Wellington to Auckland via Waitomo Caves!

We left Napier at around 13.30 after having roast Pork (Mishell) and KFC (Pasci) for lunch. We both were not really keen on another afternoon in the car but time was precious and we wanted to get to Wellington. Therefore, we headed south out of town towards Wellington (300km distance!!!).

As mentioned in previous postings driving in New Zealand is not as much fun for various reasons: (i) Their highways most of the time consist only of one lane - that means you have to overtake all the slow vehicles one by one if there isn't an overtaking lane close; (ii) there are quite a number of slow-poke drivers (not just women!); (iii) speed limit is 100km/h - well we applied 120km/h - 130km/h; (iv) there are loads of constructions going on where one just has to wait or drive slow....and (v) instead of digging tunnels through the mountains the highways leads over and around the mountains (i.e. imagine the highway going up a street like from Chur to Arosa).

For these reasons, driving 300km in one afternoon is definitely not as straightforward as it would be on the luxurious Swiss highways... :)

315km to Wellington....here we come! / 315km bis nach Wellington.....wir kommen!

Like in Switzerland: some milk-cows..... / Wie in der Schweiz: einige Milch-Kühe....

And like in Switzerland too: the New Zealand Alps / Und auch wie in der Schweiz: die Neuseeländischen Alpen

Reason number four why driving in New Zealand ain't much fun: CONSTRUCTION work going on.... / Grund Nummer vier warum Autofahren in Neuseeland nicht soviel Spass macht: Bauarbeiten....

After 239km...... simple entertainment was top! / Nach 239km.... einfache Unterhaltung war Top!

Reason number five why driving in New Zealand ain't much fun: Winding roads through the hills (...would be cool with a Harley but not with a Corola) / Grund Nummer fünf warum Autofahren in Neuseeland nicht so viel Spass macht: kurvige Strassen übder die Berge (....wäre super mit einer Harley aber nicht mit einem Corola)

After 310km.....'WHOPPEEEE' we can see Wellington from far! / Nach 310km.... 'Juuuhuuui' wir können Wellington von weitem sehen!

We arrived in town at about 17:05 where we straight went to look for the information center which for some undefined reason on that day closed at five instead of six! WTF?! So annoying....It didnt help that it was cold and windy in Wellington..

Anyway, we managed to locate a bed in one of the local backpacker hotel (x-base) where we found a private room with en-suite for 95NZD (CHF 75).

Tired and starved from driving we went to look around for some food in the 'famous' Cuba-street. We decided for some Malaysian Restaurant where we ordered: Kuay-Teow, Curry-Laksa and Mutton-Curry. After that feast and some beer ,we walked around town some more before going back to our backpacker home.

Malaysian Kuay-Teow: Wide rice noodles stir-fried with prawns, bean sprouts, egg and vegetables / Malaysianisches Kuay-Teow: Breite Reisnudeln mit Krevetten, Sojasprossen, Ei und Gemüse

Like Pasci needs his Pizza....Mishell has her cravings for some Malaysian food from time to time / Wie Pasci seine Pizza braucht....hat Mishell Verlangen nach Malaysianischem Essen von Zeit zu Zeit

Unfortunately we did not sleep well at all in this backpacker place. First of all were we located on the top-floor which was an extra floor which was built on top of the old building and somehow one could hear the wind cracking and blowing very well, i.e. it was very noisy.

Secondly there must have been some concert/disco going on just close to the backpackers or in the community room (dunno?) but it was like we could have head-banged along with these guys...... *GRRRRR*

Obviously this did not improve the mood on the next day and our desire to walk around Wellington. On top of that Mishell was having a cold for the past few days and therefore not feeling too well (although Pasci always lovingly prepared her lemon&honey tea everyday).

Well...no choice for us since we only planned this one day in Wellington and had to drive back north later in the afternoon. Since check-out was anyway ten o'clock we decided to go to the Te-Papa museum which is one of the must-sees in Wellington.

Since quite a few people recommended us this place, our expectations were quite high. Needless to say that they were not fulfilled on that day. The exhibitions about the Maori, the early settlers in New Zealand and the dinosaurs in New Zealand could definitely not inspire us! There was actually only one exception: The giant squid (12m long) which was retrieved on the coast of New Zealand!! WOW.....that one is really huge!!!

