Exploring

Our Spaceship and more!

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Brooke

When planning our trip to New Zealand, we knew we would probably have to rent a car. Our research showed us that Kiwis rely heavily on driving, and public transportation options are limited outside of the larger cities. Since we are traveling on a budget, we didn’t want to spend exorbitant amounts on a car rental, so we looked through all the brochures we had and then discovered: Spaceships!

You may or may not know that campers and campervans are very popular in both New Zealand and Australia. Lots of people who travel are looking for outdoor adventure and these provide that flexibility. The Spaceship considers itself the Swiss Army Knife of campervans. Housed in a Toyota minivan is our daily transportation as well as our nightly accomodations, if we so desire. There is a double bed complete with linens, a small refrigerator and cookstove, pots and pans and a DVD player and screen. The back of the van opens up and can be covered with a tent to provide more space. There is also an awning that can be put up on the passenger side door to provide shade. It is pretty awesome. Are we now planning to camp every night? Not necessarily. But campgrounds are in abundance here and it is nice to know that option is available to us. It is also a major bonus that we are in the off season: the Spaceship was by far the most affordable car rental we found at $29 NZD a day.

Once we picked up our Spaceship named Vela, we continued out of Auckland and began our journey south. This seems simple enough, except they drive on the left side of the road here and the steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car. It doesn’t seem like this would be that hard, but suddenly turning left and right takes a lot of thinking first. Luckily, Phil agreed to be our inaugural driver. He really did an awesome job, though he occasionally veered a little too close to the edge of the road. I can’t blame him–everything is so different. Merging traffic comes in from the left, you pass slow cars on the right. Turn signal is on the right of the steering wheel, windsheild wipers on the left. It didn’t help that we were taking some crazy, winding roads to get to Raglan, today’s destination. It felt a bit treacherous at points, and when we saw a car had flipped on its side after taking sharp turn around the hills, we decided we should definitely be a bit more cautious and watch our speed.

Luckily, Astronaut Phil piloted us safely to Raglan, a surf town just west of Hamilton. We took a long walk along the black sand beach where we saw a woman training her horse and a rainbow gracing the sky. Of course, often when there is a rainbow, there is rain. Unfortunately, we were about a 45 minute walk from the hostel when it began pouring. We looked like drowned rats when we returned. Luckily, Raglan Backpackers is a really nice hostel and they have electric blankets on each bed. Yes, please! We spent the next hour warming up and drying off.

We ended our night at the Harbour View Hotel Sports Bar which was packed with locals who came out to cheer on the Hamilton Chiefs in the Super Rugby finals match against the Sharks. We didn’t really know what was happening, but after about 15 minutes, we picked up on the basics and we are smart enough to follow the flow of the crowd. They cheer. We cheer. They boo. We boo. Not too hard. Besides, it doesn’t take any practice wincing at some of the hits they laid on each other. Have you ever seen rugby? Geez, that sport is violent. Now I understand why people think American football is for wimps.

Tomorrow we board our Spaceship and continue our journey. It is amazing–everyday we see something new. What will it be tomorrow? I can’t wait to find out!

–Brooke (Astronaut in training)

Categories: Budget, City Visits, Destinations, Diversions, Driving, Exploring, Hotels, New Zealand, Sports, Transportation, Uncategorized | Tags: Astronaut, Campervans, New Zealand, North Island, Raglan, Raglan Backpackers, Spaceships, Super Rugby | 7 Comments

Auckland, New Zealand

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Phil

Kia Ora from Auckland, New Zealand! After a good bit of traveling, we’ve made it to the “City of Sails” and just wrapped up our first day of exploring this new country. Knee deep in guidebooks and pamphlets on New Zealand’s largest city, we hit the ground running as soon as we landed. We checked into our hotel room at the Kiwi International. It is a sparse and simple dormitory-style room with a bathroom down the hall, but it will work just great for our two night stay. After all, we don’t plan on spending much time in our hotel room. Our first full day abroad has been a great day. A full day. A busy day. Exploring Auckland, we managed to take in, absorb and learn a ton. After a long day on our feet, it feels like we’re starting to get the hang of things in New Zealand…at least we think we are.

We started the day with breakfast and coffee from a local coffee shop where we quickly learned that Auckland loves their coffee shops. You can’t go more than two blocks without tripping over a Gloria Jean’s, Esquire, or, yes, even a Starbucks. A morning trek took us to the Auckland Museum -an impressive collection that has a little bit of everything spread out over three floors. It houses exhibits on Maori culture and history, natural wonders and a history of New Zealand in combat along side a stunning war memorial. After visiting, I finally know exactly what the Anglo-Boer War as all about (always curious about that one). Another exhibit which had an all too real simulation made me absolutely friggin’ terrified of volcanoes. Additionally, we learned that a perplexingly large number of flightless birds apparently enjoy living in New Zealand. Finaly, I’ve decided to start addressing my wife as “Mollyhawk.” Sure, it’s a native bird, but it is also a bad-ass/affectionate nickname. All in all, the Auckland Museum is a truly wonderful place that shouldn’t be missed – especially considering the reasonable $10 NZD suggested donation.

From the museum, we negotiated the bus system and headed to the posh, fashionable and charmingly old neighborhood of Ponsonby. This area is filled with so many cute shops and upscale bistros that it might make you ask, “How many cute shops and upscale bistros does one city of 1.4 million people need?” We also stumbled across an incredible used bookstore while in Ponsonby. After talking with the Zimbambwe-born clerk (and possible proprietor), we snagged a used New Zealand Lonely Planet travel guide for seven bucks and bought detailed map from a nearby magazine store. We now have the tools that we need to plan the next 11 days here.

Throughout the day, we were given endless advice by helpful locals. Kiwi here really love to talk about New Zealand and offer enthusiastic suggestions on what to do and where to go. Based on feedback we’ve received from locals, we’re a little nervous that the almost-two weeks we have in New Zealand won’t be enough time to see everything that we want to see. But, to be fair, most people here consider a three and a half week trip anywhere a short time off. Given their relative isolation and spirit for adventure, New Zealanders are quite the traveling folk. There are almost as many travel agency store fronts as there are coffee shops!

It’s also been very cool to take in the dozens of small differences in a country that seems so familiar but also a bit foreign. For example, the price on any purchase is rounded up to the nearest ten cents. Every single cost will only end in a zero ($.10, .20, .30 etc) and the smallest denomination coin is a dime but it is nearly identical in size and color to the US penny. We’ll take note of more small differences we notice and keep you posted. You can see a couple in the pictures below.

After our long day, the night ended with a couple of beers from a bar called “Brews on Quay” where we watched some Olympic Rowing, chatted with the Scottish bartenders and enjoyed the tunes from a two-piece cover band. Tomorrow we’re departing Auckland and heading south to Raglan, Hamilton and the Glow Worm caves near Waitomo. We’ll be traveling there by Spaceship. Seriously. More on THAT tomorrow.