You’re unlikely to regret it, and even if you do, you surely haven’t really, if you think about it deeply.

A quick ferry trip from downtown Auckland will take you to this cute little island paradise!

Tiritiri may not have such a lovely history, what with inter-Maori wars and large scale kiore (native New Zealand rat) poisonings (that also terminated most of the Pukeko population), but since the 1970’s an extensive reforestation project has turned it into a special little sanctuary – especially if you’re one of New Zealand’s endangered birds!

Now visitors can enjoy a walk amongst native birds such as the takahe, little spotted kiwi and our (quite smelly) blue penguin! Come and enjoy an intensity of birdsong rarely heard on the mainland. And even if you don’t come, do come.And the little beach near the ferry landing was so attractive that I miraculously mustered up the pluck to strip down and go for my first swim since winter! This in October! It was very cold but felt somehow great!

• Wifi is now available in all rooms.
• Live -in Jobs are available now.

Any enquiries about the above offers Contact us at info@surfandsnow.co.nz

I am from Chile and from Early 2000 Chilean people started to know more and more about Working Holiday visas in New Zealand.

Just 1.000 visas per year, I don’t know if they are enough for all of us, but who can get one… LUCKY YOU!!!  

I didn’t make a single plan before coming to NZ, for me this one would be a new adventure, and I wasn’t wrong, it was.

Hiring or buying a van to travel and sleep in it is an increasingly popular formula in countries with a beautiful and large land areas and lots of nature lie NZ, however I didn’t take it.  I wanted to meet people, so I decided to take a bus for traveling and sleeping in backpackers (hostels) which are not very known in my country.

The distance from Chile to New Zealand is over 9.000 kilometers.  However, neither the distance nor the long hours of the flights, about 15 hours, between flights, stopovers and transfers prevent Chileans from coming to New Zealand. More Chileans want to know the exoticism of this land, with beautiful and dreamy landscapes virtually untouched nature and in perfect condition. Although there are beautiful cities, New Zealand stands by its nature. It has the highest percentage of its territory as national parks around 14.

The North Island:

Of volcanic Origin, this island has less lush vegetation than its sister the south island, but it has a rich area of geysers in Rotorua.  In this island I found the famous Polynesian Spa, where the temperature of water is around 30 degrees, water rich in minerals.   This Spa is especially advisable during the night.

In Rotorua there are a lot of Maoris (12% of the population), here I had one of the most exciting experiences, in a Maori Village, called Te Puia trying the Hangi (Maori Food), Maori typical dances and of course HAKA.

Although the capital city is Wellington, Auckland has the largest airport in NZ.  Besides being the largest and most populous city.  Auckland is more than the SKY TOWER, it has an impressive bay with thousand of sailboats docked.  Here you also can see volcanoes (Rangitoto and Waiheke Islands) now extinct, and the famous iron bridge HARBOUR BRIDGE, where I tried to do BUNGY JUMP and of course where you can have a beautiful view of the bay and the Pacific.

In anticipation of what you will see throughout the country, there is nothing wrong for nature lovers to enjoy a little museum of Kelly Tarlton. Penguins, all marine species including sharks, rays and wild piranhas come together in a large aquarium that shares space with a museum dedicated to the expedition of Antarctica.

Between Auckland and Rotorua, you can divert to visit the Waitomo Caves. The silence is absolute in its interior, and the visual effect produced by thousands of glowworms, in the ceiling of the cave and ride on a boat that moves gently lead the tourist the feeling of crossing the Hade. It’s one of those moments that are repeated throughout the trip in which you have the sensation of seeing something that is difficult to repeat.

Lake Taupo, such a great lake, BEAUTIFULL!!! Here I did SKY DIVING and one of the best tracking “TONGARIRO CROSSING”.

This’s considered the best one-day trekking tour of the country and is not in vain, The Tongariro Crossing is among the ten best single-day treks across the globe.

Tongariro National Park, about 20 miles southwest of Lake Taupo, was the first national park created in New Zealand and one of the first in the world.  Also it owes its name to the Tongariro volcano, 1.978 m above sea level and although it actually consists of twelve cones, the main peak has two craters, the slope of the northern and the southern slope.

The tour has a distance of 18.5 km and do not forget to come prepared because the weather is very variable and can be passed in a few minutes of clear weather to dense fog and strong winds.

