The Johnsons' Journal

From Kaikoura, we made our way through the Marlborough wine region to Picton, the ferry port on the South Island.  From there we took the Interislander Ferry across the Cook Strait to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city. Wellington is known for its cable car, cafes, and ice cream and we enjoyed all three.

Pretty town of Picton

View of Wellington from the top of the cable car

Wellington Botanical Gardens

We left Wellington for a long drive north to Lake Taupo for a 35-minute jetboat ride on the Waikato River.  The jetboat was amazingly fast doing spins and going over rapids.  What an adrenline high!

Then we traveled on to the town of Rotorua.  In Rotorua we spent the next few days visiting the geothermal sites, fishing (Scott), relaxing at the Polynesian Spa, kayaking on the lake, and experiencing a Maori hangi and cultural show.

Champagne pool at the Geothermal Wonderland

More fishing

Food cooked underground at the hangi

Learning about Maori cultural

From Rotorua we traveled north to the Coromendal Peninsula and spent the day relaxing on Hot Water Beach.  This was one of the coolest experiences – about an hour on either side of low tide you can come and dig holes in the beach that will fill with hot spring water.  It was a little bit of an art because the water was 150 degrees Celsius, so you need some cold ocean water to mix with the spring water otherwise you were in a world of hurt.

Tons of people on Hot Water Beach digging hot spring baths

Our last stop in New Zealand was the city of Auckland.  We visited One Tree Hill, a volcanic cone that has 360 degree views of Auckland and surrounds.   We also did a bit of shopping and met up with Andrew and Danielle (who you might remember from this post in Fiji).  We finished off the trip with dinner overlooking the Viaduct Harbor before waking up the next morning to catch an early 8:00 am flight back to Melbourne.

Auckland - our last stop in New Zealand