A mid morning Sky Jump!

We did it AGAIN! You can see the videos at our YouTube Channel HERE!

Back to reality on the ground! We have to clean the car and return it. We booked a nearby hotel we could walk to after turning the car in. Then repacking to make it to our flight to Tasmania early tomorrow morning!

We had a shorter drive today and we stopped in the town of Hamilton to visit the Hamilton Gardens. It was unusually busy we thought, then realized that the entrance fee was waived today, so we joined the throngs to see the beautiful and diverse gardens.

The Indian Char Bagh Garden was the most colorful! The Maori Te Parapara Garden fence protected the kumara (sweet potato) field, a staple of the pre-European diet. The Italian Renaissance Garden was reflective of the era’s attempt to order the natural world! The English Tudor Garden was influenced by mythical figures adorning the poles. And the Surrealist Garden entrance was surreal! These are only a few of the many “Enclosed Gardens” that are highlighted.

A lovely couple were posing for professional photos (maybe an upcoming wedding?). I snapped a few just because the setting is so beautiful!

We continued on our way to our destination, the Skytower in Auckland where we will stay overnight!

They knew we were coming!

It was still light out so we took a walk to find some dinner and sightsee.

A view of the clock tower at the University of Auckland.

The old and the new. A view of the SkyTower between the Old Synagogue circa 1858 and a Merchants House circa 1900.

And finally, a night view of the SkyTower as we headed back after meandering around town for a few hours.

We need a good night’s sleep for our adventure tomorrow!

We caught the ferry this morning and traveled through Cook Strait back to Wellington, enjoying beautiful calm weather under partly cloudy skies.

The sister ship passed us shortly after we left port. We enjoyed appetizers, drinks and a buffet lunch before we disembarked 3 hours later in Wellington.

We didn’t stick around Wellington, we had a long drive to Lake Taupo, about the middle of the North Island, encountering a thick fog as we rose up over the volcanic highlands along Tongariro National Park.

The weather was more cloudy and windy as we descended to Lake Taupo.

We discovered that this is a popular tourist town, full of locals today, but we finally found a room at the Bella Vista Motel. Not very Bella of a Vista though, is was dark by then, but still nice enough to walk into the main downtown and find dinner. We never did see much of Lake Taupo, the largest fresh water lake in NZ, as well as all of Australasia!

We drove through the famous vineyards of Marlborough today on our way to Picton, the ferry port town at the top of the South Island.

The vineyards trailed off to the foothills of Mount Richmond Forest Park across the Wairau Valley and the Wairau River.

We made it to Picton with enough time in the day to walk into the main town area and found some dinner at the local Irish Pub! An after dinner walk took us to the picturesque port.

The palm trees lend a tropical feel to the port and the weather was nice enough to imagine it is tropical here!

This morning we set off on the beginning of our trip back to Auckland. We left the west coast and headed inland through the Buller Gorge where the Buller river (Kawatiri in Maori, meaning “deep & swift”) is squeezed between hard gold-bearing rock. This area experienced the biggest most lucrative gold rush in the 1860’s! [A great story & history of the area can be found on the link above]

A curve of the river butts against Hawk’s Crag, a massive rock bluff with the road carved into the rock!

Our destination today is the Buller Swingbridge Adventure Park! The longest swingbridge in New Zealand!

With an open grate floor, to see how far above the river (and rocks) you are!

The Buller river watershed is about 1.5 million acres and has the highest flood flows of any river in NZ! The bridge is about 62 feet above the river normally, but in July 2021 the flooded river was only 3 feet below the swingbridge, completely submerging the entire bank you see in the picture! There are trails to hike on the peninsula, showcasing the gold-mining history and the earthquake uplift from the 1929 earthquake that basically ended the gold mining era. They also have a zipline!

We opted for the “Supaman” ride, where you lay on your stomach and fly like SuperMan!

My turn!

After that excitement we hiked through the regenerating native forest of beech trees and tree ferns to the small Akiri waterfall and saw some rafters. The river has become a kayak/rafting mecca that is world renown! We then headed into the small town of Murchison, the gateway to the Buller Gorge and all the adventures it holds!

We stayed at the century old Hampden Hotel, with a balcony overlooking the busy corner with a new “Abbey Road” style crosswalk!

We took a walk around town, to the Museum and the old Hodgsons Hardware Store, where the proprietors helped us package and ship our NZ souvenirs back to the States. We found a nice little cafe for dinner.

A delicious pizza, and we mentioned we like hot sauce and we were brought a variety of locally made hot sauces that were the best we’ve tasted in NZ!

We would recommend a visit to Murchison for anyone interested in beautiful surroundings and exciting NZ adventures!