Auckland's Gay Scene

Exploring Auckland's gay scene was a bit of an adventure. And, sadly, underwhelming and disappointing.

Before we left the U.S., we did some internet research and made a list of gay bars, restaurants, etc., in cities that we'd be visiting. The only bar we could find in Wellington was closed the day we were there. So Auckland was the place to explore.

We went searching for a place relatively close to the hotel on Anzac Street. We got bad directions from two different people but finally found a hole-in-the-wall adult book shop and went inside to ask where to find the bar. "Oh, it's in the sauna upstairs," said the man behind the counter. We asked for directions to other places.


Most of Auckland's gay places are in Karangahappe Road ("K' Road"). The man at the book shop said that's where we should go. Jeff asked whether we should take a cab and the man, literally, gasped and said, "Oh, no! Walk! It's only 20 minutes walk." He gave us some quick directions and off we went.

Ummm, yeah. Not 20 minutes. More like 45 minutes. Uphill. To the top of Queen Street then to K' Road.



Our first stop was a place called the Family Bar. They were very nice folks. Treated us really well and gave us some suggestions for other places to visit. The bartenders, Francis and Mark, found copies of the local gay paper for us and told us a little about the community.

We were surprised how subdued the nightlife was. There were very few people out and about.

Urge Bar was not too far up the street. It's the local leather bar. It was a single, small room with a bar. My backyard patio is a larger space. Again, everyone was very friendly. And, it turns out, they were ready for us. They had a heads up from the folks at Family Bar that a couple of Americans were headed there... and they were told to treat us well. It was nice.

We called it a night by 10:30pm.

To be honest, for a country that is so progressive... light years ahead of the U.S. in terms of gay inclusion... it really seemed like the community was in hiding. Jeff is right when he calls it "heartbreaking."

TVNZ

The Auckland headquarters for Television New Zealand is only a few blocks away. So, of course, I had to stop for a look. It's smallish... but still kind of cool. We rang security to see if they had a gift shop. Nope. No TVNZ souvenirs.

Rydges Hotel Auckland

The drive up to Auckland takes about 2.5 hours. It's an okay drive through rolling countryside. It's pretty. Getting into the "big city" is a little bit of culture shock after being in small towns most of the week.

The Rydges Hotel is great! It's in the middle of the Central Business District, two blocks from the SkyTower. We're on the 9th floor... with a view looking directly at the SkyTower!

Buried Village

The village of Te Wairoa is gone... along with 153 souls. So are the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Pink and White Terraces. They were all lost in the massive, overnight eruption of Mt. Tarawera on June 10, 1886.

For "four terrifying hours," the mountain exploded and hot ash and boiling mud rained down on the village. Buildings collapsed. Homes were buried under a couple of meters of ash and mud. The terraces were destroyed.

Today, you can see what's been excavated. The family who bought the land in the 1920's began the task of uncovering the village.

The village's tragedy is partly told through the letters of a woman named Margaret. She seems to have written letters to family and friends every hour, on the hour documenting the devastation. Jeff points out, "She needed the comfort of a man." Amen.

Maori Hangi

The Hangi is the traditional, cooked-in-the-ground Maori feast. In Rotorua, it's become a tourist-trap-style event... complete with a show and demonstration of Maori dance and hakas. We partook of the show in our hotel.

We were the only non-Asians in the audience. In fact, other than the performers, we were the only English speakers. And the cheese factor was off the charts.

White Island

We walked through the living, breathing, killer crater of New Zealand's only active marine volcano. White Island is connected to the same system of volcanoes that rumble around Rotorua and Taupo. The same group that helped form the North Island and has been responsible for some of the world's greatest eruptions.

The shuttle picked us up from a hotel down the street and took us 85km, past Lakes Rotorua, Rotoehu and Rotoiti, Rotoma, and past Mt. Egmont, to the coastal town of Whakatane (fah-kah-TAHN-eh). Then a boat took us 29km to White Island. The boat can't actually dock at what's left of the White Island wharf... so we had to use inflatables to get to the actual island.

