Kia ora!
The north island...
We are having a brilliant time in NZ!
After we left Waitomo we headed to Rotorua, which is know for its geothermal activity and it absolutely stinks because of the sulphur dioxide gas created by the activity! On the evening we went to a Maori village, it was really interesting and fun. They really embrace the Maori culture here which is nice to see. They next day we went to the geothermal park, we saw hot mud pools and geysers, this was fascinating to see. Paul also had a boiled egg cooked in one of the springs and we got to sit on hot rocks.
Next we went to Taupo for 2 days with a stop of at Huka falls. We stayed right by lake Taupo, its the largest lake in Australasia, it's absolutely massive! We just spent most of our time walking around there and going to pubs on the night. After Taupo we spent one night in river valley, we stopped off at Tongariro national park and did a two and a half hour walk with views of 3 volcanoes. This is where they did some filming for lord of the rings. We stayed at a lodge in the middle of nowhere at river valley and had to walk down a very sleep hill for what felt like hours! It was really cosy there, it had a log burning fire and a little bar. The only thing to do there was white water rafting which in the cold we didn't fancy, so we just spent the night at the bar.
We've spent the last 3 days in Wellington and we've really liked this city, especially Cuba street! It's like a mini Camden. We spent a whole day in the te papa museum (which is free) but it was that big we didn't get to go around it all. We also went in a cable car to the botanical gardens and went into the cater observatory so our brains have been overloaded with information while here. Last night we were woken by an earthquake! We've heard it was a 7 on the richter scale which is apparently quite big and only happen every 3 years. After what happened in Christchurch a few years ago, we were definitely scared for our lives.
We are now on the ferry travelling to Kaiteriteri in the south island (the real New Zealand, so we are told)
Kerri & Paul
XOXO