Weeks 23 & 24: Auckland, Wellington & Christchurch

During the final 1.5 weeks we spent in New Zealand, we spent time in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. We drove between locations in New Zealand, which was a bigger time commitment than expected. We enjoyed getting to see so much of the country.

To begin our second week, we went to Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Aquarium in Auckland. The girls each bought a kids quest pack, which included activities to do throughout the aquarium to learn more about the animals. It also came with animal trading cards, with a picture and stats like speed and average lifespan, which Audrey and Maurene loved. They even decided that they wanted to make their own animal trading cards with animals that were not included. In addition to completing the aquarium quests, we had the opportunity to take a behind the scenes tour. After learning about how the aquarium water stays clean and the animals are kept healthy, we learned about how the aquarium also serves as a turtle rescue center. We observed several animals that were being rehabilitated for release, including several turtles and some rays. We also had the chance to help feed the fish in the big center tank. After our behind the scenes tour, we spent some time observing a waddle of antarctic penguins and wandering beneath the shark tunnel watching the sharks, rays and fish swim above us.

Our afternoon on Tuesday was spent at the Auckland Maritime Museum. We began our time at the museum watching a video to learn more about how the Maori came to live in New Zealand. We wandered through the museum looking at many different types of canoes from around the Pacific Islands, and learned about how different canoes were used for different activities. Then, we walked through the maritime history of New Zealand, moving through more and more contemporary ships and technology. Audrey and Maurene practiced tying knots in rope and learned some simple morse code before sending each other morse code messages across the museum via a model lighthouse. We curled up in some story telling chairs and listened to different maritime stories – someone who moved to New Zealand when they were little via a ship, someone who used to run one of the lighthouses, someone who was stranded at sea after a boat engine problem for a few weeks before being rescued. The girls were fascinated with the different stories. To finish our time at the Maritime Museum, we worked on writing out our ideas for what we could do to help keep the oceans clean and healthy.

For our final day in Auckland, we spent the day at the zoo.  We enjoyed seeing many familiar animals, listened to several keeper talks, and saw several animals that we had never seen before. We also noticed that one of the elephant keepers was not wearing shoes, which is something I think would only happen in New Zealand! Our favorite parts of the day were spotting kiwi in the nocturnal house and watching a Tasmanian devil play tug of war with his food against his keeper during a keeper talk where we learned more about the Tasmanian devil.

Our day on Thursday was spent driving to Wellington. Wellington is at the southern tip of the North Island of New Zealand. It is supposedly an 8 hour drive from Auckland, however we found that the roads are not created in a way that the “speed limit” can be sustained. There were MANY signs stating “speed limit 100 kph” immediately followed by “turn ahead, suggested speed 35 kph.” Even with roads that seemed designed to make me ill riding in the backseat of the car, the views were stunning across the country. We also learned that many gas stations in New Zealand close overnight. Luckily, when we were about to run out of gas, we came across a town where one of the gas stations was not yet closed and were able to get gas minutes before it closed for the evening. Audrey and Maurene spent time reading, working on a travel activity book I made for them, and of course watching Netflix. We enjoyed the drive, but were all glad to reach Wellington by the time we got there.

Our one school day in Wellington was spent visiting Weta Studios with the whole family. Weta Studios is a special effects and props company based in Wellington that has worked on many famous movies, including The Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Thor: Ragnarok, Man of Steel, and Ghost in a Shell. We saw many original costumes and props, learned about how props are made for different types of shots, watched a sword being reproduced, and were astounded by all the “movie magic” surrounding us. We also toured a miniature studio that was set up for the filming of the TV show Thunderbirds are Go reboot. Everyone that we met at Weta Studios was incredibly passionate about what they were doing, which is always wonderful to be surrounded with. Audrey and Maurene loved posing with a troll, Azog the pale orc, and Gollum.