View from our Penthouse room which was unfortunately very noisy and we did not sleep well at all! / Aussicht von unserem Penthouse Zimmer welches allerdings sehr laut war und wir deshalb fast kein Auge zugetan haben

(Un-)motivated Mishell....due to crappy quality sleep and sore throat / (un-)motivierte Mishell....wegen schlechtem Schlaf und Halsschmerzen

After this unsatisfying museum experience we decided to go and sit in a coffee in town and write our postcards. We ended up staying in the coffee for about two hours (Pasci got some lem-sip for Mishell from a pharmacy) writing post cards, having lunch and drinking coffee.

At 13.30 we decided to not further discover Wellington but already to drive up north in order to save some energy (especially Mishell's) for the more exciting bits to come.....

We drove up north to Wanganui (about 160 km north of Wellington) where we decided to stay for the night. After the horrible backpacker experience from last night, we happily looked for a cabin in a caravan park.

This cabin was more basic: no TV and no fridge. / Dieses Zimmer war einfacher: kein TV und kein Kühlschrank

The camping site was along the Wanganui river / Der Camping-Platz war entlang vom Wanganui Fluss

A few of the caravan parks we stayed in actually provided a herb garden / Einige der Camping Plätze in denen wir übernachtet haben, hatten einen Kräutergarten

Mishell - still not feeling totally well - felt like a chicken-soup with lots of vegetables in there *yummy* which became the envy of a few people cooking in the kitchen/ Mishell fühlte sich immernoch nicht so gesund und hatte daher Lust auf eine Hühnersuppe mit viel Gemüse *mmmmhhhh*

Driving further north towards Auckland brought us past the 'Surfer-Highway' which is a detour along the coast where sufer-dudes would find their heaven. Unfortunatelly it is not surfer season yet and therefore we could not try our luck on the waves. A remarkable thing about the beaches on this side of the island (west) is, that the sand is black.

After another Fish&Chips for lunch we continued driving up north. We made another stop to look for shampoo and coffee in New Plymouth where we were positively surprised by the beautiful coastal line.

A black sand beach along the 'Surfer Highway' / Ein Strand mit schwarzem Sand entlang der 'Surfer-Autobahn'

The victims for Mishells Fish&Chips / Die Opfer für Mishells Fisch mit Pommes

Pasci trying a new pose (gay-lion) / Pasci versucht eine neue Pose (Schwuler-Löwe)

The Surfer Highway takes you round Mt.Egmont (covered in clouds) / Die Surfer-Autobahn führt rund um den Berg Egmont (bedeckt in Wolken)

New Plymouths coast....quite beautiful / Die Küste von New Plymouth...ziemlich schön

*RRRRROOOAR* the lioness is saying / Die Löwin sagt: *RRRRROAR*

Nope...it is not Switzerland but it looks like it (even some cows there) / Nein....es ist nicht die Schweiz aber es schaut so aus (sogar mit Kühen)

And then finally we made it to the Waitomo Caves which are known for their glow-worm caves. We got a cabin right at the caravan park opposite the information center where we spent our last night on a caravan park. We said goodbye to our kitchen equipment and gave away the spices that we did not need anymore the next morning (which were all gone within 10 minutes...unbelievable).

The next left for Waitomo Caves / Die nächste links für die Waitomo Höhlen

We booked a tour in two caves: The glow-worm cave and the Ruakuri cave / Wir haben zwei Touren gebucht: Die Glühwurm-Höhle und die Ruakuri Höhle

We decided to go for a double-package that the lady in the info desk reccomended: A tour in the Glow-worm caves and Ruakuri Caves (reknown for its cave formations). First we went to see the Ruakuri Caves.

The entrance to the Ruakuri Caves is rather spectacular! We began with a spiral descent from ground level via an incredible drum entrance - really cool! We were then guided through a labyrinth of beautiful cave formations: Stalagtites, stalagmites, pillars and curtains. The scary thought is with these things that they only grow about 1cm in 100 years!!! So you have to imagine how old these formations are and how long it took to grow them....!! WOW!!!

Further in the tunnel we then came agcross the glowworms. And since photography in the other 'glow-worm' cave is forbidden we took the chance here to take a picture. You might now wonder what is it that makes the light??? Quite rightly so.... :)

Well basically this creature is actually the pupa of a big mosquito-like insect (looks like a stick) that, similar to a spider, builts a net out of sticky string that it can produce but unlike the spider its net are just these strings hanging down from the ceiling. And now to get the fly (or whatever) flying towards these strings it just switches on the light in its bum in order to attract the fly (which naturally fly towards light - and the caves are obviously otherwise very dark).