We spent about two hours trekking over the crater's wasteland, exploring the vents, the boiling mud pools and the crater lake. The lake is extremely acidic. In fact, on the pH scale, some scientists have placed it at -0.5... yes, even more acidic than pure acid. (On the pH scale, 14 is alkaline, 7 is water and 0 is acidic.)

The activity on White Island is actually relieving some of the pressure on the area's volcanic system. Without it, other volcanoes could erupt sooner... perhaps even in Auckland. Ngauruhoe, by the way, is being watched closely because it's due for some kind of "release."

Hell's Gate Wai Ora Spa

Hell's Gate is on tribal land but now owned by a private firm. Many of the employees are members of the land's original Maori tribe. It is said to be one of the most active thermal areas in Rotorua.

We took the shuttle (The Mud Bus) about 15km out of town toward Whakatane to the spa. The first hour includes the walk through the thermal reserve. There are dozens of boiling pools, thermal vents, bubbling mud, sulphur crystals and a real mud volcano. (Apparently, the volcano was a few meters higher a few months but it blew itself apart again... as it does every few months.)

The mud baths are like stepping into a vat of muddy water with thick, dark grey mud. You can scoop the mud off the bottom of the pool and apply it to your whole body. It feels really wonder. The icy cold shower afterward closes your pores and invigorates your body. (It really sucks.)

After the mud is the sulphur bath. It's a huge hot pool full of yellowish-greenish water. The sulphur is supposed to be good for your skin. As a note: Jeff did not wear his rings into the water... but there is so much sulpher in the air, the rings turned brassy. They're a mess now.

The massages were wonderful. As always, too short.

Exploring Rotorua

While Jeff was napping this afternoon... so stole away to explore a bit and headed for the lakeside, etc.

The first stop was Government Gardens, the home of the Rotorua Museum, the recently-restored Blue Baths, and the city's best lawn bowling greens. Today people were bowling in their traditional whites. One of the thermal vents in the Gardens is an ancient Maori burial site. It is still considered tapu (sacred). Warriors' bodies were tossed into the deep vent to keep them from falling into enemy hands.

Lake Rotorua itself is a thermal wonder. The entire south end of the lake is a milky, yellow-green because of all the sulphur in it. Steam vents and boiling pools line the edges. Even when you can't see the boiling water in the holes, you can hear it gurgling and gushing around. Just be careful of the gulls... they did a bit of dive bombing today... thought at least one was going to take out my head.

Zorb

The Zorb is, quite literally, a big ball of fun.

We did the water version.

It's a giant, hamster ball, surrounded by an even bigger hamster ball. They dump some warm water in it... and roll you down a huge slalom. It's almost impossible to control which way the thing rolls. And you just bounce around inside the inner ball. It's a blast!

The sign-in certificate includes an emphatic disclaimer: "WARNING! Sporting activities such as Zorb riding can be dangerous. You can be serious injured or even killed as a result of your participation in Zorb riding."

(The photos are stuck on a CD... so you'll have to wait to see them. In the meantime, you can check out the Zorb at http://www.zorb.co.nz.)

Rotorua

We stopped for petrol again today. Oy. $1.70/litre. Total of NZ$90.01. Gawd it's expensive to drive a car here!

Jeff's keen sense of smell was quick to notice the ever-present aroma of sulphur in Rotorua. "It really stinks here." The thermal vents produce a sulphur smell... and so doe the lake itself. For most of us, it doesn't take long to get used to it and not even notice it.

The Rydges Rotorua Hotel is okay. It's right in front of the Rotorua Race Track (harness racing). It's time, though, for the Rydges to do a little updating and remodeling. The rooms are nice but a little dated.

Orakei Korako

Orakei Korako was our first thermal area. It's just north of Taupo, in the middle of rolling rural area, between Highway 1 and Highway 5. It's private land... with its own lake and thermal reserve.

