Blogs from Hahei, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

Saturday, August 1st At 8am we woke to a beautiful sunny day. By 9am it was raining. At 10am when we arrived at Tony and Siubhan's hostel it was sunny again. We all got into their little Suzuki jeep and headed to Reglan, a holiday town on the west coast about 50km from Hamilton. The drive was beautiful, but as we got closer to Reglan the weather deteriorated. We drove through town and spotted loads of kite-surfers frolicking in the waves. They must've been freezing out there! By the time we got to the beach it was raining a little and very windy. Undaunted by the terrible weather we donned our rain-coats and set of for the beach. It's a wonderful big beach and we'd love to come back in summer. Today, however, was not a ... read more

Quick one - Napier Gannets very cool and smelly. Went to National Aquarium, walked along Napier beach, had nibbles with hosts every night and far too much wine (again!) Next travelled to Rotorua, cultural central for Mauri heritage. Had 3 days and nights here, in that time I did the following things: Geothermal wonderland, glass blowing, Mauri cultural evening, Kiwi Hatchery, Wildlife sanctuary, town tour, museum, NZ Mauri arts and crafts centre, walk on lake, (tried desperately to get flight on helicopter to volcano, but as on own and business slow I didn't get chance...gutted!), volcanic valley hike and bit of shopping. Amazing place, it was great to learn about the culture, history, mythology etc. from Mauri people directly and to see that there are palces where the skills are taught to future generations. Highlight was ... read more

We picked up our silver bullet car juicy Lucy and headed off on the roads. I was first up to drive - wooo hoo! They drive on the left here but have some dodgy give way system at intersections, like you have to give way to the people turning right. it confuses me so I tend to ignore it! ha ha! will see how it goes! We headed along the coastal road and had a lunch stop off at Thames (and yes it had a river but it's not quite as large as London!) we then headed up on the windy hilly roads which was fun - Lucy doesn't like hills by the way but we understand! - so we had a quick stop in at coromandel and then Whitanga and headed to Hot Water beach ... read more

I slept comfortably. There had been some heavy rain overnight but that, together with the sounds of waves washing the beach provided a very soporific backdrop to my dreams. I awoke at 07h00 and continued dozing for a further 30 minutes before stepping out into my chilled mobile bedroom. I have to admit that this morning’s wash was very pleasant - hot water from the van! Breakfast was an unusual affair as this morning I had no need to study the map for the day ahead. I had already decided to don the walking boots and spend the day exercising. After filling the van with fresh water, disposing of the rubbish and emptying the grey water at the dump station, I headed off - stopping 100 yards up the road on the beach. Hahei and Cathedral ... read more

heute morgen ging es um halb 9 weiter, wieder von der halbinsel runter. auf dem weg mussten wir an einem alten kauri tree umarmen, das macht man hier wohl so,um glueck auf der reise zu haben, und ihn so begruessen, wie es so nach maori sitte ist, d.h. mit der nase 2 mal stubsen!! :-) danach besichtigten wir auf dem weg noch einen imensen wasserfall und kamen dann abends in dem surferparadies RAGLAN an. hier hat selbst jack johnson sein haus. ist zwar jetzt nicht gerade hochsaison, aber es waren trotz 14 grad wassertemperatur recht viele surfer im meer. man kann hier , einem der top surfplaetze der welt ,naemlich wohl so 10 meter wellen ( in der laenge) reiten.nach dem einkauf im ort im supermarkt fuers kochen am abend ging es zu unserem hostel. dies ... read more