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Published: August 7th 2007
We arrived in Auckland and planned our road trip from the comforts of Bamber House; a homely hostel where we made some great friends. While there, we visited Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World; we saw stingrays, penguins and all manner of other sea-life. We also got involved with a birthday party for Dan at the hostel, which was fun: vodka jelly, party hats and takeaway pizza!
However, the most exciting thing that happened to us in Auckland was the 'detective-style' search for a long lost friend of Jimmy's (David's dad). He, and another boy Joseph, grew up together in a home in Scotland, as brothers. The two were separated at fifteen, never to see one another again. We discovered that Joseph had been living in Auckland. To cut a long story short, the two are now in touch and we are hoping to meet up with Joseph on our return here. Bringing the two together after about forty-five years was very special. Full of beans, we prepared ourselves for the road-trip ahead.
Road Trip Diary
27th Picked up camper. We drove to Waitomo with Dan smuggled in the back - voluntarily. Tonight we abseiled into a chasm
of 150ft. It was pitch black and we saw an amazing glow-worm display (Thanks Debbie for the recommendation!). Dan joined in, overcoming his very real fears. We all loved it. It doesn't ever get 'comfortable in the groin area', but the experience was unreal. It was cool going up the ladder as fast as you wanted and not falling down (because you're attached). When David got to the top, the instructor asked if he was a fireman! Great fun. Celebrated with a beer in the bar.
28th Today we went black-water rafting (caving with water, and floating on truck inner tubes). We saw more glow-worms, felt our way down dark passages with our torches off. went without the instructor to part of the cave complex to 'discover' a waterfall. Jumped more waterfalls and went down a slide!
It was awesome! We came out smiling and enjoyed a hot shower. The road to Rotorua was a joy to travel. Beautiful countryside. Insanely picturesque views including perfect cows and intriguing clouds. Lord of the rings!
29th Blackburn won 4-1 today! (Well for us it's today, anyway)
Rotorua has the highest commercial waterfall drop in New Zealand, and today we white-water
rafted over it. It was 7 metres!
Awesome - really exhilarating. we were really safe with the team but got involved and had to obey the instructions.
Today we saw some geysers in the park and David climbed to the top of the climbing web.
Said goodbye to Dan. Nice guy.
30th It's raining. Went to see the Maori village with a guided tour around the geothermal pools and geysers where the locals cook their food and take a bath. We saw a great show featuring a performance of the Haka and dances using sticks and poys. We then got on the road and drove for hours on a bumpy gravel highway through Te Urewa national park. Camped by the lake in the van. Rained all night, but we were warm. We were truly in the middle of nowhere and all alone.
1st Woke up to beautiful views and ate our muesli while chatting to a local fisherman and getting eaten alive by sand-flies. More driving. Stopped for coffee and a sausage at Wairoa. Arrived in Napier, the Art Deco town, and stocked up on warm clothes ahead of the South Island. Ploughed onwards, and pulled into a
camping ground in Palmerston North. Here, we met a very dodgy character called Greg, who was affiliated with the 'Nomads', allegedly the NZ mafia! When we found out about his time in prison and many more stories to make your toes curl, we decided to 'get the hell out of dodge'. So, we drove on, and parked on a small country lane for the night, peace of mind intact.
2nd Pressed on, towards Wellington, New Zealand's capital. En route, we stopped for breakfast in a charming village/town called 'Shannon'. Here we met a very nice bric-a-brac shopkeeper. In Wellington, we visited the vast and amazing Te Papa museum, and took in a movie 'Pan's Labryinth' - very good!
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Karen
non-member comment
Wicked camper van BTW !! Ha ha!!
Loving Louise's face on the "whoo" photo - looks like its been superimposed! So glad you found Joseph too. I remember that story - amazing. Sounds like it worked really well. Enjoy the rest of NZ. I did the Waitomo thing but much tamer! I spent longer on the South Island and really loved it I hope you have a lovely time there. Karen xxx