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10th July 2010
19 days in New Zealand and finally getting round to updating the blog. Apologies to all of you who have been chasing for an update. Still struggling to get photos uploaded so you may have to wait till i get back in early August to see all of them.
So what's been happening. We arrived on the 24th June and went straight into the centre of Auckland. I woke up the next day and found myself jumping 40 metres straight down on a bungy from the top of Auckland bridge. The bungy guy got me to shuffle to the end of a gangplank and because the bungy rope had already slithered off the edge i felt like i was being pulled over. I had to look up and smile and then leap.It was nearly 0 degrees and wet when i jumped but i swear that the adrenaline pumped about 35 degrees of heat into my body in a split second because i felt nothing but sheer exhilaration as I yahoo'd my way down. This was a present from my work mates so thank you guys. Also shopped and looked round the city and ended the day with a Indian takeaway for my birthday meal.
Katy and i then picked up a camper van. All the mod cons including toilet and shower as Katy is less of a camper and more of a glamper (glamorous camper). We headed off to Rotorua but stopped on the way to see Hobbiton and the new movie set for the Hobbit movie. That evening we went to a thermal park called Hells Gate and after walking round the steaming pools had a private mud bath and hot tub whilst watching the sun set. Absolutely fantastic, though it smelt like rotten eggs (I promise that was the sulphur not me!).
Headed off to Tongariro National Park which contains three major volcanoes including one which is active and can be walked over. Unfortunately, due to weather conditions (3 foot plus of snow) we were not equipped to do this even with help from a guide so had to miss out. Made up for this later in the trip when we drove back a week later and it was a clear blue sky and we had picture postcard views of Mt Tongariro, Ruapahu and Ngarahoe (apologies for any spelling mistakes).
Drove down to Wellington via Bulls, a very funny place as everything is named after a Bull. So the Police are the Consta-bulls and the library is called Reada-Bull and the restaurant was called Edi-Bull. I thought the primary schools motto should have been 'learn a load of Bullocks' but Katy was not amused. Passed through the Gumboot throwing capital of the world (this trip had all the sights i can tell you) and also went to see my old house in Tawa where i grew up. Stayed in Lower Hutt after a nightmare drive over the Gorge pass in the dark and the rain and in the middle of the cloud. Imagine steep windy roads with 100metre drops, no safety barriers and a 7metre long camper van that doesn't like steep hills and hairpin bends (and broken drawers that popped out at all the wrong times). This was made up for in the morning when we realised that the scenes from Rivendell in Lord of the Rings were shot in the Kaitoku National Park where we were staying.
Took the cable car to the top of the hill in Wellington and then walked back down through the beautiful botanical gardens.
At this point disaster kind of struck. We had planned to spend two weeks in the South Island and most of our prep for adrenaline events and sightseeing were based here, however we hadn't looked up the ferry prices beforehand. We got to Wellington and found it was going to cost us another $900 dollars for a return crossing. This was way beyond our budget contingency, a sum already stretched by the NZ specialtax on Diesel vehicles that had already shaved $200 off. We made the decision to stay in the North Island and to have a leisurely drive around the various coastlines.
First port of call was the Egmont National Park and the amazing Mt Taranaki. This is an almost perfect cone shape mountain covered in snow and we parked up near the base and walked to the ski centre part way up the mountain. It was cold, very cold, but lovely at the same time. Luckily for us it was also school holidays so we camped in the car park of the local school for free.
Drove to Stratford next, named after Shakespeare's home town and saw the Glockenspiel clock which re-enacts scenes from Romeo and Juliet with little figurines that pop out of the various doors in the tower. We then drove back across the country on something called 'The Forgotten Highway'. This was magical. We passed through a town so remote it declared itself a Republic and gets people to apply for passports at the local hotel before they pass though. Walked to Mt Damper falls, the second largest waterfalls in NZ and drove through something called the Hobbits Hole tunnel which has fossilised giant crabs in the walls. Discovered another tunnelby accident that was built to move sheep between two small towns when we went the wrong way (it's all tiny country lanes down the forgotten highway). This has a funny history because the locals sometimes throw a party in the tunnel which everybody comes to and then all the traffic has to wait for the party to finish before they can drive through (or join in!).
Arrived at Hastings on the opposite coast, visited the Silky Oak chocolate factory and then went straight up to Te Mata point for a cup of tea and a sunset view.
The next Day we drive to Napier and explored the historic Prison and walked round the art deco buildings which sprang up after the disastrous earthquake of the 1930's. The prison was actually quite scary as the conditions were very poor right up to the 1993. We even saw the place where all the hangings happened. What was wierd was that they buried really bad criminals in a standing up position in the prison courtyard as it was believed that this way their soul could never rest.
Drove to Gisborne via the Pacific Highway in the afternoon which was very fortunate as that evening they gave out a severe weather warning for the coast and then closed the highway to traffic. The next morning we drove over a gorge back towards Rotorua and through vast amounts of flooded fields with large floating tree trunks that had been swept out of the mountains by the storm the day before.
Katy and I stayed in Rotorua for two nights. The first night we went to Te Puia, a Maori settlement that is also home to one of the largest Geysers. We also saw some Brown Kiwis, some Maori dancing and spend the evening at a Hangi, a traditional Maori meal cooked in the ground. We ate Eel and Sweet Potato and various other things. I got to go on stage and do a Maori Haka with a bunch of Maori warriors.
The next day we went white water rafting. OMG, this was a Grade 5 route which included the world highest commercially rafted waterfall at 7 metres. It was awesome. The photos are amazing and will be up on the site as soon as i can get decent internet access.
We then drove to Wiatomo and went Black Water rafting in the Waitomo caves. This is less intense than white water rafting as it involves floating down a river in a rubber tube however it's just as scary asthe water is underground in the dark in a cave system. During the trip they took us into a large cave covered in glowworms. At least i thought i was getting a glowworm trip however it turns out the ones in our cave were glow maggots which turn into fungus gnat flies so i wasn't too impressed, especially after the sticky strings from one (like spider webs) got on my face.
This trip also included abseiling down a 27 metre hole into the earth, caving and then a 20 metre rock climb back out again. It was freezing cold but loads of fun. Katy looked very funny floating downstream out of control in her black innertube.
Last few days were spent on the Coromandel peninsula which turned out to be some of the most beautiful countryside and coastal area we had seen. We are planning to go to hot pool beach tomorrow. This is a tidal beach which has a hot spring underneath it. When the tide goes out the hot spring comes to the surface and you can dig your own spa pool in the sand and then relax for an hour or so before the tide turns. Looking forward to some chill out time after all the adrenaline rushes.
Sunset on the lookout at Cooks Beach tonight and then a well deserved sleep.
Hope you enjoyed reading about our New Zealand adventure. Off to South America next to see Chile and walk to Macchu Pichu.
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