New Plymouth, a Beautiful Disaster

So Andrew has been teaching me how to drive manual. After a number of sloppy starts and gear switches, and just a few stalls, I can proudly say I can comfortably drive stick. As we pulled into Rob's house in Whangarei (our 2nd couchsurfing host), I forgot to hold the clutch down when I stopped at the top of his driveway, and consequently stalled the car as he came out to greet us; "Hi Rob! I am driving this car but I have no idea how to drive this car! Nice to meet you!"... embarrassing!

Anyway, our couchsurfing experience with Rob (or Bob, as he likes to call himself, for the nationalities that may have difficulty pronouncing the R in Rob, what a beautifully selfless man!) was great. We stayed for two nights. It was really nice to kick back and relax for the day, and we finally got some laundry done. We cooked up taccos for Rob, his two sons, and Katherine (another couchsurfer/host), and settled down after dinner with a few rum and cokes. Over these drinks, Katherine (also American) suggested we joined herself and some fellow Americans down in New Plymouth to celebrate Thanksgiving (yes, the American Thanksgiving is in November! Weirdos!). I objected due to the fact that it would consist of an 8 hour drive, as we had to be down there by Wednesday night as the "dinner" was at noon on Thursday. But, I was out-numbered. 2 Americans: 1 Canadian. Though it seemed Rob was on my side, I'm sure his vote was worth nothing more than 0.5 as he wasn't even going to be there nor would he have to do the drive.

Needless to say, we were on route to New Plymouth by 10 the next morning. We picked up Josh in Auckland, a fellow American and couchsurfer on our way down the coast. Josh told us about this cool spot, White Cliffs where we decided to take a quick break. The place was stunning but our quick scenic stop soon turned into a disaster. The Great White wasn't happy that we parked her on such a steep hill, never mind the storm that was rolling in. The clutch broke. Disaster! But have no fear! Andrew's here! The man is an absolute legend. With the assistance of Josh and I pushing her out, Andrew manages to start the car and we limp our way into New Plymouth. The 7 hour drive turned into like 10 and a half. How will I live without Andrew in my life?

Thanksgiving was a success! In the morning I helped Andrew prepare his rum sauce for the pumpkin pie and his jalapeno corn bread (So yum!). And I helped Josh create his mac n' cheese dish (Definitely one of the favourite casserole dishes); it was beastly!

The dinner turned into a toga party. Oh yeah! Though only Josh, Andrew, Katherine and I were in togas. Due to the guest count of about 20, Cheryl (our host) got permission from her boss at Decante to hold the event at the bar! Success! There was an enormous amount of food, and my god was it good! 2 turkeys, corn bread, rolls, garlic bread, potatoes, cranberry, casseroles galore, the sweet potato casserole (yum!). Never mind the dessert table. Anyway, it was an American Thanksgiving shared with a Canadian, some Germans, Kiwis and even a Japanese guest! Thank you Americans for sharing this event with me!

I loved my time in New Plymouth. With Great White broken down we ended up spending a few extra nights there. Thanks to Cheryl, Colby, Julia and Natalie for hosting us! Greatly appreciated guys. Andrew got the car fixed on Saturday well I selfishly took off and did the Tongariro Crossing hike with Josh, Julia and two german girls I met at Thanksgiving dinner, Stef and Karo. It was a great 8 hour hike, a good kick to burn off some of the left overs we'd been having for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Andrew nurtured Great White back into working order and off we set on Monday morning to Taupo. On the road again! Fare well New Plymouth, the beautiful disaster!

Up, Up and Away to the North

So we hadn't left Auckland until pretty late on our first day. And we had no idea where we were going to camp. After driving around aimlessly for about 3 hours (well not technically aimlessly, because we were aiming for a place to camp), all we came across was fenced-off farmland. This, as we later discovered, is very common, and it's next to impossible to find a free campsite in New Zealand. "Freedom camping", as they call it, is quite commonly frowned upon by the locals. We also experienced this in the South Island, campervaning back in September. 

But we didn't let that stop us. Our first night was spent at a public scenic lookout. At the time of setting up our tent, it was dark, so we had no idea we were about 100 metres from Highway 16, one of the main highways in Northland. So that would explain the heavy traffic flow... All night... Anyway, it was a success! We camped for free! Apparently it's a $200 fine to freedom camp, but I mean, we got away with it on the main highway. Great start to our trip! But there was only one other time that we found ourselves a free campsite (tear). This was also a scenic look out but the difference with this one was that it was clearly marked "No Camping". We stayed anyway :).

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind

Do this, don't do that

Can't you read the sign!?

We spent the next 11 nights exploring Northland. And by exploring I mean, we drove up every dead end road and checked out every scenic lookout on the map. We did end up paying for a few campsites. One, in North Whananaki cost us about $15/pp. But man, was it ever worth it! The host forgot to mention the dolphins that hang around feeding in the bay all morning; such an amazing sight to crawl out of the tent first thing in the morning and witness. This is definitely one of my favourite spots so far!