Napier

I came to this city by bus, a fast, safe way to arrive, as well as economic. Since the distances are short in this country, not worth spending to take plane, unless you are in a hurry. You can learn more about all their territory, beautiful landscapes, colors, etc..  The terminal is small and is located near the center. You can easily walk to the hotels and the central avenue. This coastal city of 50,000 is best known for its architecture. After an earthquake destroyed the city in 1931, the inhabitants rebuilt the art deco style today.  Its well-preserved uniformity in style, make it an exceptional site. Only a few buildings survived the double blow (the Public Services Building, with its neo-classical pillars is one) and the dead were more than 100.

I stayed at a hostel that was across the sea, as it was low season I didn’t pay much. The view was beautiful, and despite being on a central avenue, there was not much noise from cars. The hostel was run by its owners, a Kiwi man and Dutch woman, impossible to forget them.  Then I went out to walk the beach overlooked Marine Parade Ride, I liked very much, very artistic. Among the attractions of the region are in Cape Kidnappers Gannet Colony (Cape Kidnappers), the National Aquarium, its beach is long but narrow, where you go you can find parks, fountains, trees or just a single route.   Art deco districts, concentrated between Emersion, Herschell, Dalton and Browning streets, is an immersion in style. The decorative elements are often above the buildings, so keep your eyes on high.  Hawke’s Bay, the Spanish Mission and Art Deco architecture, gardens and walks through the bush.  Another attraction is the first known prison in the country.   Definitely this is MY CITY.

THE SOUTH ISLAND

If the volcanic North Island surprises you, The South Island, very mountainous, with much more lush vegetation, gives to you great feelings.  Christchurch, one of the best cities here.  Everybody calls it, The Garden city due to all trees, parks, vegetation which surround the Avon River.

As faithful reflection of the United Kingdom, the Scots also settled in these lands.

Dunedin, a university city par excellence and rich in cultural activities, has many memories of Edinburgh, with impressive buildings such as railway station and the university by itself, built of dark stone of the Otago Peninsula.  It’s in this peninsula where we can find the biggest colony of albatrosses in the world, and numerous seals and curious penguins with yellow eyes.

The main treasures are located on the other side, on the west coast, in front of the Tasman Sea.  Fiordland National Park is the biggest.  Among the many fjords are two: Milford Sound and Doubbtful Sound. Rudyard Kipling defined this as the eighth wonder of the world.  And the road that leads up there, the Milford Track, is considered one of the best routes. Over 55 kilometers that crosses an impressive forest of giant ferns and trees that make up the dense Fiordland region.  To preserve the environment, the New Zealand Government restricts the number of tourists who can go there, so you have to apply months in advance.  Most of the people who come into this park, come by car, where not detract from the stunning views, waterfalls, streams, lakes, snowcapped mountains and a permanent fog accompanied by a dull rain coat (it is one of the places with highest rate of rainfall in the world).

Superhaka was held by Super Shuttle and Iwi(Tribe) of South Island, Ngai Tahu .   Super Shuttle held this event to express our support to the people in Christchurch who has suffered the huge earthquake on 22 Feb 2011. The event was held in four different cities: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

In Auckland where I am staying, the event took place in Aotea Square, just a couple minutes walk from Surf n Snow Backpackers. A number of people from different countries gathered in the square to join this memorable event.  We all learned and practiced the words to Haka, meaning of them and how to do it right. As the time turned to 12:30pm, everybody recited the words and performed the Haka that they practiced, loudly and proudly. It was a powerful display of strength, courage and support from not only Kiwis but for those from all over the country.  We hope the people in Christchurch felt our message that they are not alone and we are always by their side.

The performance of Haka by four cities can be viewed on their website http://www.superhaka.co.nz/about-superhaka

Emily

On the first day alone – after pausing at the famous L&P bottle for a group photo – we hobbled around Hobbiton, rafted the white rapids of Kaitiaki, warmed back up in the hot pools of Hell’s Gate, then enjoyed an amazing evening of entertainment at Tamaki Maori village – complete with yummy hangi food! Perhaps, no, definitely for me at least, the highlight was the Tamaki bus driver’s comic routine and unbelievable knowledge of world languages – you’ve really gotta get on this guy’s bus! Literally! Hilarious!

