Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, A Hedgehog and The Bay of Islands

 05/01/24

The North Island

Last days in Hamilton

I am once again writing from the Auckland airport. After an incredible holiday season with my wwoofing family, I am very excited to move on to my next place: Makarora. For the next week, I will be working with Aspiring Biodiversity and Birds NZ to deliver an awesome birding camp for ages 14-18. This was the age range that I really discovered birds, so I am so excited to hopefully help some other youths discover the wonders of the bird world. And, I'll finally get to spend some time in Queenstown and Wanaka :)

I have grown to love the North Island and the people in it. It has been so interesting to learn from New Zealanders and actually be immersed in its rich culture. I got so so lucky finding Nina as she really encouraged me to explore and experience what the North Island had to offer. I'll start with the Waitomo Glowworms.  

I wish wish wish I could have photos of the glowworms to share, but it was too dark for anything to show up. Nonetheless, I will do my best to describe it to you all! I have been wanting to do the Waitomo Caves since I got to New Zealand, but I never thought I would get to kayak through a river to see glowworms. It felt like we were watching fairies in Pixie Hollow as the glowworms twinkled around us. Picture a clear dark sky, pushing a kayak into the warm water and slowly floating down a sparkly river with cascading waterfalls. It was magnificent. I honestly could not recommend it more. To top it all off, the ruru's were calling all around us. It totally amplified the mysterious fairy princess energy I was already feeling. I am forever grateful for Meg and Maioha inviting me along and making it happen. Here is a cute photo of us hoisting the kayaks up. 

My last few days in Hamilton consisted of doing mulch, prepping for camp (including making lots of delicious rocky road) and hanging out with the crew! For Maioha's birthday, we went out to a Mexican restaurant and I got some delicious sangria  (since I wasn't going to make the mistake of getting tacos again here)*. I also got the opportunity to play more Catan.

*New Zealand is great at many things, but Mexican food is not one of them. I will forever be haunted by the globs of mayo found in my burritos and tacos within my first month.

The day before we left for Bay of Islands, we went to do our last round of mulch and found the most adorable little guy. 

Charlie Harold, the hedgehog, quickly became family. Hedgehogs are an invasive species in New Zealand and are generally considered pests. I am not one to mess with wildlife, but considering he was an invasive species, Charlie was now my beloved pet. We had so much fun rummaging around the garden and eating raspberries together for that evening. I made him up a little cage and he got used to my scent and began to enjoy being held. Unfortunately, Charlie was extremely wobbly. I was confused at first because it seemed the longer he traipsed around the garden the more wobbly he got. That's when I realized that Charlie Harold had the unfortunate ailment of wobbly hedgehog syndrome or WHS. 

I know, I know. It sounds fake. But WHS a devastating neurological disease that affects 1 in 10 hedgehogs and results in a complete paralysis of the body. I was happy to share those last raspberries with Charlie Harold as he now rests in peace. Here is a video of him enjoying his last raspberries. He was a gift from the mulch and I am very happy for the time we got to share together. 

Kawakawa, Paihia, Russell and Setting Up Camp

Despite the death of Charlie, Nina and I left for Bay of Islands on the 20th of December with Waimere (Maioha's twin from Tauranga). The drive from Hamilton was a good 6 hours away, but we stopped at op shops along the drive. I will say, I do love the way kiwis do road trips with little intermittent stops in between! We eventually made it to Kawakawa where Nina and Alan are starting their food forest. They intend to grow a bunch of self sufficient fruits and veggies to distribute to the local community free of charge. It's an incredible project and I can't wait to see her finally living off the land like she dreams of doing! The first night there we had a lovely chili dinner, caught the sunset, and I finally SAW my first ruru (or morepork owl)!

The next morning, Waimere and I wandered into Paihia and Russell. On the drive to Paihia, we were lucky enough to see a pair of Australasian Bitterns cooing away. They were so stunning! We caught the ferry to Russell and immediately hit up the op shop, library and museum. Waimere had some good finds and I got a nice little bag and a patch for my jacket. We had a full day of perusing the area before we went back to Kawakawa and read our respective novels. Also, Kawakawa has the most stunning mosaic public restrooms I have ever seen.

Camp preparation went slowly but surely. We packed food, we packed extra mattresses, pillows. It was camping heaven. Eventually, I helped Alan strap the kayak to the roof (my Montanan duty) and we headed into town for a quick fish burger before camp! 

My first impressions of camp was that I was so lucky to be here. We drove through a beautiful gated driveway down to a flat paddock with a creek flowing through it. I was SO excited to get camping! Waimere and I set up "teen camp" and we ended the night with some good old fashioned soup. I got cozied up in my tent and was ready to experience the whanau Camp Runamok! The days preceding Christmas consisted of ruthless rounds of Catan, waterproofing tents, and meeting family members as they arrived!

A Kiwi Christmas 

I don't really know what I expected out of Christmas this year. It definitely isn't one of my favorite holidays, so I wasn't too upset I was missing it back home. It was so fun to celebrate this holiday an entirely different way than I was used to! I think I will definitely implement Christmas crackers into my future celebrations. 

