Advertisement
Published: February 19th 2007
Edit Blog Post
I dig a hole
But no hot water Hello All
When we last spoke we were about to start our coach trip with stray. This entry covers a few different places on our way down to Taupo in the North Island.
First day we managed to get on the coach unlike some who were told it was full and simply had to stay another night in Auckland. So we were on our way out of Auckland or so we thought. Once on the motorway the coach appeared to be rocking. So much so that the police pulled us over and told our driver Morrie that it wasn't roadworthy. We got off at the next exit and sat in a BP for a couple of hours making ourselves at home reading the magazines without paying and getting to know other people on the bus. There's quite a mix, a few from England (Liverpool, London & Preston), some Irish, Germans and Scandinavians. From BP we went to a coach depot to pick up a new coach. Morrie had to have a lesson in and then we finally left Auckland. As we got away late we went pretty much straight to our first stop in Hahei. We did get one
Big log on bush walk (Raglan)
Once again I'm not responsible stop at a winery where we sampled various drinks, not just wine for about 80 pence. We had all opted for a group Barbie so we were split into teams for shopping. Me and Deb were put into team meat (the best one) but we were only allowed to spend $5 to feed 30 and team meat was only 5 people. This meant buying a lot of cheap sausages. We were staying at a campsite in Hahei where a lot of kiwis go on holiday themselves. We were supposed to go to Cathedral Cove for a walk (very nice views apparently) but it was closed as they were filming the new Narnia film there. The BBQ was really good and as an apology for the day not going to plan, stray bought us some beer. We got talking to more people over the BBQ where you tend to trade travel stories and tips for visiting places. We also got to eat more kumara.
The following day we did a quick stop at what is known as hot water beach where you can dig your very own hot water pool. Unfortunately it is tide dependent and it was too high!
Glow-worms
They glow in the dark honestly. Look like snot otherwise. We tried digging anyway with my jandals (kiwi slang for flip flops) but to no avail. We were off to Raglan on the west coast, a big surfing place but we opted for a free walk in the bush up a mountain. It's supposed to be easy according to our driver but it was really slippy and so was a lot harder than we thought. Debbie managed to get her legs covered in mud and probably fell over (I was in-front all the way). Then we battled for kitchen space to cook chilli. After that Debbie read and I watched England stuff the Ozzys at cricket. Later that night we had a late walk to see the glow-worms and attempted some pictures which were mostly just black.
The following day and more bad luck, the coach had a flat battery and we had to wait a couple of hours to get a break-down truck out. In the meantime me and Debbie had decided instead of just going to see the Waitomo caves (famous for glow-worms) we'd actually go for "Tuma Tuma Tubing". This meant getting very wet and very messy. There are over 300 chartered caves around Waitomo. We
Before Caves
Confident, dry, clean, happy went in a group of 9 including our 2 guides Mark and Jimmy. We had about 2.5 hours in the caves kitted out in a wet-suit. It was partly walking, partly crawling, squeezing, swimming and floating on an inflatable tyre to get through. It was really good fun and we saw huge amounts of glow-worms also finding out that they are cannibals where the newly hatched one will eat their siblings, ewwwwwwwww.
After getting back and showering we were back on the road to Rotorua also known as Vegas for some reason though I've no idea why. It's a place that smells of Sulphur (bad eggs) due to all the geothermic activity. We were pretty tired once there so we cooked and went to bed.
13th feb and we at last had a sleep in till 9am. We went for a stroll around the free geothermal pack where you can see bubbling mud pools and steaming lakes. At 1pm we were back on the bus and Morrie took us to a place where a hot water stream meets a cold water stream so you can just move around in the water until you find a comfortable temperature. From
After Caves
Deranged, wet, mucky, still happy there we headed to Taupo and checked in quickly because we'd both decided to do a
SKYDIVE!
Once at skydive Taupo we filled in a waiver saying something along the lines of if we die it's not their fault. Still wanting to do it we then watched a dvd of someone doing it which is an optional extra but we just opted for a 12,000 Ft drop and some photos. We waited for the first lot to go up and then it was our turn. My tandem partner was called Alex and Deb's was called Ollie. The one thing to remember is shape yourself like a banana! 10 of us squeezed into a tiny pink plane with me nearest to the door which was left open until we actually left the ground. 5000ft up and the instructions were repeated to us. At 12000 the door opens and I was the first to jump. When you stick your legs our the cold hit you but when you look down it doesn't seem real. There was a 45 second freefall and then the parachute opens and you get a good few minutes to admire the view of lake Taupo and the
Where's Wally
Steaming pools. Nice mountains (one of which is Mt Doom). To anyone thinking of doing it, do it there it's less than 90 GBP for a jump and some photos. Landing is easy by the way. Here's Debbie's take on it (I was told later that she was screaming) in italics:
We got put into blue jumpsuits and had our harness fitted. We had to wait for the tiny pink plane to come back down - then we were off, firstly we had to stand next to the plane with our jumping partner doing cheesy poses for the camera. Then 10 of us squeezed into the plane. It was a tight fit. I thought I would fall out of the open door so I was glad when it closed. We had really good views from the plane. Once Ollie strapped me to him I felt much happier. If I fell out at least I was now attached to someone with a parachute. Mike had to go first, then a few seconds later it was my turn. Too late to change my mind! I had to shuffle forward toward the open door, I half fell out of the plane, so I was Steaming Pool
They look inviting, but only for those who want to be soylent green soup! screaming I'm falling out of the plane. Ollie got us ready then the next thing we were free falling. I stopped screaming after a few seconds and managed to have a look around. Once the parachute was open we slowly descended. Ollie kept spinning us around to get 360 degree views. The landing was easy, all I had to do was put my legs up and land on my bum! I am definately glad I did it.
After jumping we went to an Irish pub for good meals (Bangers & Mash and Burger & Chips). Today's valentines day so we exchanged tacky cards and treated ourselves to pizza hut. We've been getting ready for the Tongariro Crossing tomorrow. A 17km walk across some mountains, one of which is Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings. It'll take between 6-8 hours and with changeable weather you've got to be ready for anything. We'll be up at 6.30am so an early night is needed. Hope everyone in the UK is enjoying the snow, while here we're still in the mid 20s!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.161s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 41; dbt: 0.0678s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Chris
non-member comment
Screaming!
I can still hear Debbie screaming! No, seriously I think you were both very brave to go skydiving. Something to tell the children in the future!! (I hope!!) Chris x