The North Island by CarSeverný ostrov autom

The final leg of our cycling trip was New Zealand's North Island. Originally we wanted to cross it by bike as well, just like the South Island. Unfortunately, though, my Achilles tendon flared up, my foot swelled, and we simply couldn't move on because of it.

Kika let me rest at the hotel and decided to hike the Abel Tasman Coast Track on her own, one of New Zealand's most famous trails near Nelson. It runs along a gorgeous coastline, through beaches and lush rainforest, but timing it well is crucial. If you set out at the wrong time, the tide can catch you, and you'll either have to go around huge bays or won't be able to cross them at all. In the end, Kika only managed the first part of the trail, since worsening weather forced the local rangers to close several huts and campsites.

From Nelson we wanted to continue on our bikes once my foot improved a bit. But since it wasn't healing as fast as I'd hoped, we decided to drive across the North Island by car instead.

We rented the car in Wellington, New Zealand's capital and also the southernmost major city on the North Island. After three weeks in the wilderness, it felt strange to suddenly be in a city, and we took advantage of it right away with a nice Vietnamese dinner. We also spent New Year's in Wellington, the highlight of which was the fireworks. Half the city gathered at the harbor for it, but since Kiwis (New Zealanders) really do care about their environment, the fireworks themselves lasted all of about a minute. The National Museum was also lovely, we got a closer look at New Zealand's culture and history, and an even closer one at its flora and fauna. Even in the museum, you could feel the immense respect for nature that prevails here.

After New Year's, we loaded the bikes into the car and headed north. Our very first stop was the National Aquarium in Napier, where we saw seals, a kiwi bird, and plenty of species of fish.

The next stop was the iconic "luge" in the town of Rotorua. The luge is a track for little carts that you can ride down a hill on, yes, the safety standards are questionable at best. In Europe, no regulatory authority would probably deem it safe enough, and in America someone would sue the owner within a week of opening for bruising their knee. New Zealand, on the other hand, is the perfect place for something like this to still exist, looser regulations and down-to-earth people. If you're planning a trip to New Zealand, you really can't skip this.

I was still out of commission, but we decided to at least take a walk into Mordor, meaning up Mount Ngauruhoe within Tongariro National Park. I managed about half of it, and then Kika left me by a waterfall and ran the last stretch up the volcano on her own.

We hadn't originally planned this, but Kika insisted that since we suddenly had time thanks to the car, we absolutely had to go see the hobbit holes. In the end, they were more interesting than I expected, even though they're just an artificial film set. A far more interesting stop, though, was the next one, Hot Water Beach on the north of the island, where hot thermal water rises straight up through the sand. During low tide, locals and tourists dig small pits there that immediately fill with warm water, forming natural jacuzzis.

When your leg doesn't work, you have to work with your arms. So we explored the local Cathedral Cove (a beautiful beach with a natural tunnel) by kayak, where a bad leg doesn't matter. Thanks to that we found spots you can't reach on dry land, they were absolutely stunning, pure Caribbean.

In the north of the island we also visited a reserve with the legendary Kauri trees. They once covered a large part of New Zealand, but today only very few remain. The largest have trunks roughly 17 meters in circumference, and standing next to them you feel like an ant. Around this same area we also found a cave with glowworms, one of New Zealand's greatest natural attractions. When you find yourself in complete darkness and look up, it feels as though you're gazing at a starry sky. In reality, though, they're thousands of tiny glowing larvae.

In the end, we were glad we'd been forced to travel by car. Thanks to that, we saw far more places in the same amount of time than we ever could have covered by bike.

On the way home we had a short layover in Shanghai, and after another roughly twelve-hour flight we landed in Milan and made it safely home, where our apartment welcomed us with a pleasant ten degrees. After a New Zealand summer, that was quite the change.

Thank you for following our New Zealand trip with us. We hope you enjoyed this series, and we look forward to seeing you on our next adventure.