Taking the North Island to the Extreme

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Upon arrival in Rotorua, we had a night in a hostel and then spent the following day wandering around town getting our bearings. We walked around Lake Rotorua and enjoyed the wonderful smell of sulphur that hangs around the town like, well, a bad smell, due to all the geothermal activity. In the afternoon we were picked up by our wwoof host Julie and taken over to Lake Tarawera and the farm we were staying at. I can't describe how nice the family were but we were only supposed to be there for 5 days and ended up staying for 3 and a half weeks so I think that speaks for itself! The farm overlooks both the lake and Mount Tarawera and has the volcanic crater lake of Okereka behind it. The views were absolutely incredible and the local history is fascinating - Mount Tarawera erupted in 1886 and destroyed a village and lots of local sites. W visited the buried village and were able to see how villages looked and how the eruption affected local people at the time. About 10 days into our wwoofing time we spent another day and night in the town centre and went white water rafting, which was great fun. There were loads of rapids and waterfalls that we went down and of course Ellie and I looked incredibly sexy in our wetsuits! Our raft didn't flip over but the instructor let us all jump out and hold on to the raft as we went over some rapids which was great! We managed to get free entry to Hell's Gate, a geothermal park with lots of mud pools and steaming craters and a had a very good walk. That evening we went to a Maori cultural evening which included a Hangi - a traditional meal cooked underground - and a performance of Maori song and dance that we got to join in with (always interesting when you don't know the words!) The next day we were picked up and taken back to peace and tranquility and our jobs of gardening, cooking and horse poo pick-up! I had so many new experiences staying at Tarawera, including sailing in a catamaran (it counts if you steer the boat!), stripping wall paper, going to see ballet and eating many new things - venison, liver, sushi and freshly picked mushrooms to name but a few! We were sad to leave Tarawera but the time had come to depart and head off to Taupo. On the way the magic bus took us to see more geothermal sites with bubbling mud pools and lakes that were fascinating colours - reds, oranges and bright yellow. We stayed in a very nice hostel for 5 nights and I got to meet one of Ellie's friends from summer camp, Ems, who works there. The weather got better as our stay progressed and we managed to do something that we'd come to Taupo for - a tandem sky dive! It was such an amazing experience and one I'd definitely do again - it was just over too quickly! We arrived at the sky diving place and decided which height we wanted to jump from - we picked 15,000 feet which is the highest. The instructors were all very nice and got us kitted out in jump suits and then led us out to a really tiny and old looking plane where I sat very quietly and tried not to think that I would soon be exiting the aircraft in a very unnatural way! At 15,000 feet the door was pushed up and everyone started flying out. I'm glad there was a man attached to me pushing me towards the door as I wouldn't have gone otherwise and I was so busy looking out of the door I didn't pose for my exit photo! Once out the feeling was so strange, although we were freefalling I felt like we were floating and not going down, the views were breathtaking and I shook a camera man's hand! The parachute opened and jerked us upright and my instructor did lots of spinning around so I could see the magnificent views of the mountains, the town and the lake below me. Now that's definitely not a story I thought I'd be telling before I came away! When in Taupo I also got my ear pierced at the top and Ellie got a new tattoo and we hiked to the top of a mountain for more views of the area which was great fun and very rewarding. Our final port of call for the North Island was Wellington and we arrived there after stopping off to view Mount Doom and the mountains of the Tongariro crossing. Wellington seems very small for a capital city but it's a very nice place and easy to get around. We have been to the national museum and walked around Island Bay, which is a beautiful and rugged area of beach near the city centre. We stayed with a friend of Ellie's for two nights which was great fun and Lucy took us to see some areas in Wellington where scenes from The Lord of the Rings films were shot which was great - we saw some enormous trees! We are now finishing our stay near Upper Hutt, a little way out of Wellington and the weather has been good to us and we've been able to see a lot of the city and spend lazy days in parks recreating gladiators on children's adventure playgrounds! Early tomorrow morning, April 26th, we head off to the South Island on the ferry and will be staying between Nelson and the Abel Tasman National Park, ready to start our next few weeks of Southern discoveries!

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Comments

[Dad]

Green
With the exception of the white water rafting, sky dive and ear pierciing, I am dead jealous. Glad you're having a great time - stay safe. Remember to visit Dunedin. Lost of love, Dad. x

[Dad]

Spelling
Just seen my previous comment and my spelling is getting as bad as yours. That should read lots of love, of course. Dad. x

[Claire Greene]

wow cat wow!!!!