- Planning and preparing for our epic vacation to New Zealand and the Maldives
- Flying to New Zealand via Honolulu, visiting Auckland and Devonport
- Waitomo Caves and Tongariro Alpine Crossing
- Taupo, Waikite Thermal Pools, to Christchurch
- Mt. Cook National Park
- AJ Hackett Kawarau Bungy Jump, K-Jet boating, hanging out in Queenstown
- Day 1 of Routeburn Track 3-day luxury guided walk
- Day 2 of Routeburn Track 3-day luxury guided walk
- Day 3 of Routeburn Track 3-day luxury guided walk
- Arrowtown, Wanaka, Mount Roy Track
- Franz Josef Glacier
- Tranz Alpine train Greymouth to Christchurch, then to Singapore
- From Singapore to Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
- Day 1 and 2 at the Conrad Maldives: beach villa, overwater spa, Atoll Market, snorkeling
- Day 3 at the Conrad Maldives: water villa, diving with manta rays, meeting new friends
- Day 4 and 5 at the Conrad Maldives: Vilu, Sunset Grill, reef diving
- Day 6 and 7 at the Conrad Maldives: whale sharks, Ithaa, snorkeling
- Returning from the Maldives via Singapore
- 10 hour layover in Seoul and landing safely in SFO
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Thursday morning, Kaleb and I checked out of the Powderhorn Chateau and drove into the town of Ohakune to fill up our gas tank. The price was per liter of gasoline (called "petrol" in NZ) and a full tank ended up costing around $80 USD.
We drove towards the town of Taupo via The Desert Road, miles of nothing but views of mountains and volcanoes. Eventually the road hugged the Lake Taupo coastline. Lake Taupo is actually a huge caldera filled with water...a super-volcano! It erupted about 1800 years ago and is not extinct. We stopped at a picnic spot with a nice view of Mototaiko Island. There are so many picnic spots along the highways in NZ, even in the middle of nowhere. Signs along the road inform motorists of their locations. There may or may not be port-a-potties...I had to look for a bush at one stop.
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| guys, go water a tree! |
We reached Taupo Town and tried to check into the Beechtree Suites but our room wasn't ready as we were an hour early. It was lunchtime anyway, so we walked across the street to enjoy a meal at the Zest Deli Cafe. Inside a glass cabinet were items like pasties, quiches, and mixed salads. You could also order daily specials listed on a blackboard. We got in line and pointed to what we wanted in the cabinet. Pitchers of water were available to pour your own glass. Despite it being a warm day, almost every diner was drinking some type of coffee beverage. The Kiwis can't get enough of it!
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| mushroom tart with greens |
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| pasty with potato salad |
After lunch, we walked back across the street to the motel. Our room was ready! The receptionist asked what kind of milk we wanted..."standard" (full) or "trim" (skim). We thought it was just an anomaly that we got a bottle of milk back at the Waldorf in Auckland, but now it seems we get it at every motel! "Standard" was our choice...she went to the back and retrieved a 300ml bottle. It was nice to have the milk to add to coffee as well as make hot chocolate for breakfast.
Our room was on the first floor and was accessible (wide door, bathroom with integrated shower, lowered light switches). It was a very pleasant place to stay.
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We only had a day here, so we visited Huka Falls and Waikite Valley Thermal Pools. If we had more time, I would have driven up to Rotorua to visit a Maori village as well as try out OGO, where you get into a huge inflatable sphere filled with water and roll down a hill. There are opportunities in the US to do this as well but OGO was born in New Zealand.
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| brilliant turquoise waters of Huka Falls |
9-second video of the falls (click here if you cannot see the preview below):
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At Waikite, we bought a package that included full access to the facilities plus 40 minutes in a private pool. The water in the private spa was super hot! There were no instructions on how to adjust the temperature, but I figured out to twist a lever near the water spout and wait for a change to occur. I think we spent 10 of our 40 minutes waiting for the water to reach a bearable temperature.
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After enjoying our private time, we tried out the main pools.
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| view of the property |
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| garden pool |
There was a short nature trail leading from the pools to the hot spring source. The water there was boiling! I wouldn't want to accidentally fall in there.
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10-second video of the boiling hot springs (click here if you cannot see the preview below):
We returned to the Beechtree Suites to clean up and change for dinner. I had originally wanted to eat at The Brantry restaurant, not far from the motel, offering a nice prix-fixe meal, but it was closed for a private function. We ended up walking out towards the lakefront and found a restaurant called The Vine Eatery. (not on the lake) They offered "tapas-style dining", so I assumed the dishes would all be small. They weren't...we ended up ordering way too much food. I didn't have any room for dessert.
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| Sauvignon blanc and prosecco |
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| bread with dipping oil and lamb tartare (yum) |
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| breaded calamari (not that great) |
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| sauteed fig salad with jamon serrano |
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| eggplant topped with grilled haloumi atop crostini |
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| fresh mussels in a Sauvignon blanc and saffron sauce (very fresh) |
After dinner, we found Liquorland nearby and bought some beer for Kaleb to enjoy back at the motel room.
Friday morning, we drove to Taupo airport for our flight to Christchurch (with a transit in Wellington). There was a parking area in front of the terminal for rental cars. The terminal was the size of a normal gate at regular airports, with one concession stand, several vending machines and a makeshift rental car counter area. There wasn't a Europcar counter; when we checked into our flight, the Air New Zealand agent gave us an envelope to put the keys in and we dropped it into a slot. It was a bit unnerving to do that, but there was no other alternative.
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Our plane was a turbo-prop with just 1-1 seating.
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Our flight from Taupo to Wellington was only an hour with no in-flight service. We had some time in transit to have a quick lunch. The Wellington international airport was labeled "The Middle of Middle Earth" and had some "Lord of the Rings" decor, such a huge Gollum above the dining area.
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| what a view while eating |
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| nasi goreng from Billy Chu (just okay) |
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| curry from Curry Capital (not recommended) |
We didn't have much time to wait in line so we got food from quiet vendors, which wasn't a good sign. There was a long line at Red Rocks, so I would try that place next time.
Our flight to Christchurch was in a larger propeller plane, up-to-date enough to show a "turn off electronic devices" sign versus "no smoking". Even though it was only 45 minutes long, we still were served an in-flight snack.
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| cool looking plane |
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We landed in Christchurch, picked up our next Europcar rental car (a Toyota Corolla), and drove to our motel for the night, the Camelot Motor Lodge. It was pretty old on the outside but the interior was remodeled. We got another bottle of milk! The free wi-fi here worked very well. The property was good enough for a one-night stay.
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I had found online that there was a FreshChoice supermarket half a mile away from the motel, so Kaleb and I walked there and picked up some fruit, drinks and snacks. The entrance to the store was a bit hard to find as it was inside Merivale Mall. On the way back, I also planned on stopping by the #1 rated restaurant in Christchurch on TripAdvisor, Pedro's House of Lamb, to pick up lamb shoulder roast. It used to be a restaurant before the 2011 earthquake, but they were having issues rebuilding, so they opened a temporary food stall (called a "container" in NZ) somewhere near the Camelot Motor Lodge. I didn't know what it looked like, but fortunately (?) a pick-up truck almost ran us over entering a gas station driveway. It made us look in that direction and voila, he was parking in front of the container! We carried the food back to the motel room and enjoyed dinner.
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| Pedro's fall-off-the-bone lamb shoulder, enough food for 3-4 people |
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Tomorrow, we drive to Mount Cook (Aoraki) National Park...stay tuned!
