Advertisement
Diggers
Two little workers looking for some hot water. The weather is getting a bit colder now and the weather is deteriorating. We are in Taupo now for a few days. Been raining most of the day today. We went to waitomo caves yesterday to see the glow worms. They were awesome. We started by abseiling 25m into the cave which was a bit scary. then we got our tubes which are inflated inner tubes and floated down the caves as they are full of water. We got really wet and my feet were freezing, but we had thick wetsuits on. Our guide Paul got us to turn off our head lights and walk (stumble) through the caves. This way the glow worms seemed much brighter. It was great. We did a bit of pot holing through very small holes and climbing down sleep slopes. Don't think Sarah was too comfortable with climbing down the rocks but we all did it. Debbie even got in the water which was a huge achievement for her as she doesn't like water. However we were all a little alarmed when we spotted eels!!
The biggest challenge for me was the climb out of the cave. I am not a big fan
Steamy
Getting a bit hot in the Thermal pools. This one was 40 degrees of rock climbing, so i was a little nervous, and guess who went first! But i got to the top with only minor slips on the way up. The whole day was really physical and challenging. We were all knackered in the evening but felt like we had achieved something. On the way to Taupo we stopped at the angora rabbit sheering shed. I stroked my first angora rabbit! they are huge and very soft.
After Taupo we only have a mountain and Wellington to see before heading to the South Island. We spoke to a nice guy in a ski shop here and was told the skiing was better and cheaper in the north island. This is a bit annoying because its just up the road from here and about to snow any day now.
Between Auckland and Rotarura we traveled to the Coromandel Peninsular. Here was Hot water beach which is a beach fed by a hot water spring. We hired spades and dug our own holes to get to the hot water. Well this was the plan. The area was quite small and there were already lots of people there. Everywhere we dug was cold.
Geysers
The thermal geysers at Te Puia. In the end i took control of the situation and nicked someone else's hot water dug out. I mean it was every man for them selves, and it was getting a bit chilly out there. The other two thought it was a bit rude, but hay its a cruel world. I even knocked down the next pools barriers to get their hot water. It was so exhilarating!
We spent a couple of days in Rotarura. This is the thermal region, full of geysers and thermal pools. The whole area smells of sulphur, which is the eggy small. The other two hated it, but i didn't really mind it. (what does that say about me!) anyway the first day was pretty grotty and we got soaked walking back from town. Our camp site has its own hot pools so we jumped in them. The warmest one is around 40 degrees so i got otr when i felt a bit dizzy. The second day we went to Te Puia which is a sort of cultural centre. There are several geysers which we saw erupt. The biggest on rose 30 m into the air. There were also pools of boiling mud and
Maori Warriors
Really good show other stinky pools. The rocks were even hot, as i realised when i tried to sit on one. The best part of the day was the Maori Ceremony. We were greeted by several Maori men and women who danced and sang. The men demonstrated their spears and performed the haka dance. It was amazing to see, plus the sticking out of tongues. It also helped as one of the Maori Worriers was quite young, and topless and toned, and was good at sticking his tongue out! i think we all took a shining to him!
That's it so far. I shall email again in a few days time.
Kate xx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.097s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 6; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0614s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Alex
non-member comment
Eggy Smell
Kate, the reason why you can cope with the eggy smell is because you lived with Charlie for 2 years at Chesterton Farm!!