We took the boat shuttle to the reserve and started wandering the track over the steaming, mineral-coated, rocky terrain. The colours are like an Artist's Palette (they named part of the reserve that). The Diamond Geyser was steaming but not quite ready to erupt. The Sapphire Geyser (how appropriate for us) DID blow while we were close by. Interestingly, it erupts horizontally.

We climbed down into a huge cave. Scientists still don't quite understand how or why it was formed. The water in the bottom is very alkaline and said to be good for cleaning jewelry. Jeff tried it and said it seemed to work a little bit. If you put your left hand in the water and make a wish, the legend says the wish is guaranteed to come true.

The boiling mud pools sputter and spit constantly. And the landscape is dotted with random steam vents. In the middle of some trees and brush, a constant column of steam just belches forth.

Allergies

The allergies are going a bit nuts on the North Island. We don't really know what the specific triggers are... but since it's late spring and everything is in bloom, there are a number of suspects.

The New Zealand Christmas Tree (pahutukawa) is going into full bloom this time of year. The Manuka trees are full of dense pollen. Screeds of other flowers and trees are also blooming and spewing crud into the air. It's an allergist's nightmare.

Television New Zealand

Twenty years ago, TVNZ had only two channels. Now, there are at least six main channels and a few side channels.

The daily "newscast of record" comes from ONENews on TV1. But TV3 also does a nightly newscast.

ONENews' "New Zealand's Breakfast" is every morning from 6:30am to 9:00am. TV3 does a show called "Sunrise." In reality, TVNZ is competing against itself with the new morning shows.

"Breakfast" is, IMHO, the better, more watchable programme. Paul Henry is mouthy, opinionated and dryly funny (a kind of toned-down Paul Lynd). Pippa is a cute-but-credible blonde sidekick. Pete is the older, serious newsreader. And Tamati is the young, hot, modelesque weather boy. It's a good combo.

Here's a link to Breakfast:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tvone_minisite_index_skin/tvone_breakfast_group

Huka Falls

The Waikato River is the largest river in New Zealand. It flows out of Lake Taupo. And just outside the city, the entire river narrows to a 20-foot gorge... and becomes the raging, blue waters of Huka Falls.

We hiked about 3km (about 50 minutes) each way to get from a park in Taupo to the Falls. The falls were absolutely --here comes that word again-- spectacular. The photos and video just don't do it justice.

Jeff declared (2,837,491 times to and from the falls) that there will be no more hiking during this trip.

We'll see.

Lake Taupo

We left the central volcanic plateau a little earlier than planned... and headed north to Taupo and it's namesake lake. It's a beautiful drive through Turangi and along the lake.

We have landed at yet another wonderful hotel... with our own balcony overlooking Lake Taupo. You can still see Mt. Ngauruhoe in the distance.


After a bit of Chinese takeaway by the lakeshore, the heated pool was a very relaxing way to spend part of the afternoon. There's a grotto... a mock cave with a spa pool... but it was just way too dark and creepy to stay in there for long. Instead, some sun by the pool was the way to go... and the fastest way to get a little bit of sunburn. (Thanks to the massive ozone hole, New Zealand has the highest ultraviolet radiation on the planet.)

NZ Mobile Phone Service

Thankfully for Jeff, New Zealand has good mobile service just about everywhere. Even on the hike to Taranaki Falls, practically the middle of nowhere, he had a great signal and was able to make calls and send/receive text messages to/from the U.S. every few minutes. It's like never leaving home.

The Vodafone SIM chip is working very well and can be topped up with more minutes at convenience stores all over the country. The T-Mobile and Verizon phones also seem to work most of the time... but they are much more expensive.

Kiwi Cuisine Update

We had a great pavlova the other day, on our way to Tongariro. But had some new culinary adventures at the Skotel. A kiwi breakfast staple is beans and spaghetti on toast. I had completely forgotten about it... Rose used to make it all the time and then send us off to school. It was great!

And Jeff tried Marmite for the first time. Yeah. I tried to warn him that it's just like spreading axle grease on toast. He agreed. Ugh.

Chinese takeaway, it turns out, is the same all over the world.

