In Rental Cars We Trust

Kia ora!

I’ve officially been in New Zealand for 10 days! Even though they started very high, my expectations for this beautiful country are constantly being exceeded each time I step out of my house. The people, places, and views I’ve seen are nothing short of amazing!

Orientation

For those that don’t know, I am studying through IFSA-Butler and boy am I glad! They have been totally spoiling me and the other US students since our planes landed, and will continue to do so throughout the semester. I, along with nearly 50 other students, started by spending time at the YMCA Shakespear Lodge in Auckland. This proved to be so much more than the YMCA gyms we have back in NH. Come to think of it, there was no gym, swimming pool, or tennis courts at all! Instead, tucked behind many rolling hills, there was a place to snorkel, mountain bike, kayak, and watch the sun rise and set in the most jaw-dropping way. I got to meet other students studying in both Auckland and Wellington (missing all my Auckland babies already), four members of the IFSA staff, and the very hospitable YMCA staff who took us on many adventures and fed us MANY meals. On top of the basic breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we were served morning and afternoon tea as well; we were in heaven. Long story short, this was summer camp on steroids and we all had such a blast.

After two nights, we left the Shakespear Lodge and made our way to the Te Hana Te Ao Marama marae. This is a Maori cultural center where we were given the opportunity to learn more about the indigenous people, their traditions, and their way of life. We were introduced to the Maori language and culture through a formal welcome and a tour of their village. This was such a cool experience and I’m looking forward to learning more about New Zealand’s indigenous people in my Maori Society and Culture class this semester.

Wellington
A hop, skip, and a plane ride later, half of our group landed in Wellington and we were each taken to our respective homes. I was welcomed to my house by a few of my flatmates who had already moved in and/or were moving in at the same time I was. We went out exploring the city that night, and after lots of wandering from place to place, ended up at a bar called The Residence where the music was POPPING. We walked in to the sound of “Dancing in the Moonlight” and left in a conga line-like fashion to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”         

Discovering Jock Atkins

The next day, my friends Anna, Ryan, Juliet, Eric, Pam and I, began planning what was soon to be the most chaotic day of our lives. When I say “planning,” I mean that we Googled a couple of locations that seemed reasonable to reach by rental car. Our only goal was to see sheep, so as long as we got out of the city and saw some white balls of fluff, we were sure to be satisfied. Nonetheless, we slept soundly thinking that we had a rental car on lock and a relatively fool-proof plan for our first Monday on the North Island.   

We were responsible for picking up car at 6:00AM Monday morning and that we did. Ryan and I were up at 5:00AM making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone coming, and by 5:30AM we were all in an Uber on our way to the airport to claim a 7-seater Toyota Prado as our own (for the allotted 24 hours). From there, we headed down the coast toward the only two destinations we had planned for: Cape Palliser and Rimutaka Forest Park.   

As I mentioned earlier, our main goal was to find sheep; we heard that there are more of them than there are people in NZ and we wanted to witness this firsthand. I decided to take a shot-count on my arm each time we saw a flock so that we could keep track of just how many we saw. This got totally out of hand to the point where I basically gave myself a half-sleeve! So many sheep!!!

       

The roads to Cape Palliser were constantly winding and became narrower by the mile. This didn’t stop the Kiwis from driving like absolute nutcases! They are, without a doubt, the most frightening people to share a roadway with. They speed, they tailgate, and they pass you (us) at any chance they can! Imagine all of this on top of pretty unsound roads that overlook cliffs for a majority of the ride. Also, a reminder that, as a group, we had to acclimate ourselves to driving and riding on the opposite side of the road. Chaos.

After about an hour of driving we came to a little lookout on the side of the motorway. It was way too beautiful not to pull over. We all hopped out of our sweet Prado and took in the views.

   

Once we finished snapping photos and getting GoPro footage, we made ourselves comfortable for another two hours of driving to Cape Palliser. On our way there, the roads turned to gravel and had the occasional waterfall/stream running across the lanes. The views were absolutely breathtaking and we couldn’t stop saying things like“that is SO beautiful” or “this is UNREAL.” We were welcomed to the Cape by many seals and a very steep set of stairs. Everything seemed absolutely unbelievable.

From here, we headed to our second planned location: Rimutaka Forest Park. We drove through mountains and across beaches to get to a stunning mountain range overlooking the ocean. We followed a stream in and out of the mountains hoping to find a waterfall, but once we realized that there wasn’t one to be found “just around this next corner” like we originally thought, we made our way back to the car.

We refused to let our adventure end here, so with the very little cell service we could find, we frantically Googled other things nearby. We found a lake a ways away, and without knowing anything about it, planned to arrive there 45 minutes later. The ride was going smoothly until we drove upon a herd of cows coming straight at us. This was the most absurd and hilarious thing to happen the whole trip. Once the cows went on their merry way, we got to the lake and were quickly disappointed. It ended up being the ugliest thing the entire country has to offer. The water was murky with algae growth and every blade of grass lifeless.

So, that was a total flop to say the least, but it lead us to finding a small city called Upper Hutt. We walked around a bit here and, again, decided we couldn’t go back home yet. We were all overtired and slightly delusional at this point in the afternoon, so we were joking about Googling “hikes near me,” and when that gave few results, “waterfalls near me.” We eventually found pictures of a beautiful spot called Jock Atkins Waterfall. The search results showed pictures of it being printed on pillows and blankets; we were stoked thinking we found a jackpot location.

We were so wrong. This waterfall didn’t exist on the North Island and the GPS lead us to some faux location. The road it sent us on was the narrowest, most twisty-turny road we’d been on. It was actually super scary. Luckily, this was such a giggly part of the day, and despite the major disappointment, all we could do was crack jokes about a made-up man named Jock Atkins.

Once this fiasco was laughed off, we decided to continue on the most frightening road in the world instead of turning back. This probably wasn’t our best idea, but if we didn’t stick it out, we wouldn’t have Waikanae Beach! Waikanae was such a relief for all of us after such a long, crazy, nerve-racking day. We got there just in time to eat dinner on the beach and watch the sunset; it was absolutely stunning.  

I am oh so thankful for such fun new friends and experiences. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the semester brings!!!