Blogs from Turangi, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

...where was I? Oh yes "Craters of the Moon" Lots of steamy holes and weird smells basically! Then onto Rotorua where we were staying for Tuesday night. First stop Te Puia, Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley. Yes, more steamy holes (but bigger and very muddy) and more weird smells (but much, much smellier!) Rotten sulphurous eggs pervades the air and not just in the Thermal valley. After we completed the tour (and very good it was too) we carried on into Rotorua to find our hotel. Nice place but as soon as you opened the window it wasn't fresh air that came flooding in. They say you get used to it! Tha night was spent sipping a few quality beers at a place called Craft Ales. Then an excellent steak before returning to the pub just to ... read more

Wir sind gegen 0830h aufgestanden, leider hat es sowohl in der Nacht als auch beim Aufwachen ziemlich geregnet. Ist allerdings im Laufe des Vormittags besser geworden. Nach dem Aufstehen hab ich mit einem Finnen geplaudert, der hinter uns geparkt und geschlafen hat. Ist so wie wir in der Nach zuvor auch mitten in der Nacht mit der Fähre angekommen. Gegen 10h sind wir in die Stadt gefahren und haben etwas außerhalb einen Parkplatz gesucht. Der Regen war da schon zu Ende, aber durch den starken Wind war es schon eher ungemütlich. Ursprünglich hatte ich geplant den Naturpark Zealandia zu besuchen, ein Freiluftgelände, wo versucht wird, Neuseeland auf dem Stand vor ca. 10000 Jahren zu reproduzieren. Wegen dem Regen hab ich diese Idee dann aber verworfen, und wir sind gemeinsam in die Stadt spaziert. Unser erster Stop ... read more

Hey all, As I told you, leaving Nananu was extremely difficult. The ride out of the community yet again brought a few tears to my eyes, leaving such a wonderful place. Not to mention all of the magnificent surrounding mountains and foothills that had given me a place to explore around by myself and with the group. That being said, the ride out of community and back to Newton (the place we went to the beach during orientation) was quite silent. I slept a little, but the ride was only 2 hrs. The hostel we were staying for the night was right next to the ocean, and there was a group of English soccer players playing a game of volleyball, so I jumped on that right away. It would be a lie to say being tall ... read more

We hopped aboard The InterIslander again today and are now back on the North Island again. The plan was to stay here in Turangi tonight and hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing tomorrow before driving the last two hours back to Hamilton but word on the street (or at least among the backpacking community) is that the weather isn’t going to be great tomorrow. So now we’re thinking we might stay here an extra day and do the hike on Wednesday when the conditions are better. For now we’re at a family run backpacker’s hostel and it’s defiantly the most family oriented one we’ve come across so far. When we walked in the owner greeted us by name (he knew we were coming because we’d called to ask for directions) and his young daughter wrote us a ... read more

2/15/2010 Glowing in Tauranga Today we were in Tauranga New Zealand which was our last port before we land in Auckland on Wed. Because of the tides the ship didn’t dock till about 10 and our Waitimo Caves and Kiwi House tour left shortly thereafter. It was about a 2 hr drive thru very scenic country but we did run into some fog and rain during the first hour. It was pouring at the short rest stop we had at a café but we headed in to see if they had cokes anyway and they did. The next stop was at a dairy ranch for lunch. It was a very rustic old house that looked somewhat European with very nice gardens. Lunch included lamb, meatloaf, potatoes and several salad selections. Dessert was homemade icecream with warm ... read more

Day 91 (Monday 20/07/09, NJJ) Mordor Today we've been away from home 3 months to the day. Saw Mt Taranaki, a snow covered volcano. Had lunch roadside in van. Drove to National Park. Saw the snow fields and the area that was used as Mordor in LOTR due to the volcanic rock which we could only see bits of as it was covered in snow and ice. It was raining on and off all day again. Drove on to Turangi where we had nice views of Lake Taupo. Checked into a shitty camp site. Made dinner in the van. Watched film 'The Bank Job' on the laptop. Bed around midnight.... read more

Hi Everybody! In my last blog, I meant to mention how clean NZ is. Auckland reminded us of Singapore. The people are very ecology minded. They recycle and respect their environment. We did not see a scrap of paper or trash on any of the buses or streets. The weather is very pleasant. It reminds me of our spring weather. Even though the temperatures are mostly in the 70's, it feels warmer with the sun's rays being so direct. There is almost always a breeze from the ocean. On Monday, we spent the day at Mount Maunganui, a small town that sits across the bay from the city of Tauranga. This area is a popular destination for vacationers because of its dry, warm climate. It is also a popular spot for surfers and wind surfers. The ... read more