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Hi everyone,
We have quite a bit to catch you up on beginning from our adventures in the North island. We had 2 days in Wellington which is quite a big city for New Zealanders but nothing compared to English standards. We spent a couple of hours in the National Museum Te Papa as we strolled around re-teaching ourselves on how volcanoes and earthquakes are formed. The Maori art was interesting for about 10 minutes and then we both admitted to each other we really aren't arty people, were a little bored and decided to leave, but not before grabbing a pie first!
We also spent some time looking at the Government buildings in Wellington and took some pics of the interesting Beehive building, no explanation needed for its name. We left Wellington and drove on to Tongario National Park which is where one starts the Tongario Crossing. The crossing is one of the most famous walks in the country and meant to be one of the most stunning so we were really looking forward to it. We packed our day bags with warm clothes and lots of choccie as we had a 6 hour walk up a mountain ahead of us but we were both in motivated spirits. After a steep 2 hr climb the weather deteriorated massively and we were faced with nothing but a very strong wind and lots of hail which are not the best conditions for trekking alongside a mountain ridge. Unfortunately we had to turn back with very sad faces :(
We continued on to Talpo which is set around the biggest lake in New Zealand and is really beautiful. Talpo is a cool little place with lovely lakeside views and cafes and pubs. We camped on the road side in a lovely scenic look out point and enjoyed a super bottle of wine which a lovely German couple had given us in return for a lift back to their car.
The following day i did a 12,000 feet sky dive. I wasn't nervous at all only really excited until it came to the point when my instructor said 'time to jump Beth and i looked down and thought "Arghhhh!!!" It was so incredible, plummeting through air at 200kph gives you such a buzz and i'd recommend it to anyone.
Later on in the afternoon we made our way to Rotorua and yes its true what they say about Rotorua, you definitely smell the place long before you see it. Rotorua is on the tourist trail for its geothermal activity (underground) We booked ourselves into a camping ground as we were in desperate need of a shower after a couple of nights on the road and were very happy to hear that the campsite had its own hot spas so we had an afternoon of R & R. We spent the evening at a traditional Maori village called Mi tae for a Maori dinner and entertainment evening. Maori means 'people of the land' and they are the indigenous people of New Zealand. The evening commenced with a stroll through the forest where the Maori guys came up the river in a canoe chanting and singing which was followed my a concert / educational performance where we we were taught about the Maori traditions, customs and values. It was really interesting and thoroughly enjoyable. The last part of the evening was dinner and we were well fed with the traditional meal of Hangi where the food is cooked underground for 3 hrs, all i can say is it was delicious.
The following day we walked around another Maori village then wet to the Polynesian spa for another day of R and R - what true backpackers we are!!! On our last day in Rotoroa we went to Wai O Tapu, where we saw Lady Knox geyser erupt and walked around for an hr admiring the many many geothermal features (boiling mud pools, hot springs, geysers etc)
The afternoon saw us move on to Waitomo and a couple of hours later we were inside one of the biggest cave sin NZ. We saw lots of glow worms and other cave features and it was pretty cool. Waitomo consists of nothing else other than caves so after our trip we promptly left and mad our way to the Coramandel Peninsula. We had a couple of days here so we did lots of walks, went horse riding which was good fun (although not for Rich's groin, i've never seen a better impression of John Wayne!!!) and spent some time at Hot Water Beach and cathedral Cove. Hot Water Beach was really cool as the beach is heated from underground through Geothermal activity so hot water seeps through the sand and if you dig a hole big enough you can create your own little hot spring. (Bliss!)
Having covered quite a few different places on the Peninsula we made our way to Auckland. It was really strange entering a big city and seeing so many cars and people after having been in rural areas for the majority of NZ, or tiny little towns. NZ has a total population of 4 million and 1 million of them live in Auckland. One of my mums good friend has a sister in Auckland who very kindly said we could stay with her for a couple of days so we headed out to New Lynn ( a suburb of Auckland) We had a really lovely evening with Elizabeth and enjoyed a yummy homemade dinner before going to sleep in a real bed as opposed to mattress's in a car - what a treat. The last couple of days Rich and i have been chilling out and sorting ourselves for our next 7 weeks in South America. Auckland doesn't have any big sites so we have spent our days wondering around the shops, in the cinema and washing our clothes. Last night Elizabeth treated us to a meal in a British pub, Rich was delighted when he received a real pint (not some poxy NZ "small' pint and his meal of beef and Yorkshire pudding arrived, Judith and Ian you'll be pleased to know he had not lost his Northern roots. We'd just like to say thanks again to Elizabeth for being so kind and hospitable during our few days with her.
This afternoon we are going for a drink with Helen, a friend from Uni then Sunday will see us at Auckland airport as we depart for Santiago. We have really loved NZ, especially the South island and i have to say its definitely more stunning, however we are really excited to be moving on to a new Continent, with a whole new language (lets hope my teach yourself Spanish in 2 weeks has done some good) new food and a new culture.
We hope you are all well back home, Rich shall update you from South America shortly although we shall be in very rural areas in Peru for a while so there may be a delay.
Lots of love Beth and Rich
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