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From Waitomo, we drove to Rotorua, famous for its geothermal landscape - geysers, mineral pools, stinky hot mud pools. It has it all. In Maori legend, Rotorua owes its thermal attractions to the Te Arawa tribe leader who stood on Mt Tongaririo in order to claim the surrounding land. He almost died at the top from the icy wind and cold so to save himself, he sent a prayer to his sisters who responded by sending fire demons to his aid. These demons cut across the ocean, surfacing in three places including Rotorua, freed him and then left a geothermal trail where they had travelled.
It was a beautiful and sunny day so we decided to visit the Te Puia Maori village. We had a lovely and very informative day visiting a carving and weaving school, the Nga Mokai-a-Koko mud pool, the kiwi house as well as enjoying a traditional music and dance performance and witnessed a true Haka! We also visited the Pohutu geyser which erupts around 20 times a day. We then had a look around some gift shops before heading to the Polynesian spa, which opened its first bath house in 1882. There are 7 mineral pools you can relax in (both alkaline and acidic waters) to soothe the muscles and improve the skin. It was very relaxing and enjoyable and a great way to end the day.
From Rotorua, we headed on a long journey to the Bay of Plenty, stopping at the lovely deluxe seaside town of Mount Maunganui. It is a beautiful spot in the foothills of Mount Mauao. We had a walk and a little sit in the sun before heading down the Pacific Highway coastal road which traces the beautiful coastline to Hawke's Bay. We stopped for lunch at the beach in Matata before heading inland driving the windy mountain road from Opotiki to Gisborne which was beautiful...if not a little slow!
Gisborne was the first landing point of James Cook in New Zealand and there are lost of statues and models of his boat 'The Endeavour' around town. Other than that, there isn't much to see or do, so we stayed one night before moving on the next day to Napier, down the coast. Now Napier is really lovely. It is famous for its art deco buildings which were created after an earthquake obliterated the city in 1931. We took a walking tour of the city centre to see the great architecture and took some lovely photos. It was quiet to say we are in the summer season but we were joined throughout the day by passengers from the cruise ship Volendam - Holland -America line (which we spookily also saw leaving Sydney) so we weren't alone. We also fitted in a round of mini-golf and I won by quite a margin so was rather pleased with myself! :o)
Next stop, Taupo which sits on Lake Taupo, the largest lake in Australasia and bigger than Singapore! We had beautiful weather and had a stroll round town before supermarket shopping (and getting excited in a new one called Pak-and-Save as you do save lots more than going to Woolworths!) and then we had a relaxed evening at the holiday park, chatting to our Dutch neighbours (well me listening, understanding 80% then not being able to respond), a lovely dinner and a great sleep in a good bed!
I never thought I would miss sleeping in the back of our 4x4 but at least you knew what you were getting every night. Here you never know - hard, soft, lumpy, springs in your back, no springs at all, too narrow, nice and wide, - you name it, we have had it all and my back is suffering for it. I even bought a hot water bottle to tuck down my trousers to ease the pain - Grandma Helena is in the house and in need of a chiropractor!
From Taupo we drove a few hours south to Tongariro National Park where we stayed at base camp in preparation for our attempt at the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a challenging 19.4 km crossing. The next day we were up early and at the base of the mountain and ready to start the walk at 7.45am. It was a fantastic walk and we had beautiful weather so the views were amazing.
We started by climbing the Mangatepopo valley to the saddle between the active volcanoes of Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngaurohoe. We then travelled across South Crater, then climbing to the Red Crater, the highest point at 1886m on the track. We then started the descent down the Emerald Lakes (a group of water filled explosion craters), over Central Crater and to the Blue Lake (an old vent). We then sidled around North Crater past the Ketetahi Hut and the Ketetahi Hot Springs, ending up walking through native forest to the end. It was tough in some parts, up hill the knees were burning, on the descent it was the toes :o) It took us just over 6 hours (inlcuding food and drink stops) so we were pretty pleased as they say it takes between 7 and 9 hours. It was a fantastic feeling to have seen so many beautiful naturally made craters and lakes along the way and we had a real sense of achievement as we 'crossed the finish line'.
As a celebration of a tough day's walk, we checked in to the Chateau Tongariro which is a beautiful castle at the bottom of Mt Ruapea and took full advantage of the lovely hotel, the delicious bath and great food in the restaurant. It was a lovely change from a holiday park and well deserved. The bed was fantastic and so big and we slept perfectly.
The next day, we had a lovely breakfast (stocked up on a 'full english') before heading on a half day journey to Wellington. There wasn't much to see on the journey down once we had passed the beautiful mountain roads so we got to Wellington around mid-afternoon and our mini nightmare started as:
1) We couldn't find any accommodation AT ALL as ACDC were playing and everything was fully booked so we had to drive 1.5 hours north again (the same route we had just come down) to stay in a motel
2) The weather was really bad and rained all day on Sunday so we had to stay inside for most of the day, visiting the Te Papa museum which was great and really interesting and going to the cinema to see Invictus which was also enjoyable. We have zero photos of this town as the weather was so rubbish
3) I lost the mobile phone somewhere and even re-tracing steps and asking everyone in sight, we couldn't find it and then....
4) We got the car towed! We parked on some unused land where there were no signs at all that you couldn't park there so between 7pm on Sunday when it was still there and then at 6.30am on the Monday when it was gone, the nasty men had come and taken it...not any of the others parked there just ours! Luckily, a company opposite where open at that time and called for us and very kindly took Max to pick it up and try to get to the ferry terminal on time to get the ferry across to Picton. I was sat in the hostel as I was getting the plane acoss due to my boat allergy and hoping and praying he had managed to get there on time.
All in all, our stay in Wellington was memorable for all the wrong reasons so I'm glad we are moving islands and heading to see what the South can offer us.
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