New Zealand Weather

We've been lucky so far. The weather has been mostly cooperative.

Christchurch: mostly sunny.
Kaikoura: partly cloudy
Wellington: partly to mostly cloudy
Tongariro: mostly cloudy to overcast
Taupo: mostly cloudy with occasional showers and fair bits

New Zealand's weather is a forecaster's nightmare. There are dozens of microclimates because of the influence of the oceans, mountains, valleys, plains, downsloping, etc. The high- and low-pressure centers are the same as in the northern hemisphere, except that they rotate in the opposite direction. (I’m still trying to get used to the weather maps!)

In NZ, the warm, humid breezes are from the northeast. In the US, they tend to be from the southwest. The North Island has been dealing with a northeast flow (and lots of showers) for the past week or so. Hopefully, some of it will clear up before long.

We did, by the way, walk past the home of NZ MetService in Wellington. The headquarters is on top of a hill in the Botanic Gardens.

Tongariro National Park

We're staying at the Skotel in National Park. It's a backpacker motel that claims to be the "Highest Hotel in New Zealand" (1140 metres ASL). And it has a much more laid-back attitude than most hotels. And, thankfully, we were able to do a little laundry during our stay. So, we're ready to go again with a fresh set of clothes!

We decided against the Tongariro Crossing. Yes. After all that planning and all that talking... we blew it off. The mountains are almost totally shrouded in clouds (and have been for weeks). That makes for some cold, wet, windy, miserable tramping. Not ideal conditions, to be sure.


So, we opted for what the people at the Skotel called "the Mini Crossing." It was a two-hour hike to the Taranaki Falls. It was an wonderful tramp through open tussock lands, nearly-tropical forest, subalpine scrub, rocky flats and river crossings. Jeff took a bit of a spill at one point and scraped up his knee but it wasn't anything serious and he trudged onward.

The Taranaki Falls turned out, just as the Skotel waitress predicted, "A very pleasant surprise." They're at least 50 feet high, cascading down the front of a steep, rock face and into a pool below. The water is icy cold... most likely melted snow from the mountains.

The pictures just don't do it justice, really.

Skotel

We have a room with a mountain view! Looking out our very own sliding glass doors (and stepping out onto our own deck), Mounts Ngauruhoe and Tongariro are just in front. The Skotel is just behind the Tongariro Grand Chateau near the Whakapapa (FAH-kah-PAH-pah) Ski Area.


The clouds come and go... so do the showers. It's much, much colder here on the plateau.

We're watching the forecast for tomorrow... to decide whether to actually do the Tongariro Crossing. The forecast, at the moment, is for the weather to be foul. If that's the case, we'll probably skip it.

The New Zealand Traffic Jam

It's a uniquely New Zealand moment. Traffic comes to a stop on a highway to let a herd of sheep passs through.

It happened to us between Wanganui and Raetihi. On a steep mountainous strech of Highway 4, a man on an ATV carrying four sheep dogs in a crate on the back warned us to slow down. Just around the bend, hundreds of sheep took over the roadway. Dogs were barking and herding the sheep up the hill to another pen.

They make postcards of these things!

The Terrain

It's so incredible how quickly the terrain changes in NZ. In the morning, we left Wellington and it's rolling hillsides. We drove into the plains... flat, flat, flat as far as the eye can see. And within another hour or so, we were climbing the steep, winding mountains in central NZ. In another hour or so, we were wandering through the subalpine scrub of the volcanic plateau.

Wow!

Wanganui

What a cute little town! We just stopped for a quick T&P (tea and pee) on our way to National Park.

The best part is... all the holiday decorations... and it's SUMMERTIME!

Yea!

The Beehive and The Cable Car

After a quick meat pie breakie, we headed out in search of Wellington's #2 tourist attraction, the Wellington Cable Car (Te Papa, the National Museum, is the #1 attraction). Turns out, the Cable Car is really hard to find.


