North Island of New Zealand Adventures

We head to the North Island of  New Zealand for a grand adventure!  Some of the fun includes:

• Hiking the famous UNESCO Tongariro Crossing, Rainbow Mountain and glacial blue Waikato River to Huka Falls
• Sandboarding down massive 100+ foot dunes
• Kayaking and snorkeling Poor Knight Islands
• Floating on a tube through an underground cave to see millions of glow worms in the Waitamo Caves
• Mountain biking through the redwood forests of Whakarewarewa Forest
• Exploring the Mauri culture and Rotorua’s fascinating volcanic springs and steam

In the podcasts (and photos) below, you will learn about ATA podcast host, Kit Parks’ 5 day adventure as well as guest Rick Gallant’s 11 day trip with my affiliate, Active Adventures (email me if you want my exclusive Promo Discount Code to save $200 off ANY Active Adventures tour!).

If you are interested in learning about the South Island of New Zealand, you can check out pics and info HERE.

The podcast episode above is of guest Rick Gallant’s 11 day Active Adventures North Island of New Zealand ‘Kauri’ tour.

The episode above if of my own 5 day North Island New Zealand tour with Active Adventures.  This tour was an add on to my South Island adventure.  You can learn about my South Island adventure HERE.

If you want to go on this or ANY Active Adventures multi-day adventure tours, email me for an exclusive Discount Promo Code to save $200!

11 Day New Zealand North Island Multi-sport Adventure

DAY ONE : Auckland, Waipou Forest and Opononi harbor town

You fly in to Auckland to start your New Zealand North Island adventure (note that you will lose a day flying there, but gain it back on your return).  

If you have time, plan to spend a few days adjusting to the time change and exploring Auckland before you start your active adventure. 

Some Auckland recommendations:

• Wander the charming Viaduct Harbor to see the yachts, and to soak up the sights and people watch
• Take a Lord of the Rings day tour
• Take a boat over to Rotaroa Island Bird Sanctuary

From Auckland, we head to the Waipoua Forest for our first glimpse of the huge Kauri trees, a tree filled with much spiritual significance to the local MÄori people.  Who are the MÄoris?  The MÄoris are the indigeneous people and the first settlers of New Zealand.  They arrived from Polynesia by canoe in several waves from 1330 – 1350.

Then we visit Opononi, a charming harbor town.  At twilight, a local MÄori guide takes us on a very special walk where we visit Tane Mahuta (meaning Lord of the Forest), New Zealand’s largest known living kauri tree. At a height of 51.2 metres (168 feet), and with a trunk girth of 13.7 metres (45 feet).

We finish the day in Hokianga Harbour.

Spend a couple of hours sand boarding at the Te Pouahi Reserve!  So much fun!!!

Rick and I both went with my affiliate Active Adventures.  EMAIL ME to get an exclusive Active Adventures discount Promo Code for $200 OFF.

DAY THREE : Manawahuna Scenic Reserve, Bay of Islands, Ruapekapeka

Breathtaking and super fun day today!!!  You start with a water taxi from Paihia out to Deep Water Cove for a ridgeline hike to Cape Brett through the Manawahuna Scenic Reserve.

From the ridge, you’ll be able to get incredible views of the Bay of Islands.  If you’re lucky, you’ll catch dolphins or seals playing down below from your cliff top view.

The mountains that we’re crossing are very important to the local Iwi (Maori tribe). The mountain “Rakaumangamanga†is one point of the Polynesian Triangle – Hawaii and Rapanui are the other two.

If you aren’t up for the 3-4 hour hike, Active Adventures can arrange for an alternative boat trip around the Bay of Islands.

This afternoon, we’ll head south and inland to Ruapekapeka. The Ruapekapeka Pã was the site of the final battle in the ‘War of the North’, fought between British colonial forces and northern Maori, and this is where the British first experienced trench warfare. This Pã is widely recognised as one of the most significant historical sites in New Zealand.

Afterwards, we head inland to Ruapekapeka. This is the site of the last battle of the ‘War of the North’, the Ruapekapeka Pã , fought between the British colonial forces and the northern Maori.  The Brits experienced trench warfare for the first time here.  This Pã is one of the most important historical sites of the country.

Hiking Distance: 5 kilometres (3 miles), 3 hours
Elevation Gain: 473 metres (1,550 feet)
Elevation Loss: 473 metres (1,550 feet)

Kayak, snorkel or scuba dive Poor Knights Islands

Active Adventures offers EPIC adventure tours from around the world (I’ve covered many of their trips on the podcast) including Mont Blanc, Machu Picchu, Patagonia, Dolomites, Iceland, Nepal, Italian Lakes, and more!

What I love about Active is that not only is the trip almost completely all inclusive so you know how much your vacation is going to cost, but that they make sure to really teach you about the country and its culture while doing the most fun things the area has to offer, be it hiking, biking, paddling, etc.  Plus: their guides are the BEST!!!

DAY FIVE : Waipu and Mangawhai Heads coastal cliff walk

We follow the scenic coastal road of white sand beaches dotted with trees to Waipu.  Charming Waipu was settled by Scots in the mid-1800’s.

Then we head to one of New Zealand’s best hikes: Mangawhai Heads.  Truly one of the best cliff walks in the country.  You get tremendous views of the Northland coast.  At times you hike through shady bush and under giant pohutukawa trees.  Other times, it’s just you and the beach.

Afterwards, we head back to Auckland.

Auckland and the Sky Tower at night

DAY SEVEN : Wairere Falls, Te Aroha, and Rotorua

From Auckland, we head south toward Te Aroha where we’ll see the hot soda waters and the Mokena geyser.

But first, a ‘wee little hike’, as my guide Jo called a steep but stunning hike up to Wairee Falls.  Not only can you take in the views of Auckland down below, but you can take a refreshing dip in the stream at the end of your climb! 

This pretty trail takes us through forests laden with mossy rocks and roots and across several bridged river crossings.  At the Okauia fault line, we find the base of the Wairere Falls.

Then a picnic lunch in the village before heading to Rotorua, considered the heartland of New Zealand’s Maori culture and the spiritual home of New Zealand’s tangata whenua (original people of the land).

This is the day I picked up the tour.  Active Adventure times their South Island tours so that folks can finish up down there and then tag this part of the North Island tour to their trip.  Once I found out that Carol, Bill and Manny, whom I met on my South Island ‘Rimu’ tour were continuing north, I changed my plans and decided to join them.  

Rick, however, did the entire North Island ‘Kauri’ tour since he and his wife had enough time to do the full South and North Island adventures.  You can hear his interview at the top of this page.

