The Tongariro Crossing - a.k.a. "Mt. Doom"

Lake Taupo – the largest freshwater lake in the southern hemisphere – lies two hours south of Rotorua. You might ask, “Shawn and Carolyn, what do you do at the largest freshwater lake in the southern hemisphere?" Well, if you’re anything like us you eat a sandwich, splash around for a while, then play backgammon until naptime. While we were eating sandwiches we watched literally dozens of people fall out of the sky. Taupo is home to the cheapest skydive in NZ, so at any given time you can look up and see someone screaming their face off as they plummet to the earth. Care was stoked to kayak, but the lake doesn’t have a lot of twists or anything, so we decided to wait for the Abel Tasman to get our kayak on. Instead, we drove south to what many consider the best day hike in New Zealand – the Tongariro Crossing.

	This 19 km hike up and through the saddle of two active volcanoes followed by an undulating descent through the Red Crater, past the Emerald Lakes, and down the alpine landscape of the lakeside mountain face is home to an ever changing tapestry of stark beautiful images. We finally got to wear our hiking boots! The start is a climb up “The Devil’s Staircase” (exactly like it sounds) with imposing Mt. Ngauruhoe filling up the landscape. For most trekkers, this volcano is just another unpronounceable Maori name, but for me it’s the famous Mt. Doom from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Peter Jackson scoured the New Zealand landscape for a mountain imposing enough to be the throne of all evil. The fact that he chose this peak should tell you something about the area. Luckily we started at 7:30 a.m. so the heat of the climb was refreshing. At the peak, we trekked across a wide crater that looks like the surface of the moon. The temperature drops significantly and wind whips across the exposed face of the volcano, but the desolation is really beautiful. We lucked out with the weather – it was clear and sunny – but clouds and deep fog can descend on the summit in minutes, making the trek dangerous if not impossible. People have gotten lost and died on the mountain before. Once we crossed the crater and climbed some more we hit the high point. After a few hundred meters of sliding down the loose rock scree we came upon the Emerald Lakes. These three pools of turquoise water are heated by sulfur vents in the volcanoes’ crevices creating a welcome splash of color on the otherwise monochromatic scenery. The lakes are insanely blue. Like, Crayola 128-pack of crayons “cerulean blue”. After the lakes the hike sort of plods on, a little up, a lot down, until we reached the far side of the mountains and head down through ever greener alpine landscapes. It was like a science fair diorama – these plants live at this elevation, this bush lives at this elevation, trees sprout here – until we descended amongst a rushing stream and lush forests of the foothills. I have a bum knee which flared up on me, especially on the descent, so the last eight kilometers took forever. It was nice though because Care and I took our sweet time getting down the mountain. She waited for me when I needed to crab walk down a steep hill, and we got to really soak up the scenery all around us instead of just pushing ahead like I’m prone to do on a hike. All in all, the Tongariro Crossing lived up to the hype as the “best day hike in New Zealand.” We saw Mt. Doom, volcanoes, craters, lakes, rocks, trees, streams, nature stuff, and I hurt myself. What more can you ask for?

Destination Guide: Lake Taupo by Shawn Forno Taupo is a wonderful jumping off point for dozens of activities on the lake or in the centrally located Taupo district of the North Island. Kayaking, sailing, para-sailing, swimming, skydiving, snorkeling, tubing, and more are all available for booking at either the information...read more Destination Guide: Tongariro National Park by Shawn Forno Forty kilometers south of Lake Taupo, the lush blues and greens of the bustling tourist locale succumb to the rugged landscape of the Taupo volcanic fields, home to three active volcanoes – Mt. Tongariro, Mt. Ngauruhoe, and Mt. Ruapehu. The trail winding between...read more

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"One Ring to Rule Them All" - a comic by Shawn Forno

Lions and Trout and Pigs, Oh My!

The sweetest part about booking our hangi at the information site was the free bonus stuff. Not only did we get access to the geysers at Te Puia, we got two free tickets to Paradise Valley – Rotorua’s Trout and Bird Sanctuary/Petting Zoo/African Lion Safari. For real.

