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Published: February 13th 2011
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We arrived at Picton after the wine tour and had a short wait before a ferry would take us to the north island. And what an agonising journey it was! The sea was extremely rough and the boat was rising and falling so much that even I, who never suffers from sea sickness, was feeling a little iffy. It was quite fun walking down the ship while the waves took it down because it almost felt like I was falling. 4 hours later and we arrived in Wellington to be taken to the YHA hostel, which was massive! It also had a really good kitchen and we made full use of it by having a group meal with Koen, Bram and Holly, two dutch guys and a girl (who is coincidentally from Guildford!) that we met in Kaikoura. Followed by a few drinks before we had to say goodbye to Koen and Bram already.
Our second day in Wellington was mainly spent in Te Papa which translates are Our Place. Te Papa is a museum dedicated to the history of New Zealand, both human and natural. The geography behind New Zealand is pretty intense and between the active volcanoes, strong
earthquakes and rising seas, NZ is basically screwed. On the human side of things, they have managed to preserve the remains of a giant document called the Treaty of Waitangi which the Maori people were effectively tricked into signing, giving sovereignty of the land to the Queen. The history of the Maori people is very interesting and their story of creation is quite beautiful. But I think my favourite part of the museum was the colossal squid that had been fished up by trawlers in the arctic sea if I remember correctly. The 4.5m long squid has been preserved after much scientific study and it has football sized eyes!
We left the museum to grab a hot chocolate before we had to say goodbye to Holly and yet again we were back down to the three of us *insert sad face here*. But we soldiered on and made plans to go watch a fire poi show followed by a jazz bar. Unfortunately, by the time we left the hostel, we were too late for the fire poi and the jazz was not on that night so. Huge fail. Instead we grabbed some drinks, played some pool and watched In Bruges
which is a pretty funny film, with some slightly gruesome scenes thrown in the mix.
On the 11th we moved on to Taupo, stopping along the way in a town called Bull Town. A nice little town with a view of Mt Doom (I can't remember its proper name, but Mt Doom sounds cooler). However, after a little observation it became clear that all the names of the shops were bull puns. Consta-bull being the name for the police station which was quite amusing though kinda takes away the serious nature of policing doesn't it?
Next up was a brief stop at the Huka Falls before we hit Taupo. My geography teacher would be proud that I visited this place because it is so unique. As the river water enters the Huka Falls, it is forced down a long, thin chasm that is made of very tough rock, meaning it is eroded very slowly. The rapid, fast flowing water then pours over the edge of the falls and continues its journey down the river.
After grabbing some photos we headed back for the coach and made our way into Taupo, stopping briefly again at a lookout point with a
view over Lake Taupo. It actually started life as a volcano but long ago it exploded and caused the volcano to become inverted, eventually filling up with water. It is the biggest recorded volcanic explosion in history and apparently, the lake is so big that if you pull a long piece of string tight across its diameter, it would drop into the water because it curves with the earth!
Eventually we arrived at our hostel and proceeded to book a Black Water Rafting trip and an Alpine Crossing trip which unfortunately Kish couldn't afford. I was very excited about both because they had come so highly recommended by others we had spoken to before hand.
After we had settled in, we walked up to the Taupo National Park which contained a number of natural hot pools. The park itself was stunning and a really peaceful, green area to come and chill. But the hot pools were amazing! The volcanically heated stream runs into the river and many people like to come and let off some steam in the pools that have formed. I must say it was literally the perfect temperature to lie in.
I am greatly looking forward
to writing about the rafting and alpine crossing to be honest. It has been great reliving my adventures so far in blog form. To be continued!
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