DAY EIGHT : Mountain Bike Whakarewarewa Forest, Te Puia and Te Arawa hangi feast

One of my favorite days!!!  We begin by mountain biking the Whakarewarewa Forest (and don’t worry, I don’t know what I am doing:  they have trails for little kids up to experts.  The guide takes you on trails that are challenging but not scary for your particular cycling skills).

You are provided with a high quality mountain bike and helmet, plus a guide in the front and back.  It is super fun cycling through the maze of trails in this massive redwood forest, but if you prefer not to, you can stay back to explore Rotorua and the local mineral spas.

Next we visit Te Puia which is famed for the Te Whakarewarewa geothermal valley – a place of gushing waters, steaming vents, boiling mud pools and impressive geysers.

And if that’s not enough fun, at night, we have a traditional feast of the local Te Arawa tribe called a hangi – the food is wrapped and buried in the earth to cook over hot stones.  As we enter the ceremonial house, a nominated male exchanges the greeting indicating we come in peace and not war.  We are treated to a demonstration of warrior dances and then audience members are invited to participate (both Rick and I ended up on stage doing so:)  Afterwards a massive, delicious buffet feast – what fun!

  Mountain Biking the Whakarewarewa  Forest

I step outside my comfort zone and go ‘REAL’ mountain biking in the Whakarewarewa  Forest.  We arrive at the bike rental shop that has a cool coffee food truck outside, so we can enjoy a cup while we are getting fitted for our bikes.  Nice bikes.  Very expensive bikes.  Do they realize that my only experience mountain biking is on a $15 yard sale bike?  Apparently not, so after our guide gives us instructions in the parking lot and we get to ride in circles, we head out to the equivalent of the ‘Bunny Hill’ for him to assess us.  Our group does great and we quickly move up the skill level to intermediate.

Maori Cultural Visit and Hangi (Traditional Pit Steamed Dinner)

Be sure to take time to explore the fascinating Maori culture and the various tribes that came over by canoe from Polynesia in several waves from around 1250 -1300.  They developed distinct language and traditions still practiced today.

While in Rotorua. attend a Meeting Hall ritual where you will experience a ‘Welcome’ offered to guests and the warrior dance.  To intimidate guests, the warriors bulge their eyes and stick out their tongues.

Afterwards, the women demonstrate a ball and string dance and chant, and then ask for female volunteers.  I went up and did my best to do the twirling and clacking balls as instructed.  Afterwards, you’ll have a traditional hangii dinner which has all sorts of delectable meat and veggies in a buried pit that is pretty much steamed, offering a healthy dinner.  They put out a massive buffet not only of the hangii foods, but a huge assortment of western foods and seafood.

The beautiful blue color of the Waikato River!  You hike along this river to reach Huka Falls.

Raft the Kaituna River and Tutea Fall

Because we are ahead of schedule,  Jo and Andy ask us if we want to raft the world’s tallest commercially navigable waterfall, the Tutea, located on the Kaituna River.  We say “YES”!  Not only is going over a 21′ waterfall super fun and exciting (and less dangerous than it sounds – you plunge into a deep, rock free large pool, so even if you fall out, as I did, there’s nothing to get banged up on), but you also float through a beautiful rainforest with several falls and rapids.  My best rafting trip EVER and I’ve done the Pacuare in Costa Rica and the Tulley in Australia.

Travelling further south, we follow the shores of Lake Taupo, an enormous volcanic cauldera and the site of the world’s largest eruption in the last 70,000 years. We’ll stay on the banks of the Tongariro River, New Zealand’s most famous trout fishing river.

If you get the opportunity,

don’t be scared: DO IT!

Cliff Jumping

Another off the itinerary adventure:  after we rafted we then jumped off a REALLY tall cliff – what a day!

Remember that videos, like TV, adds ten pounds:)

Links Mentioned in this Podcast:

New Zealand South Island Part I

New Zealand South Island Part II

Costa Rica Adventures

Australia Adventures

Alas all good things must end.  On our final evening, Jo went all out and made us a special steak dinner.  Dessert was this berry parfait that she served using a Chef’s knife in lieu of a spatula.  One piece cracked us up because it really resembled “Mr. Bill” from the 1970’s Saturday Night Live show when he yells, “Oh NO!!!!” whenever he sees Sluggo.  Can you see it?

DAY ELEVEN : Waitomo Caves then back to Auckland

Active Adventures had one more surprise for us as we headed back to Auckland:  a stop at Waitomo Caves.  We each got a headlamp and an inner tube and learned how to jump backwards into the water in it.  Then we floated in a river to the entrance of a cave that I think the guide said goes 60′ under ground.

We have two thrilling jumps down small falls and at times had to squeeze through impossibly skinny tunnels.  Eventually we gently floated and the guide then told us to lock legs onto the tube in front, then turn off our headlamps and close our eyes.  It was so peaceful!

When instructed, we opened our eyes to magic!  The ceiling was covered in MILLIONS of glow worms!  Truly magical!!!  You felt like you were in fairyland.

Eventually we could see light (at the end of the tunnel:)  and then the ceiling was covered in magnificent stalactites.  Now you feel like you are in a cathedral!

Active Adventures (similar name but different company than Active Travel Adventures), the company I did much of my visit with in New Zealand, is an affiliate of ATA.  Please use my links if you decide to use them, and at no additional cost to you, you’ll be helping to support this podcast and website – Thanks!  Kit

Shrek – Sheep Gone Rogue

This is Shrek, the sheep I told you about in Part III of my New Zealand adventure (you can listen or download it at the top of this page if you missed it). 

He’s the sheep that escaped being sheared for six years.  Now a folk hero of New Zealand and star of many children’s books, Shrek, when finally corraled and sheared, gave up about 26 kg of greasy wool.  

You go, Shrek!  You’re my hero, too!

Get a quick quote and easily compare plans (without first giving your credit card!).  To get a quote, they need your age, home state and destination and travel dates.  Then you’ll see a list of company offerings and prices to make it easy to choose the plan that will work best for you. Get a quote HERE.

IMPORTANT: If you plan to do more exotic adventures, make sure your chosen policy covers them!  You may have to contact the insurance company to ask for a rider for your high altitude or more risky adventures.

North Island Of New Zealand Adventures Part III Transcript

We’re going to conclude my three-part series on my adventures in New Zealand. I spent a month there. The first week I was traveling solo on my own. I joined the Active Adventures tour on their South Island adventure for two weeks. I was having such a good time that even though my fourth and final week I was planning to travel solo again, I found out that several of my travel mates were going to be going to the North Island to catch the backend of another Active Adventures tour. I looked at the itinerary and I said, “That’s going to be a lot more fun.” I was having such a good time with Active and with the group that I was like, “No way. I may never come back to New Zealand again. I’m going.” Even though I had to eat some Airbnb costs and a puddle jumper flight and all that kind of stuff, it was worth it for me to go ahead and go on this tour. After reading, I think you’ll agree. Let’s get started.

