New Zealand - The North Island

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The North

Refreshed/hungover from our stay in Blenheim we set off on our 11 day tour of the North Island. It didn't start off too well as we battle Wellington traffic only to find the Lonely Plant's idea of good location and facilities turned out to be a car park with a plug socket.

We found a place to stay in Wellington and explored the city which included: Te Papa Museum (good place to visit with it's very own pickled colossal squid); and a Chile planning session in a lovely cafe (how exciting!).

We moved on out into the country side again and stopped at a very nice Top 10 campsite in Wanganui which came with our very own river view and 2 pet ducks. We undid the tranquil mood by taking a very windy road north - stopping off at a Maori Pa (an old hill fort) on the way. The road was fun with lots of "arrgghhh ravine!" and general relationship challenging advice from both pilot and co-pilot.

We stopped off at the Tongariro National Park with it's stunning volcano backdrop, which was something else, and although the snow meant that doing the Tongariro Crossing walk was out it did mean that Mt. Doom had a very nice snow cap. We also took a ski life up one of the mountains and had a hot chocolate at the top. Will even managed to construct a 10cm snow man! We spent a further day walking around the icy scrub land in the National Park, taking in a few waterfalls, one of which had spray that turned to snow as it hit the bottom.

Next stop Rotorua which included: hitting a few golf balls into Lake Taupo, visiting a Thermal Park full of geysers and mud pits, a night in the Novotel for a bit of luxury (and to see the deciding State of Origin Game on Sky), going to a traditional Maori hangi. The evening had its own highlights as it was a little akin to a comedy club when sitting at the front may not be the best idea - which we went ahead and did anyway. In return for this blunder Will got to face the Maori warrior's welcome dance (shouting and waving a big stick in a threatening manner), and undertake a non convincing Hakka, while Tory got to practice a traditional poi dance live on stage. We also saw our first highly entertaining sheep shearing show at the Agradome.

We headed up to Auckland and stopped at Hobbiton on the way up - no photos follow as we signed a waver not to post any - but it was ace, especially as it was all set up for filming The Hobbit. We passed through Auckland briefly (enough time to get freaked out by the wind swaying the Auckland Tower) and up to The Poor Knights Island for a stop of cold water diving for Will. The dive was okay and the company (DiveTutukaka) were great. The highlight was an underwater arch which was full (i.e thousands and thousands) of blue fish - stunning with the sunlight coming in from above - plus more snapper and kingfish.

Guilty pleasures: buying session 2 West Wing from Kmart for $10.

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Photos

Big Squid
Close encounters of the pickled kind.

Victoria Ave
Tory looking embarrassed after stopping a line of traffic at the crossing when all we wanted was to take a picture next to the sign!