Blogs from Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 89

CHOOSE SHEEP! No really I´m not joking! CHOOSE SHEEP! New Zealand is full of lush green countryside, a mixture of Wales, Scotland, Ireland with small towns that look USA (ish). We landed in Auckland stayed the first night in a hostel and then thought it was time to explore this country Nadja style. So we hired a bright PINK Barbie campervan where we would cook and sleep from and cruise the north Island. It broke down twice!!! This machine was hard going and I needed to keep my foot to the floor just to make it move. The best thing about New Zealand is that you can camp pretty much anywhere in the wild. So we did just that. It only cost 35 NZ bucks a night, apparently people told us that was quite expensive, but ... read more

After getting the ferry we've travelled quickly and have been to Rotorua where there are millions of geothermal pools and we've also been to a place called "craters of the moon" which looks like many many asteroids have hit earth and are still steaming. The whole town smells of Sulphur! But the Lake is immense! I also went zorbing by Lake Taupo,which was really good fun. They fill the zorb with hot water and then push you down the hill which had a massive zig zig pattern. Felt like being in a warm car wash! We've also mangaged to find jobs, grading kiwi fruits in a packhouse in the bay of plenty! C'est la vie. Also some more pictures of previous events.... read more

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO STICKIE for yesterday-sorry we missed it - we hear you were sat in the garden with a glass of wine - is that all you're capable of these days? Ferry crossing through the marlborough sounds was amazing, the pictures are fab but don't really do it justice- it takes about an hour to get through them to the open sea (we even spotted dolphins swimming along with the ferry). Arrived in windy wellington where the lions got stuffed appparently - carl was gutted. Headed up the west coast towards the central north island - the scenery was totally different - moving north from wellington - actually saw flat land for quite a few miles (still mountains in the distance though). Spent today driving through Tongariro national park where the 3 volacanoes are - ... read more

Neither of us slept well at Cactus Jack's - the bed was terrible, and the place was noisy. We checked out, and had breakfast at a nearby cafe before driving back to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. We stopped to see the nearby mudpools, bubbling away from the underground steam. Inside the park we were treated to pools of boiling chemicals of every colour, silicate terraces, more mud pools, smelly sulphur pits and low fog. We took some super pictures of this unusual area as we walked around, and then got back in the car for a short drive up the road. We showed our tickets again, and were amongst the first people to arrive to see the 1015am eruption of the Lady Knox geyser. Said to have been discovered when a dirty work party from the nearby ... read more

Before heading to Rotorua we spent a day in Taupo where we bumped into 2 people from our South America Tour in the supermarket, of all places! After lunch with them, and discovering that we would also be in Sydney at the same time, we spent the afternoon visiting the local sites. Huka Falls is supposed to be New Zealand's most popular attraction (it helps that it's free) and is a must-see in Taupo. Honey Hive had free honey tasting (including one called Bee Nut Butter) and loads of glass bee-hives, into which thousands of bees travelled to and fro from the outside world via see-through tubes. We also tried some honey ice-cream, and a shot of honey liqueur! The area we were in is called the Volcanic Triangle and it's basically a massive thermal area. ... read more