New Zealand

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I arrived into Auckland on a bright sunny day and spent three days exploring the city. The first evening I headed up Mount Eden to see beautiful views of the cityscape lit up at night. The following day I decided what it was I wanted to see and booked transport and wandered around the city. The third day I met up with Elaine, who I'd originally met in Cairns. We had lunch and coffee over in a place called Devenport, which is a 12 minute ferry away from the city. The hostel I stayed in was massive, ten floors with I don't know how many rooms on each floor and I don't know how many people in each room, but to be honest, I don't think the hostel knew! Twice when I checked into this hostel there was someone sleeping in my bed! Worked out well for me though as I got moved from an eight bed room, to a six, or even one time, to a four! That's a fair upgrade in the hostel world!

Early on the Monday I hopped on the Intercity Bus, first stop Waitomo. It was brilliant, we walked through caves and then had a boat ride through caves with glow worms all over the roof. Looked really