—

Like my South Island adventure, this final week is going to be multi-adventure with different sports. Not only are we doing lots of hiking including the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing, we’re also going to be visiting a MÄori village to learn more about the culture, join them in one of their welcoming ceremonies and have one of their famous feasts. We will be exploring the coastlines, volcanoes. It’s a completely different landscape than the South Island. It’s totally different. We’ll be mountain biking in the Whakarewarewa Forest. We’ll be tubing in the Waitomo Caves. That was super cool. Once again, not only do we go rogue on a rafting trip over the tallest waterfall in the world that you can raft over, we go rogue once again in something that I’m glad I did, but don’t think I’ll do it again.

A Different Landscape

The landscape is completely different between the South Island and the North Island. This is due to the tectonic plate activity, the volcanic activity. In the South, the tectonic plates pushed together and go upwards so you have these beautiful massive mountains. However, in the North, they slide under each other and this causes the land to look alive. It’s similar to what I saw in Iceland. If I understand this right, in the South, the pressure builds until there’s an earthquake to release that pressure. Whereas in the North Island, because of the sliding tectonic plates, the gases are constantly being released up. It looks sometimes like a bomb just hit it because steam is just erupting from the soil. It’s cool and otherworldly. I have joined the back half of Active Adventures Kauri Tour.

From Te Aroha To Wairere Waterfalls

They offer that as a five or eleven-day tour. I’m doing the last five days. We meet our guides, Joe and Andy, in Auckland at a downtown hotel and head away from the bustling city to Te Aroha for a wee hike and a picnic. Te Aroha is one of the country’s top tourist spots celebrated for its natural hot soda waters and Mokena Geyser. I learned that Joe’s idea of a wee hike and mine are dramatically different. I find it challenging, beautiful, but certainly not a wee little hike and I love it. We are engulfed in a lush moss- dotted forest. It’s about 1,000 foot of elevation game over numerous stream bridges to get to a lookout platform at the base of the Wairere Falls on the Okauia fault line for a dramatic and panoramic view of the city down below. It’s hard to believe it can be so remote yet so close to New Zealand’s largest city that has over 1.5 million residents.

I’m happy that I’m starting to recognize some of the birds and their calls now, especially since Janice and Mike treated MJ to a bird called CD on her South Island tour. On the bus, MJ and I love listening to the CD but apparently, the rest were not as engaged. When we get back down off the mountain, Joe prepared a tasty picnic for us in the little park at the town center that has remnants of an old thermal bath and still the occasional geyser. After lunch, we hit the road and I’m introduced to marshmallow farms. The hayfield has been collected and the white plastic covered bales scattered across the fields do indeed look like monstrous marshmallows. I taste the famous Manuka honey on the South Island, but now I learned that tea tree oil comes from that same Manuka tree. I start to believe all those medicinal promises I was told. My friend, Allen, had insufferable psoriasis and nothing would help. He tried tea tree oil and it magically went away.

Rotorua

We get out for another hike, this time to hike the Mountain of Love and see the North Island’s tallest waterfall at 154 meters or around 500 feet. It’s gorgeous. There have been many proposals here. On the way down, we jumped into a river for a brisk but refreshing swim. We’ve seen a few other hikers, but we had the river to ourselves. Pinch me, I’m swimming in a river in a forest in New Zealand. I’m now fresh and somewhat cleaned from our wee swim. We head to Rotorua in the heart of New Zealand’s MÄori culture and the spiritual home of New Zealand’s Tangata Whenua, the original people of the land. The MÄori are the original people from Eastern Polynesia. They arrived by canoe somewhere around 1250 to 1300. Isolated, they develop new customs, a new language, rich mythology, distinct crafts and performing arts.

I want to paraphrase Leanna’s telling of the MÄori origin story. As you may recall, Leanna was one of our guides on the South Island. The legend of Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother, explains the creation of life in MÄori culture. Sky Father and Earth Mother lie locked together in a tight embrace with their many children wedged in between them in a world of eternal darkness. One day by chance, the children experienced light that escaped from Rangi’s armpit as he rolled over and they became resentful. One son, TÄne Mahuta, the god of the birds and the forest, proposed a way to bring forth light to their world and separate their parents forever. He did so by lying on his back with his feet pressed up against Sky Father Rangi to thrust him into the sky for life, therefore allowing light into the world.

Rotorua on a massive lake of the same name, the full modern name is Te Rotorua-Nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. We get out to explore the town of Rotorua. While the building looks fine, I get the feeling that the town has just been bombed. Their steam erupting from fissures all over the place, plus steaming mud pools as well. One hotel had to close down due to the steam fissures. I see a fence that doesn’t look like it’s going to be around long. There’s a crack with steam spurting up out of it. Surely this is going to rot it. There is steam emanating from people’s front and back yards. Sometimes you get the faint rotten egg smell that you get from hydrogen sulfide. It’s harmless, but it’s a little unpleasant.

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Rotorua sits over the Rotorua caldera. In fact, there are seventeen calderas in the area. A caldera is formed from a volcano where after the eruption, the volcano collapses on itself to form a crater. Here, the ocean across is just a few meters below. Because the steam is coming out from all over the place, there’s no fear of another eruption because of the lack of pressure build up. The good news is because of all this thermal energy pushing up from the soil, heat is a cheap commodity. Some areas are closed off due to the steam. I learned later that night that in order to protect ignorant visitors who insist in ignoring the posted warning signs, some of the more dangerous fissures are closed off to all but the MÄori people because they know better.

These pools can reach temperatures at 200 to 250 degrees so you need to know which ones are safe. In downtown Rotorua, to me, they attract a Swiss Tudor looking like Rotorua Museum of Art and History. It looks a bit out of place with the surrounding architecture. Rotorua has been a popular spa town since the 1800s. This beautiful old building reminds us of its history. If time permits, visit the museum to learn more about the MÄori people and their Musket Wars.

It’s been an interesting day filled with landscape contrast in history. Our lodge by the lake has a laundry. I’m pretty sure my travel mates are glad that I found the laundry as well. In our room, there was a notice to keep the windows closed and the lights off at night because of trout flies. Carol forgot and when we got back from dinner, her bathroom was covered in these black flies. I don’t think they bite. It was funny for us. It’s not so funny for Carol, Bill and the poor manager on duty who eradicated them.