In the process of driving in circles, we stumbled up on the Beehive and the Houses of Parliament. The Beehive is the home of the Prime Minister's offices and the executive branch. Parliament is in, well, Parliament House. Maggie Snapsalot took screeds of shots there.

We eventually made our way up to the Botanic Gardens -- 'cause the Cable Car is right next to the Gardens. After a grueling climb up a very, very steep walkway, and past the home offices of MetService, we made it to the Cable Car.


It was built by prisoners 1898 and is still running on the original tracks today. The two cars pull each other up and down the hill... gravity does all the work. Plus, as the cables move through the winches, they generate electricity to power the lights on the cars. The carbon footprint is practically nil. Neat!

Wellington Public Poems

Scattered along the waterfront are a number of stone tablets inscribed with the writings of native Wellingtonians. A couple of them seemed appropriate to The Excursion.

Blue rain from a clear sky.
Our world a cube of sunlight --
But to the south
The violet admonition
Of Thunder.
-- Alistair Te Ariki Campbell

Their heads bent, their legs just touching,
They stride like one eager person through the town,
Down the asphalt zigzag where the fennel grows wild...
The wind is so strong that they have to fight their way through it,
Rocking like two old drunkards.
-- Katherine Mansfield

An Evening in Wellington

Wellington is New Zealand's capital city. It's built on the hillsides that lead to the waterfront. It's a hustling, bustling, cosmopolitan city. For a U.S. comparison, it is very similar to San Francisco. The hills, the Victorian houses, the waterfront. It's a gorgeous place.

We ventured out on the town on foot. Our hotel is right on the waterfront but also in the heart of a vibrant neighborhood. On Courtenay Place we found all kinds of bars, restaurants and cafes... and settled on a quaint Italian bistro called Nicolini's. The food was wonderful, especially the South Island Queen Scallops. Incredible!

Walk along the waterfront, past the national museum and we turned in for the night.

Kiwi Cuisine

Jeff tried his first meat pie on Sunday. It gets very positive reviews from everyone involved. "It's like sausage gravy and biscuits, only brown," he says. "Everything has a brown sauce!"

The food is relatively expensive in NZ, even factoring in the exchange rate. Diet Coke runs about NZ$3.00. We were a bit surprised by the prices at the grocery store.

We've seen plenty of Coke products... but no Pepsi. McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC and even Subway have made huge headway in the fast food market. There's one on nearly every corner. And no county, including NZ, has been able to escape the influx of Starbucks.

Still looking forward to finding a good Pavlova while we're here! Yummy!

The InterIslander Ferry

The Kaitaki is freakin' huge! It claims to be the largest ferry in NZ waters. It's 10 stories high, 181.6 metres long. In this case, size matters. It's big enough to take 1,600 passengers and 600 cars and dozens of full-length cargo trucks. Interestingly, it sails under the British flag. Kaitaki means "Challenger" in Maori.

The ship passes through the Marlborough Sounds and into the Cook Straight between the South Island and the North Island, then into the port at Wellington. The scenery is spectacular (getting tired of that word yet?).

Jeff was seasick again.

Petrol is Expensive in NZ!

We finally had to stop for petrol today. We had to fill up the rental car before we turned it in at Picton (rental cars can't go on the Ferry).

Shell "Ultra 91" is running NZ$1.71 and "Ultra Hi 95" costs NZ$1.76. With only a quarter tank left, the fill-up took 39.2 litres. That's NZ$67.00! Yikes!

Maybe we should have ridden bikes. Ummmm... no.

Kaikoura Dolphin Encounter

Oh. My. God.

We swam with dolphins in the open Pacific Ocean.


They came so close, one actually bumped Jeff and Marshall felt the current as they swooshed past. They were incredible. They respond to noises in the water -- and there's not much funnier than hearing a boatful of snorkelers attempting to make dolphin calls.

We took the 5:30am excursion. There were about a dozen swimmers on our tour. As we left the South Bay harbor, the clouds were hugging the mountains but the base was fair. The water temperature was about 15C (VERY chilly when you first leap in, even in a full wetsuit) with a moderate swell.

