Nomads Auckland on the road with Stray Travel – part 1
I work at Nomads Auckland Backpackers Hostel and I’m lucky enough to currently be on a Stray backpacker Bus from Auckland to Christchurch… if you’ve ever wondered what’s in store for you on a Stray Travel trip then I’ll be keeping you posted on what I’ve been up to and where the Stray Bus stops on it’s way to Christchurch from Auckland.
Stray Backpacker Bus | Auckland To Christchurch
Day 1
As with many of the backpacker bus providers around New Zealand your travel from a destination starts first thing in the morning. I stayed at Nomads Auckland Backpackers Hostel the night before my bus rolled out and fortunately for me this hostel has a wicked coffee shop called ‘Holy Beans’ two doors down from it, so although we had to be up and ready for the bus by around 7.30am I managed to get my coffee fix before getting on it.
As I exited Nomads Auckland I was greeted by a wall of orange with a big white stencil on the side of it saying ‘Stray’. Stupidly the first thing I said to our driver who was poised by the entrance of the bus was ‘Is this the Stray bus?’ which after careful consideration now seems like a stupid question for that moment in time. First impressions of our driver were great. His name is Nick and he striked me as a guy with a wicked sense of humour, which from what I’d heard from other backpackers was one of the reasons people speak so highly of Stray Travel.
As the time got closer to 8am our driver (Nick) did a final count before closing the doors and introducing himself to the whole group over the built in bus tannoy. From here we headed to a few other pick up points around Auckland city before heading out to our first stop ‘Mount Eden’ which is the remnants of a long dormant volcano. This was only a brief stop but has probably one of the best views of Auckland city and the surrounding area. We then headed to Strays main office to have a formal introduction about the company and how the Stray bus passes worked before heading out of the city.
Our first overight stay was to be Hahei which is located in the Coromandel Peninsula. After driving for about an hour out of Auckland city the scenery started to change dramatically from that of residential properties to open countryside. When we reached the Coromandel we stopped for lunch and got supplies for the night ahead as we were told that there weren’t many convenience stores in Hahei itself. From then on we headed into the hills of the Coromandel Peninsula. The scenery all the way to Hahei was stunning with sweeping hills covered in thick rainforest. When the bus reached the eastern coast I was greeted by a stunning blue ocean. Shortly afterwards we reached Hahei.
Unfortunately due to extreme weather conditions I was unable to go through with the first of my arranged activities which was a four hour guided tour by sea kayak around Haheis surrounding coastline which I had been told is supposed to be one of the best places to kayak in New Zealand. Instead I decided to hike from Hahei to a place called Cathedral Cove. The views all along this coast were incredible so although I was slightly disappointed that I wasn’t able to kayak I was not too disappointed. That night we stayed at the ‘Hahei Holiday Resort’ which was one of the very few places you can stay in Hahei. Stray Travel sorted all the accommodation for everyone in advance, which wasn’t an easy task considering our bus was 40+ people.
That night the whole group had dinner together. We cooked a massive BBQ in true Kiwi fashion and along with our driver we all had food and drinks until it got late. Then everyone gradually went to bed to prepare for our next day.
“Nomads Auckland on the road with Stray travel – part 2″ coming soon!
Adam
Related posts:
