Unemployment - Part 2: North Island

North Island? You mean New Zealand's North Island? Didn't you live there for over a year and write about it a lot? Yeah, I did, but this is different I promise. For starters, I was travelling outside of Auckland. For seconds, I was with a new travel group - the entire Morgan family (Dakota and his parents Kathy and Bill). For thirds, why do you need three reasons? It's my blog.

Again because of time constraints (Dakota and I had a flight to Asia to catch), we only had 4 days to peruse some of Auckland's closer sights. We started on day one with a wine tour on Waiheke Island, about which I've written roughly a year ago. It was a lovely day typical of Auckland spring weather - cloudy and windy, threats of rain with the sun peeking through intermittently. 

Look who joined us!

I'm sure there's a part of my brain that is storing specific detail about each of the wineries we visited and the wines we tried. But at this moment jumping to the forefront of my memory are the tour guides (a Frenchman, an Argentinian, and a Dutchman) and their respective swooning sexualizations of each vino we sipped. It was pleasing and engaging and inebriating...and felt ephemeral. Suddenly we were finished with the last tasting and taking a group photo on the top of a windswept hill.

Steady, Eric, steady.

Goodbye alcohol producing isle. The maritime Red Ensign, I think, should replace the current NZ flag.

After a relaxing night in Auckland, the Morgans and I embarked in our rental car (named Steve-3PO), first stopping to give me a final climb up Mt. Eden. This is my favorite destination in Auckland, namely as a running and reading venue, but also for the splendid 360 degree city views.

Also a good spot to get some push-ups in. Good form Daks.

We ventured out of Auckland city congestion and into the stereotypical New Zealand green hills flocked with sheep and cows. Lake Taupo, our destination, is a place I had actually not been to despite my many excursions out of Auckland. Just a 3.5 hour drive south, the lake is a freshwater filled caldera, a result of the world's largest eruption in the past 70,000 years. It's located in the highly active geothermic center of the North Island, and for that reason garners a lot of tourism...during the tourist season. We were there in mid-October, just before the deluge of tour buses and German backpackers besieged the area. 

Just outside of our rustic hotel. The lake stretches out of sight to the west.

A black swan in the surf of Lake Taupo. I am fascinated by yet hate swan necks.

Lake Taupo is only another hour or so drive south to Tongariro National Park. The terrain along the route morphs from rocky lakeside to alpine, with towering pine trees and dry lowland tussocks dominating the scenery. With each passing turn, a snow-capped peak comes into view. This is Mt Ruapehu, where the North Island skiing enthusiasts come to ply their trade on the Whakapapa ski field (pronounced 'Fah-kah-pa-pa). As an aside, I'm going to miss the strange and fun Maori names in New Zealand. We only had a few hours to explore, so we drove up to the park and went for two short hikes to a scenic overlook and to a rocky waterfall.

A cloud-cap for your snow-cap?

Dakota never fears a cliff's edge.

The rest of the day was spent watching a sunset, eating at a restaurant where Dakota ordered a raw steak and a hot stone on which to cook it (?), and enjoying a few local brews. The next day we set out north and east toward the Coromandel Peninsula. First we stopped to watch the opening of a dam on the Waikato River,

Aratiatia Rapids. The water's power is impressive and pee-inducing. Let's just call it impressively pee-inducing.

and to cross over the Mamaku ranges into the beautiful beach port city of Tauranga (the largest port in New Zealand),

Looking south over the isthmus from atop Mt. Maunganui.

before heading up the east coast of the North Island into the Coromandel Peninsula. I've had a run-in or two with the Coromandel, most notably in October 2015 when I contracted some terrible food poisoning at a holiday park and lost a night of sleep and several pounds. Rhiannon and I also spent a wonderful Easter weekend drinking and eating at a resort on the peninsula, so I have mixed feelings about it. 

We stayed at an old Methodist church called The Church, converted into a restaurant and small stand alone rentals. It was just a few minutes walk away from Hahei beach, a local brewery called The Pour House, and the trail to Cathedral Cove. It was a pretty fun couple of days.

Panorama of Gemstone Bay.

High tide on the far side of Cathedral cove forces a hiking up of shorts to get back through the cave on the right.

Friends aren't afraid of showing physical affection.

We also spent a few hours dredging our own spa pools at Hot Water Beach just down the road. I've found over the past year that digging holes in beaches is a very fun activity at any age. 

It's all about the balance of scalding incoming water, depth, and a quick release outflow.

The Morgan family gets in on the push-up craze. All perfect form.

After just a short few days we were on our way back to Auckland, stopping first in Piha to take in some misty views. The Morgans are a delightful family, so calm and collected and sure of themselves. They are equally delightful travel companions - willing to change plans on the fly, unafraid of trying new things, and generous to a fault. I'll always remember Bill and Kathy passing freshly crafted PB&J sandwiches up from the back seat as Dakota and I navigated Steve-3PO around the North Island.

As I sat at the Auckland airport with Dakota that evening for a flight bound to Bangkok via Singapore, I was abruptly melancholy to be leaving. This was Thursday October 20th, my last few hours in Auckland and New Zealand, and I was unsure of my when next visit might be. Fifteen months of exploring LOTR country, being remote beyond anything I had experienced before, and making a slew of new friends, all of it felt suddenly left behind. In my past. Travelling to new places and a new life feels lonely and intimidating, no matter how well planned it is.

New Zealand:  come for the views, stay for the people, leave but never forget!

Cheers!

A last necessary stop at Rhiannon's mom's place to see this listless and impassive fluff ball.