Mountain Bike Whakarewarewa Forest

With all the steam coming out, you think the land is barren. It’s not. At 5:30 in the morning. I get a vocal wakeup call from the mini birds. I peek out. It’s drizzling a bit. This will make for perfect mountain biking weather. The Whakarewarewa Forest has over 130 kilometers of bike trails to suit all skill levels. The forest itself is beautiful with tall, upright trees and little undergrowth. You can see in the forest. The area is world-renowned for its mountain biking trails and I can see why. I’m already getting a little bit twitchy because we’re doing real mountain biking. It’s not the gentle biking that I did to Wanaka. They’ve got single track courses and I’m reliving my Umstead State Park trauma all over again. If I want to be a wuss, I could opt out and just soak in the middle of spas, but I decided I’m going to flex my courage muscles and do it.

We head to this cool bike rental place that has a coffee truck outside and grab a cup of coffee while we’re getting fitted for our bikes, helmets and get some instructions. These bikes cost about $3,000 and they’re going to let me pedal it. This is not my $15 huffy bike. In the parking lot, a group of about 30 people over 60 are meeting up for a communal ride. They call themselves The Wrinkled Riders. I’m encouraged. If they can do it, I can do it. Our guide is smart. I’m sorry, I don’t remember his name so I’m just going to call him Larry. Larry has his practice in the parking lot before we head out, then he takes us to the equivalent on the Bunny Hill to assess us. While the trails are marked, they do intersect others. I’m glad we have a guide. If not, make sure you take a map because it could be easy to get lost in there. We do find a junior high kid who got separated from his teacher.

This is a well-used area so you can’t be alone too long. I’m sure the teacher was chagrined to lose one of the students out in the forest. Our group aces to what I call the Bunny Hill or the beginner trails. There were families out. There were small children as young as three zooming along with their little training wheels. These trails are flat, wide and smooth. Satisfied with our performance, Larry moves us up to the easy trails. Now we’re starting to get some mild hills, but the tracks are still smooth and there’s not much we can run into. We aced it again. I’m starting to feel confident in this mountain biking thing.

Larry says we’re ready for the intermediate trails now. Now we’ve got some steeper hills and the track is no longer smooth. There are roots, rocks and some tighter turns. I might be lacking in the back with our backup guide who’s very encouraging, but I’m holding my own. Remember I’m with Carol, Bill and Manny. These are the crazy ones that did all the wacky adrenaline things in Queenstown and apparently lacks some fear bone. These guys are zooming down the track. We cross streams with wooden bridges and these bridges don’t have any guardrails. I had to remind myself, “I know how to ride a bike in a straight line. Concentrate, Kit. Look ahead not to the right, not the left. You can do this.”

It’s near the end of our time in the forest and Larry decides we can handle one of the more challenging of the intermediate trails. I’m having fun. Sometimes I tweaked a little bit going downhill or in a tight turn, but I’m game. I’m up for this. Things are going pretty well and up ahead everyone stopped. There, he gives us a briefing on the upcoming bend. I want you to picture this. There’s a red clay ravine. It’s about four feet high and about three or four feet wide. The tree trunks and the rocks are about the head level because you’re sitting down in the ravine on your bicycle. Make the trail go downhill about fifteen feet at a 45-degree angle. That’s steep. It’s going right downhill.

At the very bottom of that fifteen feet, make a 300-degree turn, almost a complete U-turn like a paperclip turn and you can’t put on the brakes or if you go too slow you’re going to tip over. Larry shows us how it was done, piece of cake. One by one my group goes. Fearless Carol aces it and so does Bill and Manny. Now it’s just me. The four of them are down there watching me. I never liked that. They were encouraging me. I’m trying to convince myself I can do it. I finally muster up the courage and off I go, “Focus straight ahead. Don’t look down. Don’t look at that scary bend. Focus, Kit. Have confidence in yourself. You can do this. You crossed that bridge fine. You could do this. Go.” Rats, I didn’t do it. I wish I could tell you that I didn’t tip over, but my self-preservation fear of crashing into that ravine wall at the bend just rattled me.

I went way too slowly. The breaks wrong way too much and the inertia, I just fell gently over onto the right wall into that ravine completely not hurt. I wasn’t going fast enough to hurt myself. I do believe that if I tried it again, I would have been able to do it. I may not have made that turn without tipping, but I’m still proud of myself for getting out there and trying. I discovered that I liked mountain biking and I want to do it again. Joe has made us a delicious picnic buffet, which we eat on the table outside the bike rental place. Everyone’s in good spirits from the fun morning. Doing this mountain biking is one of my highlights on a trip that’s very difficult to choose a favorite.

Te Puia Geothermals

I’ve come to realize that we get the most satisfaction when we step outside of our comfort zone and stretch our courage muscles and grit bones. I wish we would go back out after lunch again and ride some more. After lunch, we had to Te Puia, a small town with massive geothermal activity. Even though there are an extensive visitor center and live exhibits of the geysers, spring, steams and mud pools, the area outside is pretty much-undeveloped bush allowing for the native wildlife to flourish. Local MÄori belief, and I agree, that mineral springs, mud and steam baths have healing properties. They incorporate this natural phenomenon into their daily lives.

Maori Cultural Visit And Hangi

After cleaning up back at the lodge, we head to Te Puia, a MÄori Cultural Center at the local Te Arawa tribe in Rotorua. I think I’ve got it right that the Te Arawa is one of eight tribes who arrived in canoes and scattered across New Zealand. The Te Puia Cultural Center is a massive undertaking. We have an appointed time to visit a meeting room to see some traditional dance and hear music and chants. In the meantime, we can explore the exhibits and grounds including the impressive entrance to two Te Puia Heketanga-a-Rangi, which translate as Heavenly Origins, a contemporary MÄori artwork.

In this huge outdoor patio entrance, it is surrounded by twelve massive totem pole-like carvings which represent celestial MÄori guardians. Carvings and weavings are the MÄori’s first written language. MÄori architecture is beautiful and meaningful. Everything tells a story. Later in the meeting house, we sit in the MÄori on stage. As its custom when visitors visit another tribe, one man is selected from our group to represent us, the visitors. He does his duty with the leader of the tribe and we are officially welcome to the meeting house. One of my best photos is of a warrior dancer.

In the dance, the MÄori often stick out their tongues with manic bulging eyes in an effort to show you they’re strong and fearsome. I nailed the perfect picture and you can see it on the website. After the ceremony, women volunteers are encouraged to go on stage to learn a female dance with these balls in a string that you flip and you twirl. I can’t dance, flip or twirl and as you know, I also can’t sing but I volunteered anyway. Like I always say, “Try to say yes to everything,” particularly if it makes you a little bit uncomfortable. It was fun and everybody had a few laughs.