The pupa lives for 40 days, feeding like that before it matures into the adult insect. Interestingly, as mother nature has it, the adult insect has no mouth -so it cannot feed and only lives for 10 days (starving to death). Its core purpose is fertilise the eggs of the female adult, i.e. pro-creation or becoming food to other glow-worms, i.e. bait. :) And then the whole cycle starts again. Amazing, huh!

Waiting for the pick-up: Mishell playing Tower Madness which was one of our favorites throughout our travels /Am warten: Mishell spielt Tower madness welches wir während unserer Reise immer wieder spielten

The spectacular drum entrance to the Ruakuri Caves / Der spektakuläre Trommel-Eingang zu den Ruakuri Höhlen

Some stalactites (remember your geography lessons where you learnt about these things??! me neither....) / Stalaktiten (erinnerst Du dich an die Geographie Unterricht wo Du über diese Dinger gelernt hast? ich auch nicht...)

Not so clearly visible (try to enlarge the picture by clicking on it) but there are loads of stalactites here....it takes 100years to grow 1cm!!! / Nicht so klar ersichtbar (vergrössere das Bild durch anklicken) aber es hat viele Stalaktiten hier...es dauert 100 Jahre für 1cm!!!

And this is what they call a 'curtain' in case you did not learn about that in your geography class / Und das ist was sie einen 'Vorhang' nennen, falls Du davon nichts in Deinem Geographie Unterricht gelernt hast

They had some conflict between the Maori owner of the lands and the government trying to dispossess them. In New Zealand, when you own a plot of land, you own everything above the land AND below the land (until the core of the earth). / Sie hatten einen Streit zwischen den Maori Eigentümern des Land unter welchem die Höhle waren und der Regierung welche versuchte die Maori zu enteignen. In NeuSeeland wann du Land besitzt, dann gehört dir was alles darunter ist.

The tour was very impressive... / Die Tour war sehr beeindruckend...

These are not stars on the night-sky but glow worms on the ceiling of the cave. With the light they attract the flies etc. to fly towards them so they get caught in their web strings / Dies sind nicht Sternen am Nachthimmel sondern Glühwürmer an der Decke der Höhle. Mit Hilfe des Lichts locken sie Fliegen etc. an welche dann in ihrem Netz hängen bleiben

After the tour in the Ruakuri Cave we did another tour through the Glow-worm cave. In that one photography is not allowed. This cave is seriously FULL of glow-worms because the living conditions in there are so ideal. There is a small river flowing into the cave which brings in a lot of food for the glow-worms. The temperature is constant and it is quite humid. After descending into the cave you go on a boat and drift through the caves. The entire ceiling of the cave is covered with glow-worms! It is truly amazing!!! :)

The exit of the glow-worm caves is a bit scary - like in a haunted house!! / Der Ausgang der Glühwurm Höhle ist ein bisschen beängstigend - wie in einer Geisterbahn!!

After a late lunch (15:00) at the restaurant nearby (Pizza and Calamari Salad) we headed off towards Auckland where we had a reservation booked at the Hyatt!! Hehe...that was our personal easter treat!

Mishell likes the L&P as well..... / Mishell mag L&P auch...

The first evening in Auckland in our fancy Hotel we used to get our Blog up to date (as much as we could), talk to our parents and friends! We were thrilled to find that we were upgraded to a Suite when we checked-in because we were "on our honeymoon". hehe... We definitely enjoyed the treat! Apart from that, there ain't much more to tell..

The next day we went for a Brunch in Parnell which is a very beautiful suburb of Auckland (similar like Chelsea to London). We enjoyed a delicious eggs benedict (Pasci) and corn fritters (Mishell). During breakfast we managed to do our laundry in a laundrette nearby, so we could go to Japan with a load of fresh clothes!

Brunch at Parnell a suburb of Auckland / Bruch in Parnell einem Vorort von Auckland

Mmmmmhhhhh yummmmy....(in Japan&China you will only get fish-soup and rice!) / Mmmmmmmhhh sehr gut.....(in Japan&China wird es nur Fisch-Suppe mit Reis zum Frühstück geben)

After Brunch we went to the city to get the third book of the Twilight-saga which Mishell got hooked on. We as well got some tickets for the cinema for later in the evening: Clash of the Titans.

Then we went back to the Hotel since we decided to check out the Spa area. We enjoyed the jacuzzi and the sauna for a bit :)

For dinner we went to a japanese restaurant just around the corner before going to the cinema (where they run out of sweet popcorn!!!). The show (Clash of the Titans) is not really recommendable - it's like one of these 1980 action movies and the plot is not very good either.

On sunday it was time for us to say goodbye to Auckland....

Next stop: JAPAN!!!