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So much to summarise into a Blog!! Where to begin, well our flight into Auckland went off without a hitch where we stayed in a hostel in the city centre which gave us a chance to stroll around and soak up the Friday night atmosphere. Pretty good and would have been tempted to go out on the lash however we had to be up early for a 5 hour bus journey up north to Kerikeri which is where my brother Pete lives.
Upon arrival in Kerikeri we were somewhat worried about the weather as it wasn't quite as warm we were hoping it to be probably because we were used to the extreme hot of Fiji! Little did we know however that despite it being closer to the equator, it was to be the coldest day we experienced in the whole of New Zealand!
Rotorua:
After a brief hello and goodbye from Pete, we picked up our car (which Pete kindly lent us for two weeks...Bloody Legend!!) and head on down to Rotorua which was a 5 hour drive. Immediately we were greeted with the smell of rotten eggs driving into the town due to its volcanic activity creating sulphur. This town is FULL of natural hot pools and spa's which take advantage of this fact. Supposedly the sulphur is good for your skin so we decided to check out one of the spa's. Big mistake at the beginning of a 2 week road trip as our towels smelt of rotten eggs from that day onwards!!
In our 2 days in Rotorua, one of them was spent on a day trip to White Island, New Zealand's biggest underwater active volcano which has a summit above water for people to walk around. Sounds crazy? Well yes it was but amazing at the same time. After an hour boat ride we were beached upon what looked like a deserted island with a constant flow of steam rising from the middle of it. Very cool! Our tour guides walked us around the island and decked us out in hard hats and gas masks, taking us by the safest route that they knew of whilst pointing out the sights and sounds of the island. Some of which were boiling hot pools, mud pools, sulphur hills and (for the geeky geologist in me), some very interesting rock structures. The sulphur gases really can be quite strong and enough to make you cough badly! This aside though this trip for me was the highlight of New Zealand and I would recommend this to anyone who has the chance to go.
Wellington:
On our way down to Wellington from Rotorua, we passed by same amazing views of 3 active volcanoes which follow the same fault line as White Island. Check out the pictures! Upon arrival to NZ's capital, it became clear that this really is a buzzing little city that was all geared up for the release of the Hobbit (which we haven't seen yet).
This was to be where I spent my birthday which was a mix of film props, uphill trekking, cheap beer and flying food! Weta Cave is a production studio who are responsible for designing and manufacturing props and special effects for films such as Lord of the Rings, District 9, King Kong, Halo (to name a small few) and of course the Hobbit. We saw some very talented people here working away at the smallest detail which wouldn't even be picked up on film however they are such perfectionists that they wouldn't have it any other way. You have to admire the time and effort these people put in. We then made our way up to the top of Mount Victoria which overlooks the whole of Wellington which is a lot bigger than it lets on. Amazing views and just as well too for the amount of exercise we put in to get up there! We felt a beer was very much needed after that so we pitched up on the main street and sunk down a few pitchers. The night was then finished with a Tepanyaki meal where we had our food cooked in front of us and were entertained with trying to catch small morsels of food in our mouths! Dinner should be that entertaining all the time!!
Kaikoura:
Our next stop from Wellington was to be on the South Island. So we set off on the Interislander ferry which brought us into Picton, then drove down to Kaikoura which was about 2 hours from Picton with some beautiful coastal views along the way. Kaikoura is a sleepy little town famous for their Crayfish (NZ rock lobster), Kaikoura being the Maori word for "meal of crayfish". Needless to say we had some along with some Green rimmed mussels, Scallops, Paua (grey mush), Prawns and Blue Cod. Lovely!
In addition to great seafood there is also an amazing view of the first stretch of the Alpine mountains over the water as well as a Seal coloney and Whales. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any Whales however we got up close and personal to a dozey Seal which had decided to rest in the car park of the view point!
Christchurch:
From Kaikoura we drove down to Christchurch to spend an afternoon/night. What a sad sight the city centre is in. Even after two years they are still struggling with the renovation of the entire area either because of the damage caused or abandoned buildings due to being declared structurally unsafe. Amongt this desolate landscape, we stubbled across many rows of empty white chairs on a patch of grass. We later discovered that this was a memorial for all the people who died as a result of the Earthquake. Very sad. This had also clearly had a major impact on the tourism of the city and seems it's main attraction (a decorative church) was also a victim of the Earthquake.
Failing to find anything to do in Christchurch, we stumbled upon a Botanic Garden which seemed to have a sample of every tree species known to man! It also had a very colourful and scented Rose Garden which we walked around for a while taking in the different aromas it had to offer. There are some pictures for this in our picture section if you are interested.
Due to the length of this blog we will start another one for our Queenstown and Heading North stretch!.....
- comments
Pat Hughes hi you two, loved your blogs, sounds really interesting and exciting. So glad you're doing this trip. Missing you both very much. will call you when you are in Oz. 'til then stay safe and have fun. Love as always Mum/Pat xxxx