Later we watched a demonstration of how the MÄori cook a traditional feast called a hangii. You make a hangii by wrapping food and burying it in a pit over hot stones, which almost steams it making for a delicious and healthy way to cook. The MÄori were justly proud when we indulged in a massive buffet of both traditional hangii food plus a variety of more recognizable dishes, including abundant seafood naturally since we’re next to a lake. The buffet table is about 50 feet long. It’s incredible. We’d been working in our bodies pretty hard lately so we all overindulged.

Conquering The Tutea

The next day, our guides have gone rogue. This is not on the itinerary. “Who’s in?” Everybody’s hands shot up, not just New Zealand’s but the world’s tallest commercially navigable waterfall in the world, 21 feet tall. I’m about to plunge over it in a raft. I love whitewater rafting and I’ve been fortunate enough to raft at two of the most beautiful rafting runs in the world, the Tulley in Australia, Episode Number Four and to Pacuare in Costa Rica, Episode Number Fifteen. The run we’re doing today, the Kaituna, is about the same with mostly class two and three rapids and the occasional class four. The mega waterfall is what makes this run a standout. It starts out normal enough. We’re surrounded by lush forest. We had the opportunity in the calms between the rapids to appreciate the beauty of the fern-filled rainforest. Up just a waist, our guide, Hamish, grabs onto a rope or tree branch or something on the bank to stop us. As he clings to the branch on the bank, I realized we’re just below the fall. We wonder if this was such a great idea after all.

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Bill and I sit in the front of the raft and give each other a “Holy blank†look. Hamish looks us over one last time and yells, “Get down.” He tucked down in the bottom of the raft just like he trained us. I take one last peak before we hit over the falls, “I hope this isn’t my last. It’s too late. Now we’re going over the fall.” We’re over in a few long seconds. The raft plunges under the water and I’m thinking, “We watched these folks yesterday and they didn’t go under.” The force of the water entering the raft sloshes me out of it and I cling to the side rope with my left hand while clenching my paddle with the right. That was the most fun thing I have ever done bar none. I’m going to post a bunch of photos because they have a photographer that catches it. It’s classic. You see the raft, my raft mates and Hamish are in a collective cheer of success. They don’t even realize that Bill and I are gone. You see in the background, they’re in the front just celebrating all that. Bill is in the background. All you see is his fist clinging the paddle coming out of the water with me barely hanging onto the side of the raft in the front. You’ll only see me only if you squint. I’m going to put another funny shot of Bill. He’s literally been flipped out of the raft like he’s doing a cartwheel out of the raft. It’s priceless.

Even though the fall is tall, it falls into this large protected pond-like area that’s got still water and it’s so deep. There are no bulging rocks or anything you can bang your head on. Your PFD or your Personal Flotation Device, it’s going to keep you above the water. It’s pretty safe. I want to do that again. That was a blast. After laughing, celebrating and eventually I get back in the raft, we continue down the river and Hamish has one more little trick up his sleeve. There’s one rapid that we would go over fun. Hamish has this turnaround and goes into it. Instead of a rapid, it’s more like a short but wide waterfall than a rapid.

We sluice into it over and over again. It’s such fun and you could see our utter joy and glee in our faces in the photos that the raft company has smartly had a photographer at some of these critical junctures. If I had to rank my rafting adventures by fun, no doubt, this is number one. I’d say next would be the Pacuare in Costa Rica and the Tully in Australia. I cannot believe how many times I’ve been in a wet suit this month. I am having the time of my life. This is the best trip I’ve ever taken.

Rainbow Mountain Hike To Huka Falls

Next, we hike up 5,000-year-old Rainbow Mountain. This is a now dormant volcano controlled by the MÄori people. Even though we’re hiking the trails, you could also mountain bike them. There’s also one dedicated grade two bike trail as well. Rainbow Mountain is noted for its colorful soil. Dormant now, the vegetation has returned and because of geothermal activity, it has some unusual plants that can tolerate these conditions. Where the plants haven’t completely overtaken the size, you still see these unusual rainbow colors, predominantly red. I love looking at Glacial Lakes even when the glacier is long gone. The fine particulates that are suspended in the water called glacial flower reflect light and to the human eyes, the watercolor becomes like a unique aqua or emerald color.

Along the trail here, there’s a nice overlook of one of these lakes. After a 3.5-kilometer trek up a steep ascent, we reached the summit called the Tihi-o-Rua meaning owl’s perch. We are now at the southern-most reach of one of the local MÄori tribes. From here, we can see their vast reforestation efforts, once the largest exotic wood forest. The lands below are filled with eucalyptus, large pine and fern that was planted by inmates. It’s off to Waikato River for a riverside hike to the Huka Falls. It’s a beautiful hour-long hike along the river path that you share with bikes.

This powerful river also has a telltale glacial color and stunning. It also helps create electricity for the area. The Waikato River is once the local highway traversed by canoe, although the fall makes part of that river a bit treacherous for them. Now the canoes are gone, but you can jet boat down the river, which looks like a lot of fun. After hanging out at the fall, we regroup and head for a little R&R. We stopped at a parking lot and head to changing facility to get into our bathing suits so we can take a swim/soak in the chilly Waikato River. Here’s the good part. Here’s where the cold Waikato meets the steaming geothermal Otumuheke Stream, which flows 1,500 meters from its source to embrace the Waikato. You get to choose your temperature and you can move in and out of the cold or the hot as you please. The banks are covered in a rare and super slow growing native fern that can only grow in a geothermal environment.

Cliff Jumping

Refreshed, we follow the shoreline of Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest lake, a gigantic volcanic caldera. It erupted 1,800 years ago and it’s considered the world’s biggest eruption. Some believe it may have created the last glacial Ice Age. The blast which ejected 1,000 cubic kilometers of material it ejects. That means several hundred square miles of the surrounding land collapsed and formed this caldera which then filled with water. How cool is that? On the way to our lodge, we drive along the banks of the Tongariro River, New Zealand’s most famous trout fishing river. I bet you they got some trout flies. Joe and Andy asked if we wanted to jump off a cliff. Since they seemed to like us all right, we say, “Sure.” Remember, always try to say yes. At a pull off, they parked the van and we walk a short distance to a tall cliff where they both proceed to jump off a 30 to 60 feet cliff. I swear that was tall.

Carol just goes over quickly like a lemming. Here I am always trying to work on my courage muscles and my grip bone, but Carol seriously needs to work on getting a fear bone. Manny stays a bit more carefully then he too leaps. This is not on the itinerary. Joe and Andy have gauged this group and they want to maximize our fun and experiences. Now it’s my turn to decide. Remember, I’m not one of your adrenaline junkies. I’m looking over that ledge. That’s a long way down there. I said, “I can see the bottom. Are you sure it’s deep enough?” He’s like, “Yeah, just don’t dive.” I don’t know how long I stared at that water, but it’s a while before I decide whether I’m going to do this.

