Mercury Bay-Waitomo 19-23/2

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We boarded the kiwi bus which took us to Maun Gawhau (Mt Eden) which gets 360 degree views of Auckland. After taking in the views we headed over the coromandel ranges to cathedral cove. Here we took a nice walk to a beautiful beach before arriving at mercury bay. We arrived late in the afternoon so we had a group meal of all you can eat spagetti bolognese and spent the night in the hostel bar playing pool and cards with people off the kiwi bus. It was a really good night.

The next day we were planning on a beach day but due to the bad weather we ended up going to a free art gallery and spending the day playing pool,darts and watching films. The weather cleared up a bit in the afternoon so we went out for a carvery tea.

Back on the bus agin to rotorua we stopped off at the Karangahake scenic reserve, where we did a walk that followed the river, croses over 2 swing bridges and goes through a 1 kilometre long railway tunnel. This was really fun as you had to walk down the tunnel in the dark and people off the bus were jumping out and trying to scare people. There were also glow worms on the ceiling of the tunnel which was quite cool.

When we got into rotorua we caught up with some people from mercury bay and then went out to the tamaki toours hangi and concert at night. We were picked up from our hostel and had to "row" the bus (our weka) out of town to a tribal village. There were four buses all having chosen a chief to represent them and the chief had to stand while the warriors intimidated them with weapons. One chief took an offering and then once the challenge was passed we were all welcomed into the village. The village was beautiful in some really nice woods. There was a carver, people training in weaponry and people singing. we then went into the main hall where we saw a concert of singing and dancing before going into the dining hall. There was a great spread and some really good food. The food was all cooked over volcanic rocks in a hole in the ground and covered up for a long time. The meat tasted like bbq from the smoke but was still soft and moist and there was lamb, chicken and fish and lots more. You could eat as much as you liked. We met some really good people and the night was finished off with some music from the Maori tribe that had entertained and fed us. Probably one of the best things we have dobne in NZ.

On the way to Waitomo we went to sheep sheering show which was quite enetertaining. When we got into waitomo we went for a walk and then rewarded ourselves with a beer and some food with people off the bus.

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Photos

waitomo walkway
kirsty and danielle