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Published: July 15th 2011
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Arrived in Wellington on a wet and cold day - living up to its reputation of being a windy city. The next day we visited Te Papa, the national museum seeing, amongst other things, the only colossal squid on display in the world. We went back again the following day to do a bit of poi twirling and weaving. Friday was much brighter so we were able to go up in the cable car for nice views. We then had a really interesting tour of the Parliament (the Beehive) which is modelled on the UK's but without a House of Lords equivalent because they voted themselves out of office some years ago!! Found out that the capital was moved to Wellington because it was taking two months for the MPs from Invercargill to get to Auckland! Amazing earthquake protection system...
We enjoyed another weekend of interesting and practical studies, and catching up with people we had met in NZ, before leaving Wellington on the Tuesday to head north. Much to Joe's delight, we spent a half day on the way at Southward Car Museum, where highlights included Marlene Dietrich's car, and one belonging to one of Al Capone's henchmen. Snow
stopped us heading up the Desert Road so we stayed in Wanganui instead and the next morning drove out to Drivie Hill - one of only 2 earthbound elevators in the world. We took the long coast road round to New Plymouth and did manage to catch to catch a few good views of Taranaki which turned out to the be the only ones we would get over the next few days (some go weeks without seeing it).
New Plymouth is a pretty town with a nice Coastal Walkway and Pukekoure Park which had an amazing fernery on 3 levels and an 2,000 year old piri tree (Charlie was very impressed that it was the same age as Jesus!) We managed a walk on the South side of Taranaki, through Goblin Forest, and some spectacular views of the snow on the mountain and the waterfalls.
We had a very scenic drive up to Otorohanga, along a ridge with views down the valleys on both sides, even though it wasn't very clear, and the next day visited Waitomo Caves. We started off in Fairy Cave with its delicate pink/brown structures, and then headed over to the see the glow
worms. The guide was excellent - she sang a lovely Maori song to show off its acoustics and showed us some worms close up, before we headed out in the boat to see 40,000 of them shining brightly - wow!!
Heading over to Rotorua we stopped for me to take some photos and I nearly stepped on three dead deer by the side of the road which stank! Our first day in Rotorua we all had colds so took it easy. The owner of our campsite told us to visit Hamurana Springs where we had a lovely walk through a redwood forest and onto the springs where 1mn gallons of pure water flow through per hour. The next day we got to Wai-o-tapu by 10:15 to see the geyser "perform" - ie shoot up when soap flakes are poured into it! Interestingly it was discovered when local prisoners were washing their clothes! Joe and I had strong memories of the time we visited Wai-o-tapu ten years ago, particularly the colours of the pools which are very vibrant, and caused by all the different minerals in the water. We walked for nearly 3 hours, doing the full loop, and after
lunch drove down to the mud pools which were constantly bubbling away, and of course the photos don't do them justice. We finished the day at the Blue and Green Lakes - blue one side of the hill, no prizes for guessing what colour it was on the other side!
After lessons the next morning, we headed out to Whakarewerewa (and no I can't pronounce it!) a Maori village that takes tours and puts on cultural performances, which were surprisingly good. The performance included the obligatory haka, poi twirling, stick throwing and singing of Pokarekare Ana. Our guide then showed us how the villagers cook - by hanging a pot or bag in the thermal waters (a boiled egg takes half an hour, fish 7 mins), and took us on a tour of the village including the communal baths where everyone bathes twice a day (naked but with strict rules!)
On Friday we headed north towards the Bay of Plenty, stopping at the Giant Kiwi Fruit on the way, where we learnt all about the many different types of kiwi, and how they pollinate, saw an old 1970s grading machine and tasted some lovely kiwi liqueurs. We drove
from there up to Tauranga where Bella and I walked out to a small island as the tide was out, leaving Joe and Charlie asleep in the car. Finally we arrived back in Hamilton, back to Andrew and Anita's. We spent 3 enjoyable days in Hamilton, catching up with people and visiting the town, before heading back up to Auckland.
Our relaxing week staying with Phil and Jackie in Auckland was slightly spoilt by the pick-up being broken into the first night - boo! Gone were the kids' TVs, the MP3 player, Bella's camera, Joe's mobile and binoculars, and my sunglasses, and instead we were left with a broken window and a pile of glass. Other than that we had a nice time. We climbed One Tree Hill with Cheryl (in the car unfortunately as it was raining hard); had a great trip around the harbour with Cornelia and Grant (this time it was a lovely day and the views were stunning); got hair cuts; planned our US itinerary; watched Germany put England out of the World Cup; and played on the beach. Lovely Lynette came to help us pack which was amazing and we dropped the pick up
off for its long journey back to England. Eventually the time came for lots more emotional goodbyes and we left New Zealand bound for Hawaii...
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