I was more worried that I was going to jump out far enough and I’d somehow get snagged on the vegetation on the side of the cliff. Highly unlikely because it was flat on the way down, but I know I’m a bit of a klutz. I decided, “I’m going to do this.” On the count of five, I leap. I got this great idea. I decide I’m going to make sure I don’t hit the bottom. I’m going to try to ball up a little bit like a cannonball style and hold my nose so the water doesn’t go up to my nose. For perspective, the last, in fact, the only rock I’ve ever jumped off was about ten or fifteen feet high. I did that on the Pacuare River. I did that twice. It was fun, exciting and I survived both times. I leap and gratefully Bill has stayed behind to videotape, so I got the proof.

I learned a couple of things. Number one, videotape is like TV and adds ten pounds to you. Remember that when you look at the video. Number two, doing like a cannibal jump from such a height, just about splits your butt cheeks apart on impact. However, I didn’t touch the bottom so I consider that a fair trade. Number three, you need to consider how to get back up the cliff before jumping off one. It turns out, that was the trickiest part. I’m so glad I said yes. This day has been such a magical day. It’s going to take a slot in my top ten favorite days of my life. Can this adventure get any better?

Tongarino Alpine Crossing

We stayed by the Tongariro River so that in the morning we can do one of New Zealand’s most popular and epic hikes, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It’s a challenging all-day hike in New Zealand’s not only the oldest national park, it’s the fifth oldest national park in the world. This day’s almost twenty-kilometer hike is considered the best mountain day hike in the country. While it looks innocent enough, you want to make sure you enter prepared not just with food and ample water, but with your thermals, your rain gear, etc.

The sign gives us a calculator to determine the approximate temperature difference from the start to the summit and you add in the wind chill factor. The sign also asks you to make sure you’re fit enough for the trek over the mountain and warns that so far, 68 visitors had been rescued. Folks who no doubt underestimated their fitness and/or whether that a mountain can make often with no notice. The final sign tells us that Red Crater is 1,780 meters up and that this day’s forecast calls for increasing winds and rain as the day progresses. We’re going to need to beat the front.

It all starts off mild enough and quite level. We’re surrounded by geothermal activity and although there’s an abundance of water, even a river that we’re walking alongside, you can’t drink it as the heat from the hydrothermal fluids leach minerals, including arsenic which is toxic to humans. Up at the water was also a water treatment system as well. A volcano eruption decimates the vegetation and it takes a long time for plants to start growing again on the harsh rubble. The land is filled with plants, but these are still the early pioneers. They’re small grassy shrubby round huggers. It’s going to be generations before the trees can invade again. This gives us an unobstructed view of the ridgeline.

In the distance, we see little ants on top of the ridge. In a few hours, we’re going to be ant people too. The level path is about to head upwards and there’s one final warning sign saying, “Stop. Consider turning back. Are you really prepared to continue your Alpine track? Is the weather okay? Do you have the right equipment and clothing? Are you fit enough?” Good questions all and ones we should ask ourselves every time we climb a mountain. As we have a good weather window, we have the proper gear and clothes and all of us are fit, we begin our ascent.

Overlooking the beautiful Emerald Lake, there’s another sign that outlines the different lava flows we see below with their dates: 1975, 1954, 1949, 1870. I don’t see any pattern. The sign also tells us what to do in case of an eruption or earthquake basically, “Run.” The vegetation is pretty low where there is any. Rugged and beautiful in its own way like a desert and it grows a new in its unique beauty. Because of the low vegetation, there’s no privacy for a nature call and this is a popular track.

The park has thought of this problem and after ways, there’s a cluster of porter toilets and we are happy. This also gives us a chance to stop for a snack and get our thermal jackets. It’s pretty nippy on the ridgeline. I feel like I’m Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. The brown, black and tan rubble is otherworldly at the top. A fog sets in or is it a cloud? We are pretty high up in the land and its hikers look ghostly. Heading back down on the other side of the mountain, we see a triplet of Emerald Lakes and posed for our success photos. The land on the side is smooth and tan with these three unusually colored lakes spotting them with the steam-filled backdrop.

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It’s super cool. We sit by one of the lakes for our picnic lunch. I’ve got to say that the guides at Active Adventures who make most of our meals take great care to make sure they taste great, are healthy, and they give us variety. While they obviously help each other out, it’s one person’s main job to drive and the others to feed us. MJ on the South Island and Joe on the North Island went to great lengths to keep us happily well fed. While Leeann and Andy did the driving would narrate the backstory in history of some of the places we saw as we drove by.

I’m impressed with both teams. On Active tours, they always have a kiwi guide plus a local guide, but since we’re in the Kiwi land, both sets of our guides are based in New Zealand. Some of these guides go to Europe, for example, during the northern hemisphere summer months. If I do Mont Blanc, for example, I might get Joe or Andy again as my guide. After lunch, we continue down the volcano and come to a dock hut or I should say what remains of the hut after the last eruption.

It’s being preserved as an interpretive exhibit for the future. DOC, as you may recall from a previous episode of New Zealand, stands for Department of Conservation. They have about 900 huts scattered throughout the country. In this hut, you can see boulders that spewed out of the volcano, landed on the roof in the sides, big boulders. We’re getting near the base, which is good and I pick up my pace. Black clouds and an occasional thunder boom in the distance. You do not want to be exposed on that ridge in a thunderstorm.

A huge beautiful lake is also in the distance and we hiked down towards it. Every once in a while, I turn around and I can’t believe the mileage we’ve covered. I once again see the ant people and some great gushes esteem emanating from the land. The land is truly alive. Eventually, the trail is no longer barren. We have entered a rainforest. What a remarkable change of scenery. The thermals are long removed and it’s a pleasant temperature. I enjoy hiking solo, though still in my group. I want to memorize everything.

This is our last hike on a New Zealand adventure. I come to the last sign on the trail. It’s surrounded by ferns, “You are now clear the lahar hazard zone.” A lahar is like a volcanic avalanche of mud and debris that can occur with or without interruption. Now that I’ve passed the sign, I’m out of the volcanic zone and in the clear. A beautiful brook runs along the trail and I love the sound and the serenity. It’s a fitting end to this magnificent trail. I see one last waterfall among the trees and eventually merge out of the forest into a parking lot.

Farewell Feast

Active has arranged for our lodge-keeper to pick us up as our van is at the start of the trail almost twenty kilometers away and how sweet, he’s brought a cooler of beer for our celebratory toast. Beer sure does taste good after a long hike. Everyone’s in a good mood as we head back to the lodge. We get cleaned up and meet over at Joe and Andy’s cabin for cocktails and our final farewell feast, a fine state dinner. Joe has gone all out and there was a wee bit of wine consumed.