One of the things we learned at Weta Studios was that they often fill in their time with various projects between movies to ensure that the artists who work there have full time employment. One of the projects they took on was a joint project with Te Papa (the New Zealand National Museum) called The Scale of our War. This project is currently on exhibit at Te Papa, and I went to see it on Saturday. It includes 8 sculptures of WWI veterans from New Zealand, each created at 2.5 times human size. Over 24,000 hours were spent creating the sculptures. The exhibit was incredibly beautifully created, but the stories from the war were pretty brutal throughout the exhibit. I am glad that I went to the exhibit as well as explored the rest of Te Papa, but I am glad to have gone alone so I could go at my own pace. For the rest of my Saturday in Wellington, I explored the surrounding areas. I enjoyed watching people – locals and tourists alike – jump into the harbor via platform above a hole in the dock. I just kept thinking how cool it was to have a community where this kind of thing could exist without worry of lawsuits. I enjoyed getting a pizza and a beer from a local brewpub, and listening to the music from the Wellington Scottish festival. I hope to come back to Wellington at some point and get to explore more.

We spent Sunday back on the road, moving to Christchurch. Christchurch is on the South Island of New Zealand, so we took a ferry between the islands. We drove our rental car onto the bottom level of the ferry, and then went and sat upstairs for the duration of the three and a half hour ferry ride. The ferry ride was highly enjoyable. We got coffee and breakfast on board. Audrey and Maurene went to the kids room and watched Finding Dory, while Kris, Josh and I sat in the main seating area and worked. The views outside of the ship were stunning, especially as we were leaving the North Island, when the South Island was coming into view and as we were sailing between several small islands on our way to the South Island. After getting off the ferry, we had a five hour drive that once again took longer than expected but was beautiful. When we got to Christchurch, we found our airbnb. However, this particular airbnb was not in great shape when we got there, so we found a new one for our time in Christchurch. Our second airbnb was much better and we finally were able to settle in for the night.

We really enjoyed spending the last of our time in New Zealand in Christchurch. It is a beautiful and resilient city. We began our time in Christchurch as we do in most cities: getting to know the town with a tour. Our tour method in Christchurch was a tram tour, riding around center city a restored historic city tram. At the beginning of the tour, we learned some basic information about the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes that damaged or destroyed 75% of city center. We were astounded throughout the tour seeing buildings that had survived intact, buildings that were damaged and some buildings  that were demolished and replaced. I was amazed at how much of the city still looked like it had recent earthquake damage eight years after the quakes, including many buildings that were being supported by bracing systems. Audrey and Maurene loved looking at the buildings that had survived, including a boys boarding school, because many were built in an English style and the girls thought they looked like a real life version of Hogwarts.

On Tuesday, we spent the afternoon visiting two local museums, the Canterbury Museum and Quake City. At the Canterbury Museum, we reviewed New Zealand history. We learned more about some of the Maori iwi that lived on the Southern Island of New Zealand, saw more Moa skeletons, and learned about some of the ways that New Zealand changed after the British colonized and beyond. We also enjoyed learning more about the kakapo. In addition to being the heaviest parrot species in the world, Kakapos are also endemic to New Zealand, flightless, nocturnal, and ground-dwelling. Unfortunately, Kakapo are critically endangered (only 154 remained in 2017) and we did not have a chance to see any in real life. Hopefully the species recovers well and we can see them next time! The most unique exhibit in the Canterbury Museum was Fred and Myrtle’s Paua Shell House. Fred and Myrtle were a couple that lived in the town of Bluff, and decorated their house with paua shells they found at the nearby beach over 40 years. After their deaths, the contents of their house were donated to the Canterbury Museum and their Paua Shell lounge was recreated. The house was absolutely hysterical, and I wish I could have met Fred and Myrtle because I am sure they were funny people. The girls did consider adding shells to their rooms next year, but not to the extent of Fred and Myrtle.

