The big city of Auckland!

With Haka Kapa Festival at Tauranga, geothermal action in Rotorua, the sleepy small Orewa behind us, we are now in the only really big city in New Zealand - Auckland!

The Kapa Haka Maori festival in Tauranga was really something... Tribes/teams battling against each other in traditional maori performing arts [singing and dancing]! There was a really special warm atmosphere there and really amazing! We were blown away by the skills of the maoris! The festival is only organized once every two years, so we were lucky to attend!

Rotorua was our next stop... There we soaked up the atmosphere and smelled the sulphur air (smelling like rotten eggs)! We walked along the geothermal area of Wai-O-Tapu (meaning Sacred Waters) and saw the supposedly "world famous" champagne pool, geysers, bubbling mud, steaming ground! Wow!

Orewa, about 30 kilmotetres north of Auckland was next in turn. The sleepy town had nice beaches and pretty views!

This morning we returned our silver bullet Nissan in Auckland! Help, we are without a car! It feels really strange. We have been used to going anywhere, anytime easily without having to carry our heavy backpacks... But I guess we will get used to being without a car pretty soon... Today we are meeting up with Krista & Ansku! We are all sharing a room for four persons at a hostel right in the centre of town! We are going to have a night out and both today and tomorrow soak up all the attractions in the city...

Tonga is our next destination! We are jumping on the plane the day after tomorrow, staying a week at Tonga, then coming back to Auckland and spending a few days up north. Then it is time to move on to another part of the world - South America, with Santiago [Chile] as our first destination!