After a refreshing night at Kiwi paka hostel in Rotorua we headed over to Gisborne, where we were based at the Dive Tatapouri headquarters. Set in a stunning location, the people at Dive Tatapouri not only accommodated us in their dormitories, they took us rock sliding (as much fun as it sounds!), stingray feeding, of all things, and even treated us to an amazing seafood barbecue. Oh my yummy God. If we had more time we might have even gone on one of their shark cage dives (I’m kinda relieved we didn’t, honestly!).

Later there in the evening we indulged in a specially educational wine tasting with Ryan from Long bush, a Gisborne wine company. This predictably turned into quite a long night – so long in fact that those of us with greater endurance even got to see the sunrise, especially special since Gisborne is the first town in the world that can offer this experience. And every day!

The following night we continued up the coast to Magic’s ‘secret spot’ on their East Escape trip, where we got to jump on a team of ten horses and trot out to the wild driftwood-strewn beach. I’d never ridden a horse before – how strange to sit on top of another animal and expect it to drive you around! It takes a little while to build a relationship with your horse, I guess… apparently the idea is to show your horse who’s boss, but most of our horses were assuredly the ones wearing the trouser pants. The highlight – after feeling a bit like I was maltreating the horse clumsily trying to urge it to go the where we wanted – was to receive something like a head snuggle at the end when I dismounted my steed. Oh my God hang on wait! A hongi*! That’s what it was!

Eastender backpackers also supplied our second hangi* meal that evening. Good kai*! The good old Maori way…

The next day was a pretty long bus ride over to Opotiki then down to Taupo, but we made several fun stops! We checked out two unusual, historic churches – one at Tikitiki, the other at Raukokore; saw New Zealand’s largest pohutukawa tree at Te Araroa (where our informative guide was also from); walked this country’s longest pier (not so busy as in the past!) at Tolaga Bay; and of course walked up the 700-step hill to the lighthouse on East Cape itself – yes, the easternmost lighthouse in the world. The absolute eastest!

We stayed at the Taupo YHA that night, we wanted to go out and the town, and indeed did, but were mindful too about what our Magic Bus guide Dan had said: that we needed to be leaving at 6:15 the following morning to PICK UP RUBBISH in a forest. I nearly blew the cover on this sneaky scheme when I said to Dan –‘But Dan, isn’t the Magic Forest in the Mamakus?’ But this was just going to be a different forest that we’d be delittering, he insisted. What of course was actually happening was that we were being driven to Taupo Tandem Skydiving for some early morning lunacy. Stepping out of a plane from 12000 feet to certain peril (were it not for the parachutes) before breakfast? A little hungover? Check check check!

Later that day we bungy jumped slash swung with Taupo Bungy and Cliffhanger, took a freak-out ride on the Huka Falls Jet, then whizzed up the Whanganui River to check out the fabled ‘bridge to nowhere’. Whanganui River Adventures have just teamed up with the Magic Travellers Network to bring people to this – one of New Zealand’s remotest points – based at Pipiriki.

Naturally we were pretty pooped by the time we checked into National Park Backpackers!

A thousand thank-yous to the Magic crew who chauffeured and chaperoned us: Leo, Moana, Lisa and especially to Dan, our dantastic (sorry) guide. Amazing!

Special vocabulary:

Famil- domestic trade familiarisation trip experience offer

Hangi- Maori style cooking in an earth oven

Hongi- the Maori greeting of touching noses

Kai- the Maori word for food

Normally, you start around 10 am in the morning, on a minibus which will go around some of Auckland’s main spots: Sky tower, Devonport, Mission Bay, Mount Eden, uuffffffff. I won’t give away the rest since I’m a firm believer in surprises, and I can assure you that this one will be a really good one.
Drivers are full on info about the city, insights about culture, tips on what‘s the best to do and how to have fun, fun and more fun.
Great thing about these tours is that you don’t have to move from your hostel since your travel team can get you all ready to go without you making any effort.
With all that, seriously, what are you still doing reading this review when you can be riding your way around city in any of this fantastic buses and starting to have heaps of fun Kiwi style…

The thing is that it’s I to loooove it once you’ve done it. Awful! Once is not enough, terribly true, I mean, look at me, I started timidly as every first time requires it and now here I’m after my third and longing for the fourth and the fifth and…. Nobody can stop me until I’ve done them ALL!!!

