South to North


Advertisement
New Zealand's flag
Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Rotorua
April 15th 2008
Published: April 16th 2008
Edit Blog Post

wellington..wellington..wellington..

..capital of new zealand.
How Ya goin'?!

We travelled across the ferry to Picton in the south island, to Wellington in the north island. It took just 3 hours to cross, so took up a good part of the morning! We spent the next day exploring Wellington, we went to the top of mount Victoria to get a great view over Wellington and also had a look around the city! It was really quite a big city, the biggest we have been to in New Zealand yet! If you wanted to shop or party, we reckon here, would be a great place to do it!! There is so much shopping, but as we dont have the space or money to, we decided not to bother having a look in the shops, as no doubt we would want to but stuff. We settled for an ice cream instead!

The weather in the North island in considerably sunnier, but is still cold enough to wear jeans. From Wellington we had a really long drive up to Rotorua, which is about the half way point of the north island! On the way we passed lake Taupo, which is very big, but still not nearly as impressive
Rob on top of mount victoria...Rob on top of mount victoria...Rob on top of mount victoria...

..We got an excellent view from here.
as the lakes we had seen in the south, that had mount cook as a back drop. We finally arrived in Rotorua after about 6 hours of driving and the first thing we noticed was the strong smell of rotten eggs, coming through the van. Welcome to Rotorua!! The land of steaming holes of sulphur, we have no idea how people can live here!

The weather turned torrential, with gusts up to 100mph and constant rain, which in the end lasted 3 days solid, but as we only had such a short time, we had to get out and sightsee! One of the main things we wanted to do was visit the steaming mud pools. We went to a place called hells gate, aptly named and walked around in torrential rain for an hour looking at the bubbling mud and sulphur pools. The smell was actually sickening, especially in areas where there was more steam. Apparently if you were to be put in an enclosed room with it, it would knock you out! Not surprising! After we had wandered around, we were happy to head back to the van to dry out. That afternoon we headed to Tauranga to
Totem pole mount victoria..Totem pole mount victoria..Totem pole mount victoria..

..mauri influences.
make the most of our time!

Party on dudes

Rob and Han x x x





Additional photos below
Photos: 15, Displayed: 15


Advertisement

lake taupo..lake taupo..
lake taupo..

..its almost a sea!
lake taupo..lake taupo..
lake taupo..

..sunlight across the lake
mauri woodcarvings..mauri woodcarvings..
mauri woodcarvings..

..they are very popular.
entrance to hells gate..entrance to hells gate..
entrance to hells gate..

..ooohhh scary! i'm quaking in my little space boots!
Help!!Help!!
Help!!

no only joking,i look like Fran with the ears, don't you think Fran?!
Rob in hells gate..Rob in hells gate..
Rob in hells gate..

..geothermal park with bubbling pools.
smoking..smoking..
smoking..

..they are so hot and most of these pools are about 20 metres deep.
120 degrees on the surface..120 degrees on the surface..
120 degrees on the surface..

..can you see the mud bubbling..wouldn't want to fall in!
By some sulphur pools..By some sulphur pools..
By some sulphur pools..

..if only we had smellanet!
mud volcano..mud volcano..
mud volcano..

..it erupts during the night sometimes up to 25 metres in height! just pure mud going everywhere!
the colour of the stone is due to minerals..the colour of the stone is due to minerals..
the colour of the stone is due to minerals..

..and its constantly warm from the core of the earth.


Tot: 0.118s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 54; dbt: 0.0868s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb