I always love when my mum comes to visit. The first reason, of course, is that I love her and always miss her terribly when I’ve been away from the States for a long time. The second (and far less important) reason is that it usually means that in exchange for planning her vacation and taking time off work, I get to go on holiday for free. We both like to fit as much as possible into every holiday, and we certainly managed to do that this time.
My least favourite part of my mum’s visit was the drive to pick her up. I had worked a full day at school, and in doing so had sentenced myself to a solo 6 hour drive in the dark. Driving in New Zealand is much more intense than the expressways of America, so by the time I got to Auckland I was exhausted and sick of being behind the wheel. Of course, the next morning the stress and headaches of the night before were confined to a bad memory, and my adventure with my mum began.
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| The Auckland skyline, under the Harbour Bridge |
We spent the morning checking out Auckland. First we took a boat tour through Auckland harbor, which was a really nice way to see the city. Then we had lunch from the top of Auckland’s most recognizable landmark: the Sky Tower. Auckland is a really nice city, and although we both agreed we could easily spend my mom’s entire two weeks there, we decided to head to the Coromandel Peninsula instead.
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| Mom took this photo from our first camping spot, pre tsunami warning |
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| We woke up to this view from the very tsunami-safe scenic lookout |
The next morning we were a bit hesitant to leave the scenic lookout, but even more hesitant to lose an entire day of our vacation, so we ventured on to Matarangi. We stopped by an estuary, where there was a good sized hill between us and the sea, and made toast and tea. We got to chatting with some locals who had been watching the water levels in the estuary. In contrast to a typical day, where the tide comes in and out twice per day, they had already seen the water levels rise and fall four times that morning. The water levels generally rise and fall quite slowly. So slowly, in fact, that it’s quite hard to see. That morning, we saw two surges that were quite dramatic. It was easy to see the water levels rising rapidly. Buoys that normally sit calmly on the water to aid boaters in docking were almost fully submerged in the rushing water. It was quite cool to be able to watch a tsunami from somewhere we felt safe, and to have the added input of some locals who had grown up on the estuary and were shocked by the surges.
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| New Chums Beach |
When we were confident that the tsunami had come and gone, and the beaches were safe, we made our way to New Chums Beach. It requires half an hour walk through a river, over some rocks, then through a narrow path that eventually opens up to a spectacular beach with golden sand and turquoise water. It’s been voted one of the top 10 beaches in the world, and although I haven’t seen all the beaches in the world, I’m certainly not surprised.
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| Mom and Quinten, on our fantastic tour of the Cathedral Cove area |
After some nice food and wine, a lovely sunset, and a much more comfortable night in the van, we headed towards Cathedral Cove. It was raining that morning, but it cleared up just in time for an amazing boat ride. We had a really great guide called Quinten who took us to the highlights of the coast, pointing out the volcanic features, islands, coves, beaches and even a natural blow hole.
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| Mum managed to capture the sticky lines suspended by the glowworms |
From the Coromandel we headed toward the Waitomo Caves. The most unique feature of the Waitomo Caves is the glowworms that thrive there. They only exist in New Zealand and a small portion of Australia, and they’re breathtaking. It turns out the part that glows is actually the bioluminescent poo of larvae. They dangle lines from the roof of the cave with sticky bits of goo on them. When flies and other insects are attracted to the glowing poo, they get stuck in the lines, which the larvae then pull up like a fishing line and eat. Looking up at them from the floor of a dark cave it’s easy to forget all the science of bioluminescence. It feels like you’re looking up at a sky filled with bright stars, and it takes your breath away.
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| Mom, a starfish, and Mt. Taranaki in the background |
Next on the itinerary was a return to New Plymouth. It was great showing her where we live because she helped me to appreciate New Plymouth even more. I would take her to a beach or a park that we had been to numerous times, and her enthusiasm was contagious. We also got to show her the greater Taranaki area. The mountain was hidden behind cloud for a majority of her visit, but she did get occasional glimpses of it. Tom searched through the rocks and found lots of critters like star fish, kina, shrimp, crabs, brittle stars and sucker fish. We met up with John and Angela for some evening fishing. Luckily, we brought a chicken as back up, because we didn’t end up catching anything, but we did get a stunning sunset.
After the full tour of Taranaki, we set off in Mitzy yet again. This time, we headed toward Rotorua. In Rotorua, the earth—quite literally—farts. Some of the world’s youngest volcanic formations surround Rotorua and Taupo, and there are active geothermic hot spots all over the area where heated gas and sulfur escape the earth’s surface.
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| Not hugely impressive, unless you're my mom, but I sure did love the encouragement! |
After a day in Rotorua we escaped the sulfur in exchange for the fresh sea air at Mt. Monganui. We had to spend an entire evening reading and playing cards in the van because the weather was horrible. Fortunately, the next day we had sunshine. We took advantage of the nice weather by climbing all the way to the summit of Mt. Monganui. I also went surfing a couple of times. I was frustrated because I didn’t think I was surfing very well, but there was one wave that I had stood on for quite a while, and when I looked up towards the shore, there was my mom, jumping and waving to let me know she had seen me. It’s nice to know that even at 26 my mum is still my biggest fan and gets all excited over my very modest success.
We took the long and scenic way home. After stopping at the impressive Wai Tapo geothermic park we drove around Lake Taupo. It was beautiful. That night we spent our last night in the van at a great campsite on the banks of the Wanganui river. I have to admit, before she arrived I was worried she wouldn’t be able to spend two weeks camping in the van. I thought we’d end up staying in hotels or bed and breakfasts, but she did really well in the van for the entire two weeks.
On our way back to Taranaki we took the “Forgotten World Highway”. It was incredibly remote. A fair portion of it was gravel, and it took quite a while, but the scenery was fantastic, and we even had to stop to let a farmer get his sheep across the road, which was quite exciting for my mom.
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| Pukeko |
Mom had an interesting observation that she mentioned a few times throughout her visit. She noticed quite a lot of features that reminded her of something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Sometimes it was trees, like Pongas. Other times it was birds, like Pukekos, with their blue feathers and long, almost prehistoric looking legs. Sometimes it was just the land features themselves: layers of cliffs with strange plants growing in all different directions.
After two sensational weeks of showing Mum around New Zealand, I was sad to see her go. Tom and I dropped her off at the airport in New Plymouth, where she flew to Auckland, and then home to Michigan. Every time she visits it flies by too quickly and I’m left a little homesick after her departure. It helps to know that I’ll see her this August, and hopefully not too long after that she’ll be able to come visit me on yet another adventure.
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| Sunset in New Plymouth |