It took about 20 minutes to find the dolphins. They're always on the move. They like the enormous, cliff-like drop-off near the Kaikoura coast. The whales are fond of it, too, because it creates an upwelling with cold, nutrient-rich water.

We saw little planktons hanging together in chains... and dogfish (small sharks) swimming far below us. Then dozens and dozens of dolphins. They're true performers. And clowns. They love to leap out of the water. And they like to explore the odd humans that jump into their world.

The snorkeling was big fun. At least until Jeff swallowed about 10 gallons of salt water. Let the puking begin. He wasn't alone. The crew had buckets ready for everyone. Jeff and a (very cute) French guy, Cristoph, had the worst of it. They were both green all the way in to port. While they were toughing it out, Marshall went up to the bow to take pictures and shoot video. (Great stuff! Wait 'til you see it!)

Now, with a sore throat from barfing, Jeff will sound like Kathleen Turner (or maybe Lauren Bacall) for the next two days.

Watch Out for Those Gulls!

The sea gulls are vicious here. They'll stop at nothing to get their beaks on some human grub.

At the Kaikoura Winery, the woman behind the counter said she would wait until we were actually sitting at a table before she brought the cheese tray out. Because the gulls would try to take the snacks.

I went inside to ask the woman to take our picture. Couldn't have been inside more than 20 seconds. As I walked back out the door, "HEY! Get off our food!" The gulls attacked. Thankfully, the winery was willing to give us a little more cheese to replace what the freakin' birds munched. It was a good laugh.

We were warned about them again at the open-window pub in downtown Kaikoura. They said the gulls would actually swoop down to the tables by the windows and grab food off your plate.

Fortunately, they didn't repeat their winery shenanigans.

Kaikoura

The drive was truly spectacular. Jeff started driving today and getting the feel for a right-hand-side steering wheel and being on the left-hand side of the road. It's an adjustment, to be sure. The scenery is amazing. Especially by the time you get near Kaikoura; mountains on the left, Pacific Ocean on the right. The water is an iridescent blue.

Kaikoura itself is, well, let's face it, it's a tourist trap. But it's still a beautiful place with plenty of legitimate history, a gorgeous coastline and a tonne of things to see and do.


We spent an afternoon at the Kaikoura Winery, sipping a variety of wines, snacking on fresh cheeses and looking out over the coast. Fog would occasionally roll in on the peninsulas around us... then disappear as quickly as it came. We bought a couple of bottles of wine to keep us entertained tonight.

Jeff says he finally feels like he is "in a different country" now that we've left the city and the scenery is unlike anything he's seen before. And because all the cars are on the opposite side of the road.

Leaving Christchurch

All we wanted was breakfast. Not an enormous, arduous task. Think again.

Turns out, everything is closed on Sundays. Everything. We found a Starbucks open on Cathedral Square. And a McDonald's in Hornby. That's about it. No restaurants. No coffee shops. No grocery stores. So, yes, we ended up at McDonald's. I am ashamed. But full.



On the way out of town, we stopped for a look at the International Antarctic Centre. It's just outside of the airport. It's the last stop for most explorers before they head for the South Pole. The blue penguins are a hoot. We got to see a feeding. Seemed like only two of them, "Popo" and "Bagpipes" managed to get any of the fish! The Centre also has a room that simulates what it's like on the Antarctic continent. Complete with wind chill machine, igloo and man-made snow storm. We didn't stick around for the storm.

KiwiSpeak

It's fun to hear Kiwi English again. Take away = Carry out. Give Way = Yield. Way Out = Exit. They're not big differences. But just enough to make you notice.

New Zealand, by the way, is pronounced "Nyoo ZEHL-end."

Seals and Rocks

At the very end of the Kaikoura peninsula, the seals have coalesced into a huge colony. They've taken over a huge area of rocks that mostly disappear at high tide and, at low tide, stretch hundreds of yards out into the ocean.

They just sit and sun themselves. They're fairly entertained by the gawking tourists.