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Published: April 23rd 2009
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To day I said good buy to Auckland and hello to my stray bus. Stray is a hop on hop bus service which will take me on a guided tour around nz.
Hahel
Hahel was my first stop, in Hahel we visited the hot water beach and Cathedral cove. Cathedral cove was really pretty and was a bit disappointed could not spend more time there as it was getting dark. Our Stray drive Nanna cooked us all a BBQ where I was drunk and almost missed the food which is really unlike me but had a really good first night.
Raglan
I can not really remember a lot a bout Raglan as we did not see to do much when we were here or on the way hear. The first 2 days on the stray bus were ok but not amazing and it seemed like most of the days will be on the bus instead of doing thing. I really was hoping that things would change over the next few day, I was not disappointed.
Maketu
This was the first day that I started to enjoy myself on the stray bus as it was fully packed and did
not seem like a wasted day. The first stop today was Waitomo caves where you can do a number of caving options. I opted for the lost world which involved abseiling down 100 meter in to a cave where the lost world can be found. I believe this is the longest straight down abseil in the world. Once the 100 meter descent was completed we had to crawl our why through tight spots in the caves, while enjoying the glow of glow worms on the caves walls.
At night I had my first experience of Maori cultural. Our group stayed at Uncle boys where we had a Hangi meal and learnt Maori traditions including the Haka (the New Zealand rugby team dance is a better way of saying it). I was slapping my legs so hard while doing the Haka that I bruised my legs.
Rotorua
The stray bus only passes through Rotorua but I thought I would hop off for 3 days as it looked a interesting place. On the way to Rotorua I had a chance to face a fear of mine. I have a fear of water but wanted to do whit water rafting so thought
I would give it a go. I was really nervous getting on to the raft but once on the water I was fine until we got to the 7 meter waterfall. I was shitting my self before we went over as I really did not want to fall in to the water, as we went over the edge all I could do was put my head between my legs and kiss my balls good buy, Lucky though our raft did not tip over and it put me on such a high that from hear I was was relaxed in the raft. Overall rafting was really fun and I would so do it again.
My first full day in Rotorua I went to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. Wai-O-Tapu covers 18sq km with the Volcanic dome of Maungkakaramea (Rainbow Mountain) at the northern boundary the area is covered with collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud and streaming fumaroles. The first thing I saw before Wai-O-Tapu park was Lady Knox. Lady Knox is a geyser that erupts daily at 10:15am by dropping soap into the opening of the vent. Eruptions produce a jet of cold water reaching up to 20m. The geyser
is induced to erupt daily at 10:15am by dropping soap into the opening of the vent. Eruptions produce a jet of water reaching up to 20m. Wai-O-Tapu has many hot springs noted for their colourful appearance and takes around 90 mins to walk around the whole area but is well worth the morning out.
While at Wai-O-Tapu I bumped in to a guy called Mat from the stray but and we both thought for the afternoon Zorbing would be call. Zorbing is when you put someone in a sphere then push them down a hill so hamster in a ball affect. This was pretty cool but for $60 was quiet expensive for the 20 seconds that it lasts, but still well worth a go.
My second day in Rotorua I went quad biking for 2 hours, this was great fun riding around farm land and forest at high speeds, jumping over hills and flying through the air, the only thing that was missing was mud, as it has not rained in NZ for a while so everything was dry. Still really fun riding up steep hills and doing a few jumps when you least expect it. My last night
in Rotorua I went for a warm stone massage at the Polyneslan Spa which is listed as one of the top 10 Spa's in the world, It had natural hot pool ranging from 36-42 degrees. The stone massage was very nice but I would say a normal massage with hand is much better for anyone that suffers from bad backs.
Taupo
Today was a really boring day I did nothing just sat around had a bit of lunch and jumped out of a plane 😊. Today was sky dive day and it was far from boring. It was not even scary either until the plane door opens and you are sitting on the edge shitting ya self. I really cannot explain the feeling apart from one min you are going shit, shit, shit and the next you are loving it. If you want to know what I mean watch the clip on you tube it so cool lol,
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Tongariro National Park
The Tongariro National Park is one of New Zealands most spectacular one day walk. The crossing passes over the volcanic terrain of the multi-cratered active volcano Mt Tongariro, passing near to the immediately neighbouring Mt
Ngauruhoe. The walk is renowned for its barren yet beautiful volcanic landscape, unusual geological features, visible volcanic activity and views of the surrounding countryside below. The walk it self is quiet hard on the legs and takes around 7 hours if you are fat and unfit takes most people around 5-6 hours and is really good walk and is a must do if you are in New Zealand.
Wellington
I did not get to see much of Wellington as we arrived late afternoon and did not had time to do anything apart from a quick roast dinner and meal with some new friends I had made over the last 2 weeks.
Next stop is Nelson where I will be staying with a friend of mine called Greg who I met on line a few years ago while playing a computer game will update you all soon.
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