After enjoying our time at the Canterbury Museum, we walked across downtown to the Quake City museum. Here, we learned more about the earthquakes on September 4, 2010 and February 22, 2011 that devastated Christchurch as well as methods that are being used to try and prevent future earthquakes from decimating the town again. The highlights of the museum included footage from security cameras showing the earthquakes, exhibits with crumpled stain glass windows and other damaged items, and an exhibit about the “Gap Filler” inititive, showing what community members have done with the empty spaces throughout town while rebuilding. The biggest hit of the museum for Audrey and Maurene was the lego challenge, where the girls got to create a building they think should be built in Christchurch in the future.

For our final day in Christchurch, we visited the International Antarctic Center. The International Antarctic Center was a hit right off the bat for all three of us, because a local husky rescue group had some huskies outside for us to meet. After getting some puppy love, we moved inside to learn about why the International Antarctic Center even exists in Christchurch. We learned that the museum was held within the International Antarctic Center campus, which is home to the New Zealand, U.S., and Italian antarctic teams. We learned about how scientists survive while conducting research in Antarctica, how teams get to and from Antarctica, and what kinds of tools are needed for different research projects. The museum was highly interactive. We experienced freezing cold winds in a storm simulation room, watched a 4D movie about Antarctica, and learned more about penguins. The penguins that were held at the museum were not actually Antarctic penguins, which we thought was pretty funny. The museum houses a group of little blue penguins that are native to New Zealand and are unable to be returned to the wild. The penguins that stole our hearts were a penguin who is afraid of the water and a penguin who has a paralyzed tongue making it impossible for him to feed himself. Even with so many amazing experiences, picking a favorite part of the day was easy for the girls. Their favorite part was riding in a Hägglund, an all terrain vehicle used in Antarctica. We got in, buckled up, put our headphones on, and were taken on a crazy obstacle course designed to show off the different features of the Hägglund. We rode up and down incredibly steep hills, over log piles, through water, and crossed a hill with a gap carved in the middle of it. I was fighting being nervous the whole time, but the girls had an absolute blast. They even asked me where we could buy a Hägglund for them to drive. The International Antarctic Center was a perfect way to end our time in Christchurch, and in New Zealand.

Things I’ve learned in New Zealand:

1. The people of New Zealand may be the kindest people I’ve ever met.
2. The scenery of New Zealand really is that beautiful, it’s not just movie magic.
3. Shoes are culturally accepted as optional. I saw barefoot people all over – the airport, the mall, and even the zoo!
4. New Zealand is way further south than I realized. It’s the third closest country to Antarctica!
5. The Maori name of New Zealand is Aotearoa, meaning “the land of the long white cloud.”
6. People in New Zealand drive on the left side of the road.
7. Wellington is the southernmost capital city in the world.
8. Starbucks is not a big deal in New Zealand. There were only a few in each city that we visited.
9.  Gas stations in New Zealand may or may not be open past dark. Plan accordingly.
10. New Zealand was the first modern country to give women the right to vote.
11. 1/3 of the population of New Zealand live in Auckland.
12. Bats are the only native land mammal to New Zealand. Because of the lack of mammals, many bird species adapted to fill the place of mammals, many of which lost the ability to fly.
13. At one point, there were 31 species of flightless bird inhabiting New Zealand. There are now 15 species remaining.
14. The natural predator for the Giant Moa was the Haast’s Eagle, which is believed to have had a wingspan of 3 meters.
15. The Tuatara is an endemic reptile that is still found on New Zealand that predates dinosaurs. Its lineage is thought to be 200 million years old.
16. The kiwi fruit was originally the Chinese gooseberry, from China. After it was brought to New Zealand the name was changed.
17. Kiwi eggs are huge compared to a fully grown kiwi. Kiwis are about the same size as chickens, but kiwi eggs are nearly 10 times bigger than chicken eggs.
18. Kiwi birds might be the cutest birds ever.

I loved our time in New Zealand, and definitely added it to my “come back soon” list.

Up next: Australia!