Merry Christmas! I am currently flying 30,000 feet above the sky to Queenstown, New Zealand. It’s weird that I am not in Syracuse with family and friends for the holiday. Everyone asks me if I am missing a snowy Christmas, but after hearing that there is not much white back home, I can say that I am very satisfied with 75 and sunny. The past week has been a whirlwind though. My cousin Kevin who lives in Auckland has been more then a gracious host and has really helped out in the planning and execution of the New Zealand part of the trip.
Early this week I added a few travel companions and we hit the ground running. My cousin Scott decided to make a two week stop in New Zealand before he flies out to Chang Mai, Thailand. Also Nick, one of my best friends from St. Lawrence University, decided to make the trip over from Boston to travel with me for the next month or so. I am so happy to see some familiar faces!
Scott arrived a few days before Nick, so we decided to go to the black sand beaches on the west coast on New Zealand. I believe the sand is black due to the amount of iron from the volcanic ash. Anyways, we chose to go to Piha Beach and it was well worth the trip. I have never seen a beach that untouched before. Huge bluffs with Pohutakawa’s all in full bloom. You walk to the main beach and there were probably 20 people there, but you walk around the bend along the rocks and you can have your own private beach. It was amazing day.
The very next day Scott and I decided to take a ferry to the volcanic island of Raingitoto. This place was sweet. It had great view of Auckland from the top and you could explore a few different lava caves, which was cool. We were also able to take a dip in the crystal clear waters of the bay.
For Christmas day I was really relieved to be by family this time of year. Nick had arrived as well, so we all had Christmas in Auckland and enjoyed a few days of down time, which was a nice change of pace from the normal hubbub of traveling. Our Christmas Day included a huge breakfast full of banana pancakes, eggs and bacon. Then we all headed to Muriwai beach to have some fun in the sun. Finally capped it off with an awesome dinner lamb, kumara and rice. It was a great day. Time to head down south though and start a few more adventures and explore more of NZ!
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