My funniest and favorite memory of that dinner is the dessert. It was this berry parfait thing and she was scooping out portions with this large chef knife. For those of us old enough to remember the ’70s Saturday Night Live episodes that serving inadvertently had the face of a screaming Mr. Bill when he first sees Mr. Sluggo. It still cracks me up every time I see the photo and brings me back to my high school days. My phone tracks my steps, so far in New Zealand, 325,731 steps. I’ve had time to think about those steps on the necessarily long drive back to Auckland.

Trying to see the highlights of a country in a few weeks is difficult at best, but by immersing yourself in the landscape as we did by hiking, biking and paddling our way around the countryside is the perfect way to try to do so. You’re not whizzing by the countryside, you become an actual part of it and indeed part of the local’s lives of those that you meet each day. We stopped to stretch our legs in Te Kuiti in the Waitomo District, the sheep shearing capital of New Zealand. Two world champs reign from this town. Since 1987, the town has hosted the shearing competition, which now draws shearers from around the world. There is a massive seven-meter, 7.5-ton statue in the local champion shearer’s honor.

Shearing Season

When I was in a rural part of Australia, my late-husband, Bill, and I stopped in a restaurant on Kangaroo Island. Inside it was just us and a guy at the bar. To save the bartender/waitress some steps, Bill went up to the bar to order another beer and started chatting with the cowboy at the bar. The man, a local rancher, invited us to stop by for a glass of wine before we hit it out of town. We did, and it was so cool to see an Australian ranch up close. Plus, he was a gardener and me as a plant lover, I was thrilled to be able to ask someone so knowledgeable about his landscape. Here’s what’s even cooler, that day was also a shearing day for the lambs and he took me to go see.

Picture a big barn. On the right-hand side the barn, there’s a big pet door. The lamb channel through this door and a shearer would grab it and shave off the wool before the lamb even knew what hit it. It would get released. A few minutes later, it shoots out another on the left side pet door, is out in the yard and looking around like, “What just happened?†It would shake itself back to reality and scamper off to be with his friends. It was hysterical. The expressions on the lamb’s faces were priceless.

Shearing is a remarkable feat of endurance and they have to do it all day and they travel from ranch to ranch during the shearing season. A sign at the Te Kuiti tells us that when attempting a world record time for sheep shearing, the contestant’s exertion and heart rate is comparable to a back-to-back marathon with a 1.64 liter per minute oxygen intake. In 2017, the record was broken by Matt Smith who sheared 731 ewes in nine hours. That’s one sheep every one and three-quarter minutes.

Shearers get paid by the sheep so naturally, speed is important to them. At the time of this recording, they make about 250, about $3 a piece. New Zealand is home to about 32 million sheep and most produce about five kilograms of wool per year. It’s used mainly for rugs, bedding, blankets and hand knitting yarn. There are almost seven sheep per person in New Zealand. New Zealand dominates production. However, China has been whacking away at that title and the preponderance of polyester and cotton is also making a mark.

Here’s a fun story. There’s a sheep called Shrek. Once he escaped being sheared not just once, but he escaped into the hills and was hiding out in caves and did so for six years. When they finally caught up to him and sheared him, he released over 27 grams of greasy wool. The owner said he was unrecognizable as a sheep. You could barely see his face. He became an icon, a hero of children’s books and a sensation throughout the country. In one town, there’s a huge statue in his honor. It’s pretty funny.

Cave Tubing

Tongariro may have been our last hike, but Active Adventures has one more treat up its sleeve. I find myself back once again in a wet suit. We are at the Waitomo Caves and get fitted in our suits, neoprene booties and a snug helmet with a headlamp. As instructed, I select an inner tube that fits my butt and doesn’t fall off when I bend over. “What are we going to be doing?” We walked down to the river to practice jumping backward in the water. This is going to be interesting.

As our tour guide gives us instructions, she is standing on a pier ten feet from the ground. I’m thinking, “I’m not jumping backward in that shallow creek from that high up.” Fortunately, she’s using that pier as a vantage point to teach us and we walked down to a lower platform a couple of feet off the ground for our trials. “No problem. I got this.” The reason we have to learn how to do this is we’re about to go tubing in an underground cave. How cool is that? A river runs through the cave and it’s pitch black and like usual I’m near the back of the pack.

I asked Manny to stay behind me so I’m not last. I do not want to get lost in this labyrinth and there’s only one guide that I can see and she’s at the front. Our helmets have headlamps, so I’m able to see the nooks and crannies, the rock wall sides of the cave. Every once in a while, there’s an opening above and we can see how far below the surface we are. It’s far. This is surreal. We laugh. At one point, we have to squeeze out this tight opening. Here comes the jump. We do a backward jump like we practice on the little waterfall ahead. “That wasn’t so bad.”

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The water gets calm so we can float on her tummies for a bit. We are in a cave under the earth. This is so cool. I got to wondering, “Who on Earth first discovered this treat?†It must’ve been super scary until the lay of the land or some kind of a map or whatever in the cave tunnel map was figured out. Caves, as you may or may not know are not the place to be in a thunderstorm because if the land gets hit by lightning, there are a lot of metal usually in rocks and therefore caves. Remember this too when you’re hiking. You’re better to be exposed than inside of a cave in a thunderstorm.

The week before, a storm had rolled through and had to take the visitors out through their emergency tunnels to the surface. I was glad they had a backup plan figured out. Suddenly, we’re asked to stop. Our little cave jumped we did before, that was a baby jump. Here comes the real jump. Now it’s time to put our butt fall training into use. We place our inner tube on our right shoulder. At the waterfall ahead, on one side of the waterfall is a raging current called the human blender, great name. On the left side where the guide steers us, the water is calmer. We’re to put the inner tube over our left shoulder, turn around, hold onto the side of the cave with our right hand, move the inner tube to our butts and stand where the heels dangling over the ledge over a several foot-tall waterfall in the dark on top of a swirling river below. I go to count, “Three, two, one. Jump,” and I do. Twitchy, definitely, but so much fun.

In fact, when I think about this trip, I don’t recall any time I’ve done so many fun things in succession. This certainly has not been a typical adventure travel vacation. It has been a fantastic mix of my typical adventures. We’ve gotten to see the different ecosystems in New Zealand. We’ve also done so many fun things above and beyond the ordinary. My eyes adjust once more and we have all safely made our jumps and are floating effortlessly down the dark corridor. We’re told to form an eel line. By this, I mean that we put our feet on each side of the person’s tube in front of us so we make a human tube chain. They’re told to hold onto my feet as I hold onto the feet of the person behind me. We float like this for a minute, and then we’re told to turn off our headlamps and just float in the dark.

