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It has been a while since we last blogged but we now have wifi in Rotorua, New Zealand, so it's time to catch up!
Sunday 22nd August / Monday 23rd August
Sunday was our last morning in Aitutaki and so we spent time at our favourite places before we were due to fly. We had brunch in our favourite cafe, the Koru cafe - excellent pancakes. Following that we spent the rest of our morning relaxing on Oatu beach overlooking the beautiful lagoon. Sadly time came to go to the world's smallest airport, Aitutaki, and fly to Rarotonga. We had a small delay at Rarotonga and so we had pizza at a nearby restaurant (Rarotonga has nothing on Aititaki!).
We then flew Rarotonga to Auckland, emerging from the airport into cold Auckland where we were picked up and taken to an apartment near the airport. The confusing thing about today was that we crossed the date line and so it was Sunday and Monday (we lost 22 hours)!
Tuesday 24th August
Our first proper day in New Zealand. We took a beautiful scenic drive from Auckland to the Coromandel along stunning coastal roads (where we stopped for pics of course!). We stopped at the town of Thames for chips and milkshake. But the real fun began when we reached the Driving Creek Railway (DCR). The DCR, in the Coromandel, is a miniature railway built by the renowned potter Barry Brickell. The railway goes through some beautiful land and overlooks amazing scenery. This is Barry's life's work and the team that work there are restoring the native flora and fauna and helping protected endangered native animals. It's an inspiring place. Plus the people are lovely - they announced that we were on honeymoon in front of the rest of the passengers, threw confetti over us (the 'holes' from hole punching!) and gave us a gift and a signed postcard from Barry!
The views at the top of the DCR were incredible and we saw native birds (and some cheeky British birds) feeding. We then drove to Hahei, stopping at Whitianga for supplies on the way, on pretty roads via Kuaotunu Beach. We arrived at Bella Vista, which indeed had beautiful views - probably the most stunning views we've ever enjoyed from a place we have stayed before.
Wednesday 25th August
We woke up to lovely weather in Hahei and walked to Cathedral Cove via Gemstone Bay, Stingray Bay and Mares Leg Cove. This is a very beautiful area, we absolutely loved our time Cathedral Cove. In the afternoon we headed over to Hot Water Beach - where we enjoyed a gorgeous steak sandwich (John) and yummy pancakes (Nicola) in a cafe. We also met Rex, a very cute Jack Russell, who lives at the cafe and brought John a bone (we cleared up the misunderstanding and John was swiftly brought the steak sandwich he had ordered!).
When we got back to Hahei we took a walk on the beach as a storm started to come in. During the storm we spent time in the house, watching and listening to the heavy rain and wind by the lovely fire - it was very relaxing.
Thursday 26th August
After a long drive through the mountains from Hahei we arrived in the fragrant Rotorura (sulphur - smells like rotten eggs!). Steam rises from the ground in the geothermally (new word?) active Rotorua and it smells! We had lunch at Freos for burger and chips. Then Nicola had a 'sundae' which consisted of microwaving a cookie and dolloping a watery looking Mr Whippy splurge into a polystyrene container in an alleged ice cream parlour - it wasn't as nice as it may sound! :)
Following lunch, we took a Duck Tour, which is an amphibious World War II vehicle painted yellow. The duck tour showed us the sights of Rotoura on land and water, as we travelled into a couple of the lakes (the blue lake and Okataina). The tour was excellent - our guide, Grant, got the right mix of information and fun. We were given 'quackers' (small beaks that quacked when blown into) and were encouraged to quack and the poor passers by! We also met Abdul on the tour - an eccentric Pakistani doctor who lives in Las Vegas - who spent the tour determined to see a geyser despite being told it wasn't part of the tour!
We went to the gift shop after the duck tour and bought a fluffy Kiwi... And after that had dinner.
Friday 27th August
Today is Friday! We went to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. We really enjoyed the colourful geothermal sights - especially the bubbling mud pools (including New Zealand's largest bubbling mud pool) and the Lady Knox Geyser, which we saw erupt. There were three walks, the third was the best - you could really get in among the thermal areas, volcanic craters and hot bubbling waters. The colours of the pools were really vibrant, including red, green, yellow and orange. There was also a lime green pool and (Nicola's favourite) an orange edged pool called Champagne Pool (which is apparently world famous!).
In the afternoon we went to a coffee shop and looked at our wedding photos online! Our brilliant wedding photographer, Nina, had emailed us a link to the finished photos. They are incredible and we had a brilliant afternoon looking through them and remembering our happiest day! We finished the day by eating pizza and are looking forward to a day tomorrow filled with native maoris and kiwis! :)
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