Upon return from the U.S., my boss commented I'd been working long hours and should take some time off. I checked to make sure he was serious, and the next day I booked a trip to New Zealand. I decided to see the north island in summer, as I will be seeing the south island WITH MY FAMILY in June (winter)!! Woo hoo! All the tickets are purchased. It's really happening.
I flew into Christchurch Friday evening, and my Northern Highlights Contiki tour started at 6:45am the next morning with T (tour manager), Malcolm (bus driver), and 45 other people who had already been on tour for the past week together. At first I considered it a disadvantage as people had already paired off and formed their cliques but I quickly realized this was the shortcut to making friends fast. You see, I only had to befriend one person, and that automatically brought 2-3 others along. Easy breezy beautiful (Pantene?!). The tour group was quite fluid as people chose to do assorted variations of a route covering all of both islands. About half the group tapered off in Christchurch after finishing the south island, we lost a few more and picked up a few in Wellington, and lost more and picked up a couple when we reached Auckland en route to Bay of Islands.
My first tour day was all about making our way from Christchurch on the South Island to Wellington on the North Island. The view was constantly spectacular. I was taking it all in with eager and peeled eyes until motion sickness got the better of me and I gave into napping on the bus. Every moment my eyes opened was greeted with a phenomenal view of rugged mountains, rainforests, rock formations, and the coast. Each time I woke, I vowed to stay awake to appreciate it all but kept being lulled to sleep. I have snapshots of scenic wonderland tucked away in memory.
I flew into Christchurch Friday evening, and my Northern Highlights Contiki tour started at 6:45am the next morning with T (tour manager), Malcolm (bus driver), and 45 other people who had already been on tour for the past week together. At first I considered it a disadvantage as people had already paired off and formed their cliques but I quickly realized this was the shortcut to making friends fast. You see, I only had to befriend one person, and that automatically brought 2-3 others along. Easy breezy beautiful (Pantene?!). The tour group was quite fluid as people chose to do assorted variations of a route covering all of both islands. About half the group tapered off in Christchurch after finishing the south island, we lost a few more and picked up a few in Wellington, and lost more and picked up a couple when we reached Auckland en route to Bay of Islands.
My first tour day was all about making our way from Christchurch on the South Island to Wellington on the North Island. The view was constantly spectacular. I was taking it all in with eager and peeled eyes until motion sickness got the better of me and I gave into napping on the bus. Every moment my eyes opened was greeted with a phenomenal view of rugged mountains, rainforests, rock formations, and the coast. Each time I woke, I vowed to stay awake to appreciate it all but kept being lulled to sleep. I have snapshots of scenic wonderland tucked away in memory.
We stopped at the Why Not Cafe for morning tea break. What a back drop.
We drove north along the Kaikoura Coastline, where we stopped to watch fur seal colonies flounder on the rocks.
We all boarded the inter-island ferry which was a South to North Island hop through Marlborough Sound and the Cook Strait. We left out of Picton on the northern tip of the south island.
Three hours later, we emerged in Wellington on the North Island. We took a bus tour around the city, along the waterfront and up Mt Victoria, which showcased a couple locations where Lord of the Rings was filmed. The city reminded me a bit of San Francisco with extreme hills and houses built into the mountain-side with private cable cars for access.
Me at the top of Mt Victoria overlooking Wellington.
Next stop was our hotel, Abel Tasman, located in the heart of this cosmopolitan city. We spent a whopping two nights in Wellington, the most of any stop in our whirlwind tour. The rooms were tri or quad share and we selected roommates each afternoon on the bus. A few groups were traveling together – three sisters from Finland, a bro/sis combo with friends, and a group of girlfriends from Melbourne, but many of us were solo travelers and we ended up sharing with different people each night, which was a pretty great way to get to know everyone. Cuba St was the main drag just a block from our hotel.
We first headed to Blend for dinner and drinks specials.
L to R: Tom, Alex, Liana, Becky, Amanda, Tessa, Jared, Niv, Skye
On my very first night of the tour, the Contiki reputation was confirmed. Early in the night, the bar staff were encouraging misbehavior, prompting compromising group games, and guys were dancing on top of the bar with fewer and fewer clothes.
Some of these guys weren't even on our tour!
After that non-stop entertainment, a bunch of us ventured down into the thick of the festival and saw an awesome band Odessa on the street. The lead singer was like a hyped-up modern-day Elvis with as great a focus on his funky dance moves as his singing.
We lucked into arriving in Wellington on the day of the Cuba Street Festival, which meant markets and lots of live music tents lining the streets with people decked out in Brazilian and carnival costumes. Vibing!
