previous glamping experience at the renovated school bus I stayed in on the South Island. Unfortunately we only had one night there, and the next day flew back into Auckland for Bryant's final day.
After brunch in Orbit, a restaurant atop Auckland's Sky Tower offering expansive views of the city below, Bryant had to begin the long series of flights back home. The whole experience reminded me just how much I love exploring this country I've come to love, showing someone all the things I've learned and picking up new appreciation on the way. As much as I love solo travelling, there's definitely something to be gained in travelling for two.