Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
aloha from Taupo!
so where have i been...Raglan, Whitianga,Mt.Manganui,Rotorua,Taupo
Auckland: my last day in Auckland i met up with Nell, a super sweet girl from Auckland, who i met in the cook islands with her friends. she was kind enough to show me a little bit outside auckland as we went to Piha, a really nice beach on the west coast that is a popular surf spot and took a stroll, had lunch in a nice little neighbourhood called Titirangi and then i was back in auckland and ready to head off.
Raglan: took the bus from auckland. very cool little surf town, i would liken it to the tofino of australia. great surf beaches, caught a few waves. good times. definitely #1 spot i'd hope to get back to right now, very sweet little spot. stayed at the raglan backapackers which was a very cool, laid back hostel. cheap board rentals. i was told the water would be cold but it wasnt that bad...havent run into anyone thats surfed vancouver island in the winter!
Whitianga: this little place is on the coromandel peninsula.pretty quiet little place but beautiful area. first night i was there i went with some people from the hostel to Hot Water Beach, this is where you dig yourself a hole in the sand on the beach and it is heated from natural hot spring water from the ground.very cool spot. digging isnt easy though so we just joined one massive 'hot tub' some people had already made and just lounged about. next day i rented a mountain bike a went back over (on a 1 min. ferry) to the side of the bay where the hot water beach was but i went to a place called Cathedral Cove. Its a park that has one of the largest sea caves in the world. it was pretty damn big, nice beaches too. hung out there for a bit and swam. the bike ride was an hour each way with a lot of ups and downs...basically it was hot and a solid workout. that and the mountain bike was a little dodgy...it had been around the block a few times for sure. going down some big hills on it was an interesting experience. got myself a bone carving from a local artisan...its a spiral shape called a 'koro' and a little fern etched into it...supposedly means peace,tranquility, new growth...etc. was off on the bus to Tauranga and 745 the next morning.
Tauranga/Mt.Manganui: Originally my plan was to head to mt.manganui to check out the surf there but i heard back from Marius, an austrian guy with a van i met in auckland, he was already in mt.manganui and was wanting to head to rotorua.he said he'd wait for me so i took the bus to tauranga where he picked me up and we hiked mt.manganui which gave amazing views of the area, then we headed for rotorua. having personal transportation is obviously much better and more flexible than the bus. the great thing is that Marius also has no set plan so we're just working our way south going wherever we want. off to rotorua.
Rotorua: this is the geothermal 'wonderland' as they call it of NZ. the sulphur makes the whole area smell like rotten eggs...quite a large number of ppl actually inhabit it. the vans a little cramped for 2 so i still get cheap hostel rooms. went to a hostel called the funky green voyager.another pretty chill hostel. we took a drive out to a place called Waiotapu where theres a lot of geothermal activity. trying to find the free stuff which isnt always easy. the tourist place is Wai-o-Tapu that has geysers and bubbling thermal pools etc. Right by there though you can check out some mud pools off the side of the road. it was interesting. a big steaming pool of mud that boils and bubbles. Marius had gotten some local advice about a hot and cold river just down the road as well. just off the side of the road over this little wooden bridge you pull over and go down a short path to this swimming hole where to streams meet. the first thing you see however is a sign warning not to put your head under water due to the danger of contracting amoebic meningitis through your nasal cavity! anyways, we went for a swim which was great because the water getting in was very warm. you have the hot water stream coming under the bridge and the cold water river running through the back of the swimming area. there are also hot pockets where hot water comes up through the ground. it was a nice free tourist experience that not many people know about.
Taupo: so we left for Taupo the next day. Marius showed up at my hostel with two lady hitchhikers from england who were going to taupo as well. so off we went maing the short drive to Taupo, home of lake Taupo, the largest lake in the southern hemishphere. found a hostel to stay at, the Rainbow lodge, good mix of laid back people. Took a walk to the Waikato river which was crystal clear and Huka falls. Tha falls were quite amazing.The river narrows into about a 30ft wide channel creating some pretty intense rapids that end in a short but powerful waterfall. walking back along the trail, we ran into Sonja and Steffi,two awesome german girls i had hung with in auckland, they were working there way back to auckland after being in a van around the south isle. Being in Taupo our plan was to hike the Tongariro Crossing the next day (today) which is considered the nicest one day hike in NZ. But of course we picked up an 18 case of Tui and made some friends at the hostel and i wound up with about 3hrs of sleep. Not enough to complete a 7 hour hike. So today i've just been chillin', booked another night at the hostel after we arranged with a couple from Liverpool to take 2 cars to the hike tomorrow, to have one at the start and one at the end to avoid paying for a shuttle. Other than that i just went down to the lake with some people from the hostel and swam and relaxed in the sunshine....far from the unusual march snow back home!
so tomorrow, fingers crossed, its the Tongariro Crossing, (a major set of Lord of the Rings for all you fantasy card fans still living in your mothers basement)
...then its off to the Hawkes Bay region.
- comments