So it turns out hostels in New Zealand are pretty stingy
with their Wi-Fi access so once again I have been unable to update for far too
long. Hopefully I won’t keep having this problem but I probably will.
I had a bit of a headache on Sunday night so it took me
forever to fall asleep and I ended up waking up again a few hours later with a
headache so bad it made me feel like I was going to vomit, to the point that I
spent a good chunk of the night curled up on the bathroom floor. I still felt
like garbage when my alarm went off in the morning but Jesse and I had booked a
tour to go see the Hobbiton movie set so I woke up Jesse and forced myself to
get ready. Luckily Jesse saw that I was struggling and suggested we bump back
our tour to the following day.
I spent most of the day curled up in a ball but was feeling
not too bad by the afternoon so we decided to book a dinner at Mitai for a
traditional hangi meal (cooked in the ground using the heat from the area’s
thermal springs) and a demonstration of traditional Maori culture.
It was quite possibly the most expensive dinner I have ever
had but the show made it worth every penny. We started by watching the warriors
paddle down the river in their war canoe and then made our way to the theatre
for the real performance. We learned about the weapons they used to use, what
some of their tribal tattoos mean, listened to a number of songs, and even
watched a haka (the ‘dance’ the New Zealand rugby team does before matches to
intimidate their opponents).
Once the performance had finished we made our way back into
the dining tent for dinner. There were a few options for food that had been
cooked in the hangi, I opted for the chicken and the potatoes along with a
number of side dishes that had been cooked on a normal stove. The chicken was a
little dry but tasted alright but the potatoes actually tasted like dirt and I
couldn’t finish them.
Our next activity after dinner was a walk to see some
glowworms. I was pretty stoked about this since I had wanted to go to the glowworm
caves in Waitomo but we didn’t have time. It was only a short walk from where
we had dinner with stops along the way for information about the local plants
and animals. When we finally made our way to the pond where the glowworms lived
I was a little disappointed to find there wasn’t as many as I had hoped but
they still looked pretty freaking cool. I still need to make my way back to the
North Island so I can go to Waitomo and get the full experience.
From there it was time to head home which was more than fine
by me because I was starting to feel pretty rough again. I took some Advil,
crawled into bed, and called it a night.
We woke up bright and early again the next day because it
was our last chance to go to Hobbiton. Personally I could have missed it and
been totally fine with it but I think Jesse would have cried so even though I
had a fever I forced myself to get ready and dragged my ass to the bus where I
slept for most of the journey there.
I have never seen any of the LOTR or Hobbit movies and I
really don’t care to (I once had an ex who tried to get me to watch one about
six times and I fell asleep within twenty minutes every time). That being said
I wasn’t overly excited about this adventure but since I am no longer
travelling solo I have to do things other people want to do to.
The movie set was pretty cool I guess, it was interesting to
see how much detail was put in to every hobbit hole and the surrounding
gardens. The tour however left something to be desired. We were in a group of
50-60 people, couldn’t hear our guide at all, and were rushed through the set,
as there were other groups behind us.
I slept for most of the ride back to the hostel and the
sprawled out on a couch until it was time to catch our bus back to Auckland. The
bus was practically empty which was awesome because it meant I could have two
seats to myself and try to get some sleep between coughing fits.
We didn’t get up to much in Auckland. I would like to do
some exploring there but I just wasn’t feeling up to it. Oh well I guess that’s
just another excuse to head back to the North Island at some point.
Today we woke up at 5am which is brutal on a good day, when
you have a fever, blocked sinuses, your whole body aches, and your chest is on
fire it is just plain torture. Especially when you have to walk around carrying
an extra 30kg when you feel that way.
We made it to the airport without any problems and our trip
through security was a breeze. I find it funny that you need to declare hiking
boots to custom officers when coming into the country but don’t need to show
any ID to board a domestic flight and can take large bottles of water through
security.
The flight was not so enjoyable. I tried to sleep but
couldn’t get comfortable. Landing was absolute hell. I couldn’t get my ears to
pop for the life of me. I was eating a sucker to help me be able to swallow
more but it hurt to swallow and now matter how many times I tried I couldn’t
release the pressure in my ears. I was near tears by the time we landed.
Since arriving in Queenstown I have done very little. I have
napped, napped some more, and went for a short walk into town. And then I
napped again. The sleep doesn’t seem to be helping and I still feel just as
horrible as I did this morning but hopefully I will wake up in the morning
feeling at least slightly better. I need to find a job!
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