We also spent a day deep-sea fishing out of Russell, in the Bay of Islands. This was the first time for me. Andrew had done it before. Anyway, it was Andrew, myself, the "captain", and this other Korean couple (the man owned a petrol station in Auckland and the women was straight off the boat from Korea!!). Andrew reeled in the first snapper (the only type of fish we caught), followed by the Korean man, then the Korean woman (who was scared shitless of the thing), then it was back to Andrew. No luck for me. It even got to the point where the "captain" caught a fish and let me reel it in. I felt like a 2 year old! In the end I did end up catching my own snapper, and I have to say I think it was almost the biggest for the day!

My Big Snapper!

We stayed out on the boat for 4 hours. When we got back to Russell the "captain" (there must be a more proper name for this man), filleted the fish for us. I made a video of this because he made it look so easy. But I guess snapper just doesn't have much bones in it. Man, did he ever give us a lot of snapper because we had it for dinner for the next week! On top of feeding 2 couchsurfing hosts with it. 

Filleting the Snapper

Kia Ora! Welcome to Auckland

So I touched-down on December 7, marking the start of my 3rd visit to New Zealand (this year!). This trip will be my first in the North Island.

I landed in Auckland (the largest city in New Zealand) with pre-arrangements to couchsurf with Hickey. I don't know why, but every time I commence my journey to my couchsurfing host house, I hesitate, and review all my other options. Typically the only other option is a hostel, so when I say I review all my other options I am juggling the idea of either staying at a total stranger's house, or staying in a room with 5 other strangers. 

Thus far, couchsurfing has treated me real well. I, like others, was also very sceptical of the whole idea before I became a "couchsurfer" myself.  I mean, solo female traveller with no family or significant relations in the continent to look for me if I were to go missing, sleeping on a couch at a total strangers' house? I don't think I would let my 21 year old do it either. 

Though, as I mentioned, I am an authentic couchsurfer, and after juggling the idea the whole bus ride to Hickey's house, the bus did eventually make it to Orakei Road in Remuera, a nice little suburb approximately 20 minutes outside of the CBD. This couchsurfing house was unlike any other I have stayed at before; deemed "Chateau Le Orakei", or more commonly known as "The Animal House".

Upon arrival at The Animal House I was greeted my an Englishmen and an American girl, neither of whom were the host. See, The Animal House is more of a hostel. One night (of the 5 I stayed),  there was 7 couchsurfers doing what they do best, couchsurfing! It was a great place to stay as you meet so many people. Later that afternoon I did eventually meet the host, Lord Hickey (more commonly known as Panda) who is a real cool character. One of his first tasks to welcome you to his house (other than giving you the grand tour) is to reign an animal name upon you. I was christened with "Snow Leopard". During my stay I met the other hosts: Giraffe and Squirrel among other couchsurfers Lady Giraffe, Ptiaradactyl, Sea Horse, Doe and Octopus. Now do you understand why we call it the Animal House?

As much as I enjoyed my stay at the Animal House, I started getting very anxious being in Auckland after 2 days, and I needed to devise a plan to get out! For the biggest city in New Zealand, Auckland was pretty lame. I mean, if you need some retail therapy, or some over-priced touristy affairs, get your arse to Auckland. You can visit the Sky Tower (at 328 metres, it's easily the tallest building in New Zealand) for $28/adult.  And if you really have some cash burning a hole in your pocket you can eat at the 360 degree revolving restaurant, or even base jump from the tower for an 11 second fall for $225.

None of this was selling to me because I ultimately wanted to experience New Zealand for what it really is, and get off the beaten tourist track. So how could I do this? I had already purchased a hop-on, hop-off Magic bus pass which covered both islands. Though I already travelled the south island in September with mom, I thought my 31 days would be better spent just exploring the north. And with the bus pass I had there was only 5 stops in the north island (Auckland, Rotorua, Taupo, National Park and Wellington). Talk about travelling the beaten tourist track!

Needless to say I have requested a refund on my lame bus pass which I used to purchase a sleeping bag. Why, you may be asking yourself, would I buy a sleeping bag instead? How in the world will you get around? "Have no fear: Andrew is here!" (A phrase you may see pop-up on here quite frequently).

Andrew. Andrew, Andrew, Andrew. So I met Andrew on the "Ride Share New Zealand" group on the Couchsurfing website. Andrew is an engineer from Colorado. We met in Auckland later that week and over some wine and beer so devised the perfect plan! Andrew is staying in New Zealand for a while, so he bought a car and equipped it with all the camping gear you need, I bought a sleeping bag, and our adventure began.

The Great White, 1988 5-speed Toyota Corolla. No power steering, no radio or CD player, but who needs those right?

Here she is!