New Zealand - Week 4

Week 4 Nov 27 - Dec 3rd = Napier to Auckland


Our 1st destination upon leaving Napier was Whakatane, purely to catch a ferry across to White Island for a day-trip on the ACTIVE VOLCANO, sadly the sea conditions were too rough so we could not do this (we DID meet our first Swedish backpackers though, a lovely young couple who spoke better english than me!). Moving on to Rotorua made up for this disappointment though - it is a geothermal area with geysers (Pic 1), mud-pools (pic 2), even the rocks are hot... the sulphur smell is very potent even 5-10km outside Rotorua! A visit to the Buried Village of Tawawera (buried by a volcanic eruption in 1878, pic 3) is great experience along with the Te Puia attraction for Maori Cultural experience (pic 4), including the imposing HAKA dance!

After an overnight stay @ Kristin's Auntie/Uncle's in Tauranga (great to utilise their pool and talk Soccer with Kris's Uncle!) we headed up the Coromdal Peninsula to Cathedral Cove
(Pic 5; which I since learn is featured in the 2nd Narnia movie "Prince Caspian") and Hot Water Beach ....this is amazing, chemicals/minerals under surface cause the sand to get upto 60 degrees so ppl bring spades and dig holes at low tide to sit in and voila u have a hot-pool! (pic 6)
After this we decided to drive back to Auckland a day earlier and this concluded the road-trip..... I have to say Kristin had organised a brilliant schedule which enabled us to see so much of NZ's beauty in just under 4 weeks!

I stayed the next 2 weeks at Kris & her parents' house in Torbay (North Shore of Auckland), making a small trip alone upto Cape Reinga & another down to Hamilton to visit my Auntie's friends.... these form the next & final 2 blogs of my NZ Adventures!