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Published: January 15th 2007
New Years Day was spent mooching around, not doing very much at all - much like New Years Day anywhere else in the world I'd imagine! We wondered into town to have some lunch and as the heavens opened and the torrential downpour showed absolutely no signs of stopping, we had to get a taxi back to the hostel. The highlight of the day had to be the look on Kirsty's face when one of our Kiwi roommates asked her if she'd learnt any Maori words. She looked absolutely baffled - the accent must have thrown her as she couldn't understand why he was asking her if she'd ever lived in any mouldy woods!
Before heading north from Taupo we'd booked a white water rafting session on the Rangitaki River, about an hours drive away. Our guide Gary was really good and we had great fun rafting through some grade 3 and 4 rapids. At one point we rafted down a small waterfall and then turned back to paddle back into the frothy water at the base of it. Once you actually reach the point of suction in the water, this is known as the toilet flush as the boat gets
Nerves setting in
Just before we went skydivingpulled down and spat back out again. Unfortunately for lil sis, she experienced the flush slightly more than the rest of us as the force of the water caused the raft to fold exactly where she was sitting and launched her into the water! It was a very comical sight watching her confused face, as it had all happened so quickly, she had no idea where she was! Safely back in the boat she saw the funny side of it and we continued on through more rapids as well as having a leisurely cruise with the current at a calmer point in the river.
That evening we stayed in Rotarua where we met Jill, the epitome of a true LA girl - I'd be surprised if she didn't have Paris and Nicole on her speed dial what with all the name dropping she was doing! She started chatting and told us that the friend she was travelling with had to leave early due to a personal emergency. Apparently her ex-boyfriend, who 'hello, was like, her first ever love' had 'bailed on rehab half way through the programme', as if this was an average problem to occur! Kirsty and I had
to do our very best to avoid making eye contact with each other for fear of falling about laughing - we didn't realise that people like that actually existed outside of gossip magazines - how the other half live hey?!
Whilst in Rotarua we visted Te Puia, the location of some very lively geysers which also had guided tours of a traditional Maori village, offering insights into their culture and history. The tour was really informative and we learnt a lot about their carvings and artwork as well as their meeting houses and sleeping huts etc. We also got to view our first Kiwi birds, albeit shrouded in darkness as they're nocturnal. Te Puia is based around the Whakarewarewa thermal reserve and we saw the bubbling mud in the Ngamokaiakoko pool and the eruption of the impressive Pohutu geyser which can reach heights of up to 90 feet, although it certainly wasn't that high then! We also attended a Maori concert, where we were treated to dances, games, songs and of course the world famous Haka, which was awesome.
Another reason for visiting Rotarua is its natural hot springs, so we drove out to the luxurious Waikite Valley thermal pools
for an afternoon of relaxation. Being skint we managed to dodge around the cafe entrance and very steep entry fee and lounged around for free! There were 3 pools to choose from ranging in temperature from approximately 36 - 44 degrees, and sitting there in the water was pure bliss!
Our Christmas present from Mum and Dad was 2 days at a wakeboarding camp to improve our very minimal skills in preparation for the summer in Salcombe. The camp was situated on a huge lake by Orakei Korako, between Taupo and Rotarua and was an amazing place! It had everything you could ask for - an amazing sport natique boat, heaps of boards and bindings to choose from, a trampoline with handle to practice handle passes / grabs etc, X-box and satellite TV to keep you occupied in between sessions and 3 hot tubs full of natural spring water to ease the aching muscles after a day on the water (even if they did turn our bikinis orange!) The camp was run by a lovely couple, Blair and Chelsea, and the fact that it was sponsored by Corona and free beer was on tap also went down pretty well! Across
the 2 days we each had a lengthy morning and afternoon session on the flattest water I've ever seen, with expert tuition from Blair, and we could definitely see the improvement in our basic skills and even had a few tricks down by the end of it. Of course, more than a few comedy face plants occured, but none as bad as the story Chelsea told us about when she face planted so hard when trying to clear the wake that when she got back on the boat she couldn't remember where she was, how she'd got there and who all of her friends were!
We'd had such a good time at the camp and really didn't want to leave, despite the fact that we could barely move - our muscles were that sore, but time was pressing on and we wanted to explore the Coromandel before Kirsty had to leave. On the way there we made a few stops at Mount Maunganui, where there was an iron man contest taking place, and the gorgeous Whangamata, which we would've liked a bit more time to look around. We made it to the famous hot water beach at the right time
though and set about digging our holes. Thermal waters are situated just below the sand and if you dig in the right place 2 hours either side of high tide, you can make your own beach spa! A lot of this is luck of the draw though, and whilst our neighbours had boiling hot water in their pool, we weren't that lucky and even after the assistance of a friendly local guy, we had cold water in ours. Nevermind though, the sun was shining and we were quite happy with an afternoons sunbathing session instead.
After searching around the towns surrounding the beach, we finally managed to find some really cute chalet type accommodation in Whitianga, with the plan being to to spend the following morning on the beach and then drive north to Auckland to return the Mumbler and spend the day there with Kirsty leaving the next evening. However, as the weather was glorious - a rarity so far in New Zealand, and we'd not heard anything good about Auckland, we decided to extend the car hire by another day, return it in time for Kirsty's evening flight and stay an extra day in Whitianga. A very relaxing
day was spent sunbathing on the beach and we were pleased with our decision to stay especially as Kirsty had the chance to top up the tan before going home.
Sad to leave such a beautiful place, we left in plenty of time to get back to Auckland for Kirsty's flight, and a good job we did too, as on the way some dozy cow drove straight into the back of us, re-modelling the boot, and didn't even have the decency to pull over to see if we were ok and give us her insurance details - cheecky wench! Luckily we were both fine, but the journey north took a lot longer than expected as the newly shaped boot would pop open every 5 minutes and we'd have to pull over and try and shut it again! Thankfully the guys at the car hire place were very understanding, but we were still stung with a $250 excess - not how we'd hoped Kirsty's last day to be!
Lil sis left for the airport at around 6 leaving me wondering around like a lost puppy and already missing her like mad! At least it wasn't as bad as when she'd left
Dammit!
The Mumbler gets re-modelled Cape Town though as I knew this time it would be a matter of weeks before I got to see her again. I spent a very quiet evening getting all my stuff sorted as I was flying to the Cook Islands the next day.
As my flight wasn't until the evening, I had the day to explore Auckland. Unfortunately it's just another big city with not that much to see, especially when, you've guessed it, it's hammering it down with rain - what I really needed was the Mzungus on hand for a guided tour! After taking the loop bus around the city and walking down to have a look at the Americas cup yacht I'd exhausted my sight seeing options and spent the rest of the day whiling away the hours in a cafe, eagerly anticipating my flight to tropical paradise!
Ariva Derchi
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