Paradise Valley is situated twenty minutes west of town, which alone makes it worth visiting (seriously it’s really smelly in Rotorua). We made sure to arrive an hour or so before the 1:30 pm lion feeding – but we’ll get to that in a bit. Care and I thought we’d be killing time watching trout and petting some half dead goat, but it was awesome. Our first stop was the kea enclosure – home to New Zealand’s alpine parrot. Care pointed out that New Zealand is so backwards – they have alpine parrots and warm water penguins. The sign at the door describes these colorful birds as “cheeky and curious.” They’re notorious for stealing shiny things left unattended – the metal pieces of windshield wipers are a popular target. Next, were the cutest pigs in the world. I cannot do these pigs justice. They catch the food you throw to them, and are so earnest it made us want to give them all our petting zoo pellets. Pigs rule. After that were the most entrancing trout ponds in the world. I’ve personally never been fishing, so I don’t know anything about trout, but watching these things swirl around in concentric circles in crystal clear mountain spring water was a highlight of the trip so far. That’s right – trout watching was a highlight of my trip. What. After this we entered the best petting zoo I’ve been in since I was young enough to freak out about farm animals. Goats, sheep, ponies, wallabies, wild turkeys, other different goats, boar, and alpacas all ate pellets out of our hands. Care liked the sheep, but the wonky teeth and “giant black eyeballs” on the alpacas freaked her out. The goats and I were bros. The petting zoo was so great that we almost forgot about the lion feeding (not really, but the goats were rad). Care completely disregarded both the teeth of the lions and the electrified fence to get safari style photos. I think she’s got a career as an adventure photographer. I'll never understand how she can be so scared of alpacas, but lions aren’t a problem. Women… I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Even though it was completely inauthentic to see lions in New Zealand, it was one heck of an experience. And I ain’t lion! Ba-dum-bum-tchh! Hey-O!

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Fool Me Once, Shame on Shawn

When I woke up today, I thought "Hooray! A brand new day!" I did not think "Today is the first day of April," nor did I think "Happy April Fools Day!" My lack of date and time awareness was unfortunate. When I mentioned that I was hungry, Shawn jumped out of the van and said, "I'll get it for you." I thought it was uncharacteristic of him to voluntarily arise before 9 am, and to step out into the chilly morning air just to pour me a bowl of cereal. But it was such a sweet gesture, so I brushed my doubts aside. When he passed a bowl of delicious cocoa puffs my way, I could hardly contain my excitement. Breakfast is my absolute favorite part of the day - I love it so much I actually look forward to it when I'm falling asleep the night before. So I started to salivate as I sliced a fresh banana into my bowl. We started an episode of "How I Met Your Mother" on my ipod to enjoy while we ate breakfast, and I brought a heaping spoonful of cereal towards my mouth. Turns out the moment I'd been waiting for since my tummy first grumbled this morning was a moment Shawn had been anxiously looking forward to as well. That first gulp of what should have been pure chocolately goodness hit my tongue and was immediately purged back into the bowl. "MUSTARD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! BLEHHHHGHGHHHHGH!!!!!!!!" Horrified, I looked up to Shawn for reassurance that he had accidentally poured my breakfast into his dinner bowl from the previous night. BUT HE WAS LAUGHING! And not just, 'Wow she's making a funny face' laughing. It was cold-blooded, 'I just ruined your entire day on purpose' laughing. "APRIL FOOLS!" he exclaimed proudly. Let's just say in the seconds that followed, things got a little messy. Shawn was soaked from the shoulders up with the mustard-rinse water I spit in his face. The ground just outside the window was splattered with mouthwash, milk, cocoa puffs, banana slices, and the bane of my existence, mustard. Shawn continued to laugh way too hard and pat himself on the back for remembering what day it was. I juggled between rage and betrayal and sincere confusion on why someone would ruin something so holy as my bowl of chocolate cereal. Sadly, I've been unable to come up with a revenge-prank that wouldn't also affect me (it's close quarters in the van, you know). And that's why I need you, America! (and NZ and Australia and Canada and Italy and France and wherever else people are reading this) All suggestions welcome! Please, help this day end in justice!

Rotorua Smells Bad

Rotorua means “stinky egg smell everywhere” in Maori. Ok, it actually means “second lake,” but I’m sure they meant to call it “stinky egg smell everywhere.” Care and I were pretty pumped to hit our first real tourist destination on the trip. We’ve managed to steer clear of organized excursions so far (see our Whangarei posts), so it was actually a treat to head to the i-site (information center) in town to book our traditional Maori hangi – a feast similar to a Hawaiian luau. We chose Te Puia’s smaller hangi because it came with a Maori show, haka lessons, a feast (so good), and free access to the geyser field located on the marae (village) grounds. The welcoming ceremony was cool – a warrior came out and challenged us. The singing and dancing were pretty, and the weapons demonstrations by some of the guys was sweet...though it reminded me a little of the Star Wars Kid.

