Advertisement
Published: June 22nd 2013
Edit Blog Post
On our way to Rotorua we decided to spend one more night in Auckland, it would have been a horrendously long a drive for just one day. Also we had a slow puncture in one of the tyres of the camper van so we had to stop by the Escape office to get it replaced. After a 10 minute wait, we were ready to get back on the road. The rain was pouring down in Auckland so after stocking up on a few supplies we headed over to Scott and Leanne's place to seek refuge. We spent the day relaxing and Sonya was fussing Stella the Labrador until she somehow got out the back gate and vanished onto the golf course behind the house. Luckily after searching the sodden course, Stella turned up. We spent the night chilling out; chatting to the housemates, eating fajitas and playing board games. Fun times.
The next morning we said our farewells again to Scott and Leanne and headed for Rotorua. We stopped en route in a small town called Matamata, also known as Hobbiton. Nearby land was used as the set for the filming of The Shire in The Lord of the Rings
trilogy. We took photos in front of a statue of Gollum and visited the hobbit-house styled I-Site (tourist info offices). You could do a tour of The Shire but it was pretty expensive. Instead we continued onto Rotorua, a geothermal town on the edge of lake Rotorua. Just as we were driving into town I saw a sign for zorbing and in the spur of the moment, decided to pull in. Sonya wasn't looking impressed but I found a discount voucher so I convinced her to give it a go. Zorbing involves rolling down a hill in a giant inflatable, bouncy-ball. Sonya went first, she got strapped in and went hurtling down the hill. I was next up, I jumped into the ball got strapped into the harness and was released. My stomach and I did somersaults down the hill, we picked up a good pace before the ride flattened out and we hit the barricade. It only lasted a matter of seconds but it was great fun - Sonya enjoyed it as well thankfully or else I would have been in the dog house! We continued into Rotorua and found a holiday park with its own hot pools. That
night I cooked a curry - with only a little chilli this time and we had an early night.
The next day after breakfast we walked to a nearby thermal village. There was steam rising over the buildings and the place stunk of rotten eggs because of the sulphur. We saw various geysers, thermal and mud pools as we explored the village. Also we took in a traditional Maori performance, locals played music, danced, sung and even did the Hakka. The thermal village was a nice attraction but a little overpriced to be honest. After lunch back at the campsite we drove into town where we walked around the beautiful government gardens, with its pristine flowed beds, water features and iconic Tudor style building. The sun was shining and it made for great photos. We carried on walking to a footpath along the lake, where we followed the trail back towards where we'd parked. After a nice walk in the sunshine we made use of the holiday parks thermal pool. The water was brown and wasn't too appealing but we were told this was because of the minerals in the water and in fact, it was good for the
skin. Once we took the plunge we didn't want to get out. The water was so warm, it was like a hot bath without the bubbles. That night I cooked a fish supper and we watched a film in the camper van.
The following morning we'd planned to drive to the Waitomo caves but we'd slept in. It was a long drive and a little out of our way. Instead we decided to give it a miss and drive south to Taupo, the town on the edge of New Zealand's largest lake. It was a short, one hour journey but we broke up the trip with a visit to Huka Falls. Crystal clear water runs down from the mountains and although the waterfall itself isn't steep and there's isn't the thundering noise of say Iguazu falls, it was a picturesque little spot on our way. We arrived in Taupo and stopped at the public library to use the free Internet - we'd become accustom to free wifi at every hostel in South America but it didn't work like that in New Zealand, you had to pay and so as tight backpackers we saved money by using the libraries facilities
or abusing McDonalds' free wifi offering. We found a hostel online which would let us park there, sleep in our van and use their facilities so we headed there. As we got back to the van the window was slightly open and our side door wasn't shut properly - I think someone tried to break into the van but thankfully everything was accounted for. This was even more shocking as we'd parked directly in front of the police station. We stayed at Rainbow Lodge Backpackers and it was a really cool hostel with a big kitchen, lots of bathrooms, a tv room and separate games room. After lunch we wondered around town and bought some cheap fleeces as it was getting cold the further south we ventured. That night we went to the cinema to watch the latest Star Trek film. The movie wasn't great but it was nice to do something 'normal' like go to the cinema. After the film we didn't feel like cooking so got a bargain $4.90 (about £2.50) pizza from PizzaHut and a bottle of wine to take back to the hostel. We spent the rest of the night sipping on wine and watching another
film in the tv room.
The next morning I woke up early to see the champions league final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. The hostel's tv room was packed with Germans mainly cheering for Bayern, I wanted Dortmund to win but sadly they lost. After breakfast we set off to the Lake as we decided to do a spot of kayaking, unfortunately when we got there the water was too rough and so we couldn't hire any kayaks. Instead we went for a long walk following a path along the lake. We must of walked for miles. We'd prepared a picnic so after a few hours we stopped to eat. It was another beautiful day and the two of us enjoyed our sandwiches and snacks in front of Lake Taupo with snow capped mountains behind it in the distance. Bliss. After lunch we walked back to town and did a little more shopping. I picked up some cheap clothes from Cotton On (my new favourite shop) and then we had coffee and cake about 4 o'clock. After dinner we had another quite night in the tv room watching films and chatting to the other guests.
Our next
stop was Napier on the east coast of New Zealand's north island. It was also very close to Hawkes Bay, a very famous wine region in the country. Anyone for a spot of wine tasting?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.083s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 9; qc: 41; dbt: 0.0501s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb