Volcanoes, Glowworm Caves and Hot Springs!

New Zealand thus far-

Auckland - As far as cities go, I didn't think Auckland was everything special. Most the people I talked to said the same thing and it wasn't neccessary to spend more than a couple days there. While there I spent some time walking around the city, they have some really nice parks and a decent Museum but nothing too crazy. I also spent half a day taking the ferry out to Rangitoto - a volcanic island and hiking to the top. There were some pretty cool lava caves on the side that you could go and explore! Note to self- a flashlight would be very helpful next time. The entire city of Auckland is built on a "dormant" volcano field- though Rangitoto was the last one to erupt... only 600 years ago!

Waitomo - Waitomo is a tiny city a few hours south of Auckland. This region of New Zealand produces a large portion of the worlds dairy products. Just riding the bus out of the city and seeing the awesome landscapes was refreshing. I'm not sure how many times I looked around and thought I was in the Shire. BUT the real reason I came here was for the glow worm caves! Glow worms are moth larvae that are on the ceilings in dark caves. They trick flies into coming close to them as they mimic the night sky and then trap them in a webbing they dangle down from the ceiling for eating later! I did a black water rafting trip where you sit on a tube and float/climb down the river that runs through the cave system. At one point we turned all the lights off and just watched the glow warms in the pitch black!

Rotorua - A city built on geothermals! The people here use the power of the geysers to heat homes, water and even cook food in! They also have a great forest on the hill behind the city. When british colonists first settled in the 1800's they planted 150 different tree species to see what they could grow and use for lumber. The California redwoods are of course the biggest attraction. There are some great hiking paths through the forest with awesome views over the city, though some of the paths were closed for logging operations.

Taupo - A nice little city on a giant lake in New Zealand. A little ways down the Waikato river which flows from here, there is a thermal pool that runs into the river. It's awesome jumping into the steaming hot pool and then moving 10 feet into the chilly river! I also saw my first jet boat on the river. Jet boats are a super manuaverable and quick boat powered by two streams of water. These looked like a TON of fun to ride on and I'll definitely be doing it later in the trip.

Tongariro Crossing - An epic 18km through Mordor! This takes you past several peaks, volcanic craters, lava fields and lakes! The weather for the day started quite good, but clouds and heavy winds rushed in just as I hit the Tongariro summit. Had conditions been that bad before I went up, I probably would not have done it. I'd love to go back on a nicer day and do this hike. On a clear day you are able to get coast to coast views! About halfway through the descent out on the opposite side, the terrain quickly changes from alpine to dense forest. I sudden change was quite surprising!

Next stop is Wellington! Until next time!
Brandon

Until next time Cook Islands!

I landed in Auckland this morning and now that I'm in a civilization with decent internet… it's time for updates!

After spending 10 days on Rarotonga- the biggest and most populated of the Cook Islands this is a great place to go if you want to have a relaxing vacation on some beautiful beaches. The island is quite small, about 10,000 people live there and there is a 32km main road that circles the island where all the action is. There are few activities on the island, so a lot of my days were spent reading on the beach and trying not to get sunburned.

One of the first things I did was the cross island trek. The path takes you up to Te Rua Manga, also known as "The Needle" because of its needle like appearance in the sky. The hike was about 450m elevation gain over 5 miles. This seemed like a quite easy trek, but it turns out most of the elevation gain is in a stretch of < 1 mile, which made that part SUPER steep.

Once at the base of the needle, there are some beautiful views to the north and south of the island. The official path ends at the base of the needle, but there is a metal chain bolted into the rock that you can use to scramble to ¼ of the way around the needle at which point there is an old rope that goes straight up! Going to the top is not recommended and I did not feel like trying my luck that day.

After you reach the top, you descend back into the forest and navigate along a stream. We ended up losing the path at one point and had to spend half an hour backtracking to get back on course. Once at the end there is a waterfall… but since it is at the end of their dry season there wasn't much to it. Our first thought was that it must be further down so we didn't take any pictures!

Other highlights include:

TONS of great snorkelling if you're willing to take the time to explore a bit and find where the good spots are. Given that there really isn't a ton of other things to see or do on the island (especially for those on a budget) I spent many a days exploring the waters. The beaches here are shallow for a ways out and there is lots of reef where the fish like to stay. Some of the highlights were finding some pockets of hundreds of fish that you could swim with and not scare off and seeing a couple of sting rays. I wish I had an underwater camera because there were some fantastic photo opportunities.

Opening a coconut and drinking the milk. This was a quite tedious task. First we had to throw stones at a tree to knock a young and fresh coconut down. After that you have to crack the husk and peel it open. Once that is done, you gently crack a circular section out of the nut so that you can drink from it. All in all it took about 30 minutes, but the juice inside was soo sweet and tasty and totally worth it!

Rugby! There was an international rugby 3-day tournament while I was there. This was a 7 player version which plays much faster than the traditional 15-man version. Luckily, I met a girl from my hostel who plays for the Houston professional team so she was able to explain all the rules to me so I wasn't a completely clueless American. It was quite fun to watch the games although they were played in under 20 minutes so I didn't feel a lot of back and forth or deep investment in the game. Still was a great day and I hope to catch another game in NZ or even try my hand at playing.

Island nights are a traditional song and dance of the Cook Islanders. This features dancers in traditional garb dancing to the beats of a drum group. The drumming was awesome and it was cool to listen to all the different rhythms and beats they would interweave with each other.

Farewell for now Cook Islands, I hope to visit again in the future!

Hello from Rarotonga!

I touched down in Rarotonga at about 7 AM local time. The weather here is a perfect 80 degrees and there is a nice ocean breeze coming off the island. I spent the morning walking along the nearly empty beach and taking everything in. I think I could've stood in the water all day.

 

As for the rest of the day-I'll be taking it easy for the rest of the day and settling in. I'm going to get a group of people together and hike the cross-island trail. It looks to be about 5 miles and there are some fantastic views and even has a waterfall at the end!! Keep your eyes open for some great pictures in the next couple days!

 

Brandon

 

Hello World!

Welcome to the Blog! My name is Brandon and I'll be chronicling my adventures here.

Starting today, I am embarking on a 2 month journey. I'll spend a week in the Cook Islands, a month in New Zealand and a month in Indonesia. I've got my plane tickets booked and a hostel reservation for the start of my trip, but other than no real plans or ideas on what I'll be doing. I've gotten tips from friends who have traveled to those areas who have given me tips and of course guide books to help me along.

This is my first time backpacking. For any of you readers who have never traveled or remember your first time leaving, it can be pretty intimidating. One of the best sites I found on packing for travel is here. The three big takeaways I got from this were:

1. Pack light, the lighter you are the more flexibility you have to move around.
2. You can always buy/discard items on the road, so if you're not sure if you need to take something- leave it behind.
3. The best time to pack for a trip is right after your return with all the lessons you've learned :).

Here are the contacts of my pack:

And with that I am off! Farewell and wish me luck!

Brandon