The best part though was the audience participation. Carolyn learned the poi dance, and I got instructions on the haka. Care did awesome. The only part she had a hard time with was catching the poi. My haka however was a disaster. I couldn’t stop smiling. I would make the least intimidating Maori warrior ever. Watch both below and vote for your favorite awkward dancer.

After the show we got to eat the hangi – mostly pork and chicken steamed in a pit – along with delicious seafood and pavlova – a popular Kiwi dessert. Once we’d scarfed down our food, Care and I rushed out to catch the eruption of Pohutu, New Zealand’s largest geyser, which erupts hourly and sometimes as high as 30 meters. The smell of sulfur was overpowering, but the range of bright colors from mineral deposits and the heat from the steam were really exciting to see firsthand. I’ve never been to Old Faithful, so this was my first encounter with geysers. Rotorua is covered with geothermal fields, bubbling mud pits, and geysers. By the end of the few days we spent there we were pretty over the smell, but for the rest of my life rotten eggs will remind me of New Zealand. That's probably not the best travel endorsement, but it's true. The hangi experience was well worth the NZ$90, and I whole-heartedly recommend it. Just don’t eat anything within ten hours of the show. There’s a lot of food at the hangi. Seriously. It's like "trying to eat your money's worth at a $12 buffet" amounts of food. You always think you can do it, but inevitably stuff yourself with mac and cheese and never finish that third plate piled high with shrimp tails and some kind of pudding.

Visiting Rotorua, New Zealand by Shawn Forno Rotorua, the city of sulfur and unofficial capital of tourism in the North Island, is home to traditional Maori hangis (feasts), geyser tours, thermally heated basins like the Champagne pools, mud baths, sky diving, bungee jumping, zoos, animal parks, sled luges, 4WD quads...read more

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Whakatane and Playgrounds

It seems like everywhere we turn New Zealanders are doing something active; and not just kind of active – insanely active. Marathon swims, 20 km “fun” runs, 100 km bike rides, there’s even this guy, Shaun Quincy, who just finished rowing a boat from Australia to New Zealand. Solo. (For those of you who have no idea about geography down here – that’s over 1,350 miles). Obviously this abundance of energy seems excessive and confusing to us lazy Americans. However, Care and I think we’ve discovered the reason behind all the famed Kiwi “Can-Do” activities. Playgrounds. That’s right – playgrounds. The high-quality and overwhelming number of playgrounds in New Zealand is staggering. Well-designed skate parks litter tiny neighborhoods. Full scale climbing walls are placed
right next to see-saws. Tire swings and a monstrosity called the “Roktopus” cozy up to these spinning platforms that are designed to fling you off. The best part is that most of these places don’t have the safe spongy floors that play areas have in the States. No, these Kiwi kid death traps/awesome centers are paved with sand, wood chunks, and even straight-up big rocks. One of the best playgrounds we found was in Whakatane, in the Bay of Plenty. (Remember “Wh” is pronounced as an “F”…shockingly enough in this case). This thing had a massive zip line, swings, slides, climbing, skate park, pirate ship replica, fitness center, pull up bars, balance beams, and even hurdles – all just steps away from the beach. Carolyn and I got so swept up in the awesomeness that we competed against each other in a grueling obstacle course comprising everything in the park. It was so sweet. The secret to all this Kiwi exercise insanity is the simple fact that Kiwi kids are provided with no end of slightly dangerous, but extremely awesome, playground equipment. They learn young that climbing, swinging, running, and flipping off stuff is super fun. How else do you think New Zealand invented zorbing? I have a feeling that if we installed a few more zip lines in American preschools, we’d have some kid continuously backflipping his way across Nebraska…or some other equally hilarious middle state.