Because Bungy jumping is liberating, ‘cos bungy jumping clears your mind and gives you a new perspective about life and what’s really meaningful in it, or just maybe that there’s no better idea that jumping of a bridge or a tower.

I’d love to sit down and have a chat with A.J Hackett about this matters, I’m pretty sure he detected that trace of addictive component within the practice in Vanuatu and decided to make it bigger and harder to resist, well, he succeeded.

Hackett was crazy enough to share his passion with the rest of the ordinary world and he was not wrong, there are lots of us who’d love a nice jump.

Personally I prefer the ones where you can be dunk into the water, like a large size donut, I think that’s why the Auckland Bridge was such a great place to start with, down in Queenstown you have the same alternative but from the Kawarau Bridge which also happens to be the very first site open for bungy jumping as a touristic activity.

In my case I can’t wait to get to Queenstown again and do the Nevis Jump, can you picture 8.5 seconds of freefall while you go down 134 meters? Awesome!!!

In any case, these days Hackett’s got more than 6 different jump sites not only in New Zealand but in other places in the world including Bali, Macao and Kuala Lumpur among others.

http://www.ajhackett.com/nz/index.html

In the mean time, Auckland has a lot to offer for all those who are keen on keeping their feet on the ground. The Auckland War Memorial Museum, located in the beautiful Auckland Domain is celebrating the multiculturalism that has made this city the cosmopolitan we all know through the Kai to Pie World on a Plate Exhibition.

Right in the heart of the Auckland you can not only enjoy the beautiful gardens that form the Domain but also watch and most importantly taste all the different influences that give Auckland its unmistakeble character.

Every Saturday morning you’ll get cultural performances, live coocking sessions along delicious food tastings, a completre must do.

Last Saturday the exhibit stated with the chinese demonstration followed by the  croatian one this weekend and the maori the next one, at this rate I’ll be needing a diet very soon…

http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/1418/Kai%20to%20Pie

That was my first thought as I was walking down to the ferry station.

So after running my way there, I was late as usual. I quickly gave my voucher to the lady in the ticket office just in time to go catch the cruise. One of these days…

Well, here I’m and I can breathe again, always a good feeling, let’s see where I am now…

We left the ferry building heading out east to start the exploration of this, the Waitemata Harbour. There I can see Okahu bay and Kelly Tarlton’s underwater world not to far away from where we are and a bit further Mission Bay, mmmmm fish and chips… Ok focus, although I’m starting to get hungry…

One of the good things about this short cruise is that not only you have the possibility of buying on board your munchies and drinks, but also you get a free muffin and a coffee just by joining it, quite nice, hope that is not too early to starting my eating.

As we make our way through the “Sparkling Waters” Harbour you can see part of the many islands that form it.

Just a bit ahead from the Bean Rock lighthouse one can see sleeping Rangitoto volcano, great place for hiking and getting some of the best shots of Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf , once you make it to the top of course.

Luckily that is not so difficult anymore, you can always go on your own and  make your way to the top of the volcano, or you can just sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery while taken to the top by the road train that Fullers has available for the people that decides to go on the volcanic tour.

The cruise stops briefly at Rangitoto and the moment you see it you know that is worth the hike. I’ll be back there soon.

As we keep on our hour and a half tour through part of Auckland coastal I can see North Head and Devonport not to far away with its white Naval Base. Devonport used to be an artillery battery so there still are gun emplacements and tunnels that you can explore.

I personally love being teleported to the past, especially if my cruise includes a free ferry ticket to go there.

Once passing Stanley Bay and Bayswater Marina (don’t you think for a moment that I know all those names, I have my leaflet with me which also has a map) the Harbour bridge, right there, mythical place not only because of the 4 years and 200 workers that it took to be built, but also for being the house of AJ Hackett’s bungy in Auckland. Just as we go pass I can see this guy jumping off, quite tempting I must say…

We move along and there it is one of the sweetest places in the north coat, the Chelsea Sugar Refinery lying there in Birkenhead as part of a private park which happens to be open to the public.

I can tell that we are near the end now, we turn to have a beautiful view of Westhaven Marina and its boats; there are lots of them there, I’ve been told that it can accommodate more than 1800, impressive.

The Maritime Museum just there, this is clearly finishing, and the ferry building and here we are, back in the city again.

Not too bad for an early morning, I could totally do it again.