The morning of Christmas all the campers banded together to prep our Christmas lunch. Meg was on roasted veggies, Waimere made a fresh orzo salad, Maioha and I shredded cabbage for a Japanese style coleslaw. Everyone was doing their part to make Christmas lunch awesome. And awesome it was! We arrived around 11am and started munching on appetizers. Gravlax, or smoked salmon, was a hit with the mountains of cheese, crackers and fruit that littered the table. It was delicious! Elliot Bay, where we celebrated, also had tons of the stunning Pohutukawa trees that are a NZ Christmas staple. These are dubbed the NZ Christmas tree! I got to take a good look at them before we did presents and the aforementioned Christmas cracker!

I got so lucky with this family. I had fully intended to just hang out while people opened gifts, but not only did they bring me into their family Christmas activities, but they also gifted me a beautiful Meri Kirihimete ornament, a NZ shirt and a sarong for the coming summer months! I felt very thought of and cared for this Christmas! Here is the Christmas Cracker that Maioha kindly shared with me! Each Christmas Cracker comes with a toy, a little joke and of course a crown. In our cracker we got: "Where do snowmen go to dance?" ... The SNOWBALL! HAHAHAHA!

After presents, we had a stunning lunch spread complete with NZ hunted wild pork, lamb and chicken skewers. We had salads from potato salad to a green halloumi salad, pastas, fresh summer vegetebles and of course Christmas spirit. As we all ate together, I felt so honored to be included in such a neat family gathering. It was truly a beautiful meal! As we all ate by the ocean, not only was my stomach full, but my heart was full too. 

 OK NEXT WAS DESSERT! New Zealand does dessert right and well. We had a spread of mint chocolate mousse, strawberry cloud, American chocolate chip cookies (my contribution teehee!), trifle, puddings, a classic NZ pavlova, and tons of fresh fruit. I love how much fruit was included in the desserts! Even though I was still so full from lunch, I couldn't stop shoving my face with these delicious sweet treats. Understandably so!

After dessert, I took a little walk on the beach only to discover three new species: the Red-breasted Dotterel, Eastern Rosella and New Zealand Pipet! We eventually all reconvened in the caravan where I worked on my cross-stich some more. Group photo!

It was a perfect Christmas day! We left Eliott's around 8 or 9 pm, I made some potatoes and slept full of Christmas joy (and a little bit of red wine).

Catching Fish and Diving into the New Year

The days after Christmas were for rejuvenation, relaxing and doing some wwoofing work! Since we had no internet, I finished 2 books, worked on my cross-stich and played Skip-Bo/other board games. I also constructed shelving reinforcements and primed/painted the wardrobe in the bus Nina and Alan are renovating. AND, I caught my first ever fish: a snapper! Alan had been catching snapper everyday for dinner, and I finally got out on the kayaks with a borrowed fishing rod. I kayaked into the bay and on the first cast, I caught a fish! It wasn't big enough to keep, but I was so excited to finally catch something: especially in the great blue sea! It was so exciting a pod of orcas even came to celebrate with us. As we watched the pod swim away, I was so happy I wasn't alone on the water! Another honorable mention for these in-between days were the eels that tried to eat our toes at night and shoveling horse poop for the gardens. 

On New Year's Eve we had another group gathering with yummy food to celebrate the coming year. Wild pork, pasta salads and custard were all present! I went to bed early, journaled about the craziness of the last year and started the New Year out strong with diving! Mermaids was one of the most beautiful places I've seen in New Zealand. We snorkeled under the water to find tons of kina (a native urchin). Olivia, cousin of the Esson girls, even helped me crack open a kina to try the insides. I didn't like it that much (see before and after photos). We got to go diving again in the Bay after New Year's and I got to see a parrotfish and 3 new birds, Australasian Gannets, White-faced Storm Petrels and even a Sooty Shearwater!

The evening of New Year's day, we ended with a city firework/drone show and a stunning sunset at Jacks Bay. HAPPY 2024!

Queenstown and Wanaka

Once I said my goodbyes in Bay of Islands, I took the bus to Auckland. Upon arrival, I had some really yummy salmon and appreciated laying in a bed after two weeks of camping! I flew into Queenstown  the morning of the 5th and immediately began to wander! I checked into my hostel, grabbed a quick snack and then headed up the Tiki trail before going on the world famous Luge! It was great to get in some hiking time and then take the gondola down!

I have never purchased a photo from an amusement park or anything of the sort, but the Luge photo was the funniest thing I had ever seen (unfortunately not pictured). The Luge is basically a down hill go cart that you can go way too fast on. It was like playing Mario Cart in real life and I really wished I could race (and beat) my brother in a luge race. WAS SO FUN!

That evening, a street performer did a bicycle show! I watched his bicycle tricks for a while and then I got some soup and plum wine before going to sleep!

The next morning, I met up with Steven for a ride share to Wanaka! We ended up touring around the morning farmers market and doing the million dollar cruise! We had a blast admiring the Queenstown views and even got to drive the boat! Before heading out to Wanaka, we had a quick perusal of the gardens and a croissant. Then we were off!

The views on the drive to Wanaka were stunning. I couldn't keep my eyes off the mountains. When we finally arrived, I said my goodbyes to Steven and began packing for my birding camp! After I got everything situated, I walked around town to catch the famous Wanaka tree at sunset. The tree was cool, but the New Zealand falcon I found on the walk back was even cooler. A beautiful night!

Phew! Well, that catches us up mostly to where we are now! Today, I'm taking a day to enjoy my internet, check out the chocolate shop and get pumped for bird camp! Thank you for reading and I'll update soon!