Mean People Suck

Well, I hate to interrupt this chain of happy-go-lucky, “New Zealand is the best place ever!” posts, but it’s time for a harsh dose of reality. Yesterday Shawn and I were robbed. At 10 am we parked Flash in a spot that seemed like a great find because A) it was free, and B) it was walking distance from free wifi at the library. But in hindsight it was a sketchy lot hidden behind bushes where nobody would see the glass of our side window shattering. Why can’t foresight be the one that’s 20/20?
By the time we came back to the van at 1:30 pm, some jerk had invaded our cozy home and run off with my wallet, my American phone, and two of Shawn’s small bags. The wallet makes sense – it was a really cute Coach wristlet I received as a gift in my mortgage brokering days, and inside was: $150 NZ and $200 US, my NY driver’s license, 2 debit cards, 5 credit cards, 2 Starbucks cards, a sweet money clip, oh and only the keys to the ignition and Club on the steering wheel! We were lucky the van was even still there. Shawn’s bags held more eclectic treasures. Had the stupid-dummy-head robber looked inside the bags before stealing them, he would have seen: a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, razor, shaving cream, deodorant, wool gloves, $2 ladies sunglasses (you know, the gold ones Shawn always wears in the photos…), magic markers, pushpins, surf wax, a California Raisins figurine, and worst of all, Brendan. That plastic dinosaur really tied the room together.
Despite small frustrations (have you ever tried to cancel 7 cards from overseas?!), we’re feeling incredibly grateful. Yeah it sucks to lose money, and it kills me knowing that the things that meant heaps to us, but had no monetary value, are lying in a ditch somewhere. But we're counting our blessings because we still have 2 laptops, 2 ipod touches, our camera, NZ cell phone, passports, and Shawn’s money (hehe). Other than the one scumbag, the Kiwis have been nothing but awesome. Terry, the police constable, drove us to a used car parts lot where we found a perfect match for our 1987 Townace window. He even haggled with the owner to get us a good deal – “Come on mate, they had their money taken too,” he said and winked at us. Julie, another officer, drove out to us the next morning and fingerprinted the van while we ate breakfast. A young rafting guide we met in a coffee shop today heard the story and bought Shawn a flat white.
	To top it off, some complete stranger was a rockstar when he saw the broken glass. He crossed the parking lot, walked straight up to us, and put a $10 bill in my hand. He said, “I saw what happened to you and it’s just awful. Take this and buy yourselves a drink or something.” Then he ran off towards his car and added over his shoulder, “We’re not all bad!” I didn’t even have time to thank him. Woolworth’s parking lot dude – you’re my new hero. UPDATE FROM SHAWN: Deep breath. Ah… The window is fixed, the damage erased, and we’re shaking ourselves off, chalking one up to bad circumstances and rotten luck. Care and I are moving on – a little bit wiser, a lot warier, but by no means jaded. Traveling is all about exposing yourself to the elements, and it’s ridiculous to think that we’d only encounter sunshiney days and lollipop forests.
I came across a quote on my sister Cherise’s facebook page, and it’s eerie how appropriate it is to our current situation: “Any idiot can face a crisis – it’s day-to-day living that wears you out.” - Anton Chekhov. We’re bummed about what happened, but a robbery is small peanuts to the everyday stumbling blocks of monotony and apathy that sometimes crept into our lives in the States. While we may be low on cash at the moment, it could be a lot worse. I could be in a cubicle right now.

How to Theft-Proof Your Car in New Zealand by Shawn Forno New Zealand is best seen from the open road. The spread out nature of the country, limited public transit options, and affordability of self contained camping make exploring from a personal vehicle the best choice for any tourist regardless of length of stay...read more

Mount Maunganui and Tauranga

It’s a strange feeling to head east, leaving the safety and familiarity of Auckland behind us. We’ve taken our time getting to the jumping off point of the trip - vacationing in Fiji and staying in Auckland for weeks building Flash. Even driving up to Northland felt safe because we knew we’d swing back through Auckland to stay with Pete and Michelle again. But now that Hot Water Beach is behind us, we seriously have no idea what we’re doing. It was the last destination that we knew anything about. We're finally traveling by the seat of our pants, and it's an awesome feeling.

	The first stop on the “we’ve got no plan at all” leg of the voyage was Mount Maunganui – and it was sweet. We freedom camped right next to the water, and climbed the deceptively tall mountain at the mouth of the harbor. The 360 degree views of the bay, the beach, the ocean, and a long, thin, sandy island that’s actually a forest preserve are amazing. But the best part is that from the peak you can see the waves stacking up like corduroy. Carolyn chased down a few pocket-sized sheep for a photo-op on our way down as I ran to get my board. Seriously – best waves of the trip. Good size waves (overhead), peeling rights, beautiful sun, and best of all – no insane paddle out define Mount Maunganui's surf. A few hours later I got out, exhausted but happy, and Care and I watched the sun go down on the water. It wasn’t as cheesy as it sounds. After that we saw Avatar. Speechless. The “we’ve got no plan at all” plan is awesome.

Destination Guide: Mount Maunganui and Tauranga by Shawn Forno Mount Maunganui, the 256 meter mountain that guards the entrance to the city’s bustling harbor, is the namesake for this laidback jumping off point to the Bay of Plenty in the North Island. Mount Maunganui's gradual ascent and beautiful views provide just the right environment...read more