NZ PART 3

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Day 10 & 11 - Tauranga
Travelled from Auckland to the little coastal town of Tauranga, stopping briefly at Matamata (a town where the Hobbiton sections of the LOTR films were made which we found pretty exciting even though we were only there for a couple of hours! We finally had some sunshine, so broke out the shorts and sandals, but did not predict the cool sea breeze...

We took the local bus to Mount Mauragui - a sharply rising extinct volcano that juts out into the sea. Decided on the path round the base rather than the steep climb up to the top, and were rewarded by seeing seals on the rocks which was pretty cool! Apparantly there were whales around as well but unfortunately we didn't spot any.
Day12
Travelled inland to Rotorua, and walked (further than expected) into town from the hotel. Successfully found Great Kiwi Ale Bar with local craft ales, good food and very friendly staff. Then to the lake shore for a relaxing wander (stopping to attempt to take photos of black swans) before returning on the bus- which was free as it was (apparently) "car free day" - although with the Irish arriving in town for an upcoming game it was still pretty busy! Well, for New Zealand - most places we have been in seem very quiet by UK standards.

Day13
Took a trip to the geothermal areas which included bubbling mud pools, hot geizers and steaming lakes in a rainbow of colours. The whole place was amazing if a little smelly! We did get used to the sulpher smell of the Rotorua area pretty quickly though. After a long morning walking the geothermal pools we decided to try out the polynesian spa to relax our tired limbs. We chose the "lake pools" with 5 outdoor pools of 36 up to 42 degrees with views across Lake Roturoa ( which means "big lake"). Definitely an excellent way to spend an afternoon!! We are hoping to find some hot springs in Cardiff when we get back although not holding our breath.... We completed a full day by attending a Maori evening with a traditional greeting, entertainment and a "hangi"-which is a traditional meal cooked in hot pits. A gorgeous spread of food, as most of ur meals in NZ have been.

Day14
As a contrast from the heat of the previous day, we spent most of the next day down 3 contrasting but cool caves at Waitamo. There was a boat ride in the"glow worms" cave which was spectacular, although slightly less so once we found out that they are actually cannabalistic maggots where the light really does shine out of their.... anyway, the other caves featured huge stalagmites and stalactites in varying colours, worth seeing although we had to resist the temptation to feel and touch the rock as it is very sensitive to the oils in human skin.

Day 15
The journey to New Plymouth was higlighted by stopping for lunch at a rugby club that was the home of Colin and Stan Meads ( 2 All Black legends), and the latter was there to greet us. Lunch was followed by a demonstration (with audience participation) from a Kiwi world champion sheep-shearer, who visits Wales annually. Apparantly pretty famous among the Royal Welsh Show attendees (unfortunately we didn't have a clue....)
Excitingly, the Welsh team were staying at the hotel opposite. Unlike some others we decided to leave them to prepare for tomorrow's match, but they were apparently hospitable and relaxed.

Day 16
Match day dawned bright and warm and we took in the sights of New Plymouth.
As ever the locals were friendly and many calls of "Go Wales". After a beautiful park and a veggie restaurant lunch (Laura was getting tired of the limited options in most resturants) we headed for the waterfront and came upon some of the Welsh players not in todays team chilling out. After a brief chat (and a couple of photos...) we visited a gallery featuring the art, films and action sculptures of Len Lye. It was definitely an experience! Lots of kinetic (and very noisy) sculptures as well as abstract films with strange soundtracks... quite absorbing though.

The afternoon saw us heading for the New Plymouth stadium to watch Wales take on Namibia. We managed to find the only local pub for a couple of beers to steady our nerves.... while we were pretty confident, it was still a crucial match for Wales to progress. Although not a perfect performance, 12 tries and 81-7 was a convincing result. Some great moves and some new players staked a claim for the big matches to come. The atmosphere at the matches has been brilliant so far and this game was no exception!

Day 17
An early start to catch a plane to Bay of Islands changing at Auckland, much better than a 10 hour coach journey! Yet another lovely hotel with balcony over the courtyard, a shame the weather is still a little cool for the swimming pool. A pretty relaxing day in all, we just wandered around the little town of Paihia where we are staying, caught up on some rugby and had some really tasty food in the hotel restaurant. Mostly food successes so far, fortunately our adventures include a lot of walking so we can still fit into our clothes!!

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