Glow Worms

It’s an eerie calm. It’s soothing. It’s almost like we’re in a womb. We’re floating down the cave river. Our eyes adjust and we see it, glow worms. The same kind Leanne has shown us in Franz Josef but instead of dozens, we are looking at millions and millions of glow worms speckled along the top of the cave. It’s like looking at a new solar system, a new milky way but without the blue swirls, I am enchanted. No wonder Lonely Planet calls this New Zealand’s number one attraction. Glow worms are actually fly larva, good PR from whoever changed the common name. They have an interesting life.

They mate for a solid 48 hours and not surprisingly after that, the male dies. The female lays over a hundred eggs, which again not surprisingly, she dies. Here’s where it gets interesting. The first eight to hatch eats all of his siblings. It’s poop that’s glowing and that’s what’s attracting the bugs. The glow worm has bioluminescent poop. From this, the worm makes a sticky string like a microscopic Christmas light and from the string, it catches its prey, which are other bugs that are attracted to the light. It’s almost like a vertical spider web except lit up. In fact, its species name Bolitiphila Luminosa means in layman’s terms spider worm lights up. They’re are found only in New Zealand. It was worth a long flight just to see them. Floating on my butt on a river in an underground cave, this is beyond cool. Up ahead, there’s a hole in the roof of the cave and we see daylight. We are 60 meters or almost 200 feet underground. It’s incredible. There’s one more tiny hole to squeeze through and once again with headlamps off, we drift down the cave river and eventually see the natural light of the end of the tunnel. Our magical journey is about to end or so I think.

Back To Auckland

As the eyes adjust and the light grows brighter, we see the roof of the cave is covered in stalactites, those pointy mineral icicles that have formed over the eons. It’s magical. I am on Earth and cathedral and I’ve never seen one so beautiful. We exit the cave back onto the original river and float our way down to the practice jump dock. Showered and dry and our belly is full of some delicious hot soup from Waitomo Cave Visitor Center, we continue to Auckland. I hate that this trip is almost over.

We arrive in Auckland and I’m assaulted by the noise in the crowds. I have culture shock after a month of mostly rural landscapes in small villages. Our group and guide share hugs, emails and we go on our ways. Some head to the airport. I stayed one more night and planned to explore the city before my flight. I walked down to the waterfront but I find the city noise and settling. Everything seems so loud. For a month, I’ve heard babbling brooks and bird song. I try to relax and find a quiet place to people watch over a beer, but it’s Friday night so naturally, that’s not going to happen. The town is alive with people out celebrating the conclusion of the workweek.

Eventually, I decided that perhaps I’m not quite ready to reenter the world where these sights and sounds are normal to me. I ended up buying a takeaway in a couple of beers and returned to the quiet in my room. I’ll deal with the world the next day. How can I summarize my trip to New Zealand? I’ve been to around 30 countries the last count. I’ve seen and done some of the most amazing adventures a reasonably fit person can do. People always ask me, “What’s your favorite place?” I always say something to the effect of, “It’s like asking me to choose my favorite child.” I now have a firm answer, New Zealand. Best for scenery, New Zealand. Best for shear fun, New Zealand. Best for fun locals, New Zealand.

It’s time-consuming to get there. It can be expensive, but I have learned in my 58 years that it’s experiences in your life that you treasure never the stuff. Altering my plans to go to the North Island meant that I had to eat one already booked interior plane ticket and I had to purchase another one. Plus, I lost my prepaid Airbnb accommodations. Plus, I had the cost of paying for an additional Active Adventure tour. Was it worth it? In a heartbeat, not one single ounce of regret. Looking back, I would’ve regretted keeping my original plan of exploring the cities in my final week. Cities are easy enough to do solo, but it’s hard to orchestrate an adventure on your own. The logistics are daunting. Plus, sometimes it’s not smart to do so solo.

I know from your emails that New Zealand is on your bucket list. Do it. Book the time, save something every month and go. You will not regret it. A few final thoughts on what I learned in New Zealand and about this adventure. One, bookend at least a couple of days to decompress before you’re thrust back into the real world. If you can afford it, book a spa-cation in your final destination, say Auckland. Two, cold, as my mother’s been trying to tell me, is not my enemy if I had the right clothes. I lost track of how many times I put it on a wetsuit this trip. The water events were the most fun. Three, push your comfort zone. I am not comfortable mountain biking. I’m always like, “Where’s the safety belt?” That mountain biking day is one of my highlights especially because I had to stretch my courage muscle. Even though I tipped over, I’m still proud of myself.

Always try to plus one outside of your comfort zone, plus one outside of your experiences. You’ll get the greatest satisfaction there. I knew I could do the hikes, no problem. The mountain biking and the 21-foot waterfall by raft, I wasn’t so sure. I am thrilled I did it. Number four, when you go on trips like this, you’re going to meet some inspirational people who are going to expand your horizons and sometimes challenge your assumptions. Plus, you build up your friendships.

I hope that you find Active Travel Adventures and particularly this New Zealand series an inspiration for you to lead a bigger life through adventure travel. I sure hope you’ve enjoyed the series as much as I’ve enjoyed reliving my experiences. Don’t forget to go to the ActiveTravelAdventures.com website, ActiveTravelAdventures.com/nz. We’ll get you to the start of the series. I have an expanded selection of photos and videos for you to look at. It’s worth it. This trip was amazing.

I hope you’ve already subscribed to the podcast, but make sure you have and also make sure you subscribe to my free monthly newsletter so you get the travel plan that I send out for free and my once a month email. You don’t want to miss this one. It’s epic. You can subscribe on the website or just pop me an email at Kit@ActiveTravelAdventures.com and I’ll add you on the list. Remember how I told you that I didn’t get to do the first part of the North Island adventure? I did an interview with somebody that did and also an interview with somebody that did some other parts of New Zealand that I didn’t do. I will get out yet another part of New Zealand on adventures that I didn’t take, but that I interviewed other people that did do them so that you get a complete idea of the North Island and some areas of the South Island that I did not do so I’ll hold that off for a little bit later.

I’m super excited for our next episode. It’s going to be the 50th-anniversary episode of this show. I’ve got lots of great things planned. I’m super excited to share it with you. This is a huge milestone in the podcast world and I’m super excited. I hope to do some fun things. I look forward to seeing you. I hope you’ve gotten as much out of this reliving of my New Zealand experience that I have. I have thoroughly enjoyed this. I appreciate your time. I appreciate you sharing this episode with anybody you think that might enjoy going to New Zealand. Until next time, adventure on.

Important Links:

• Episode Number Four
• Episode Number Fifteen
• Kit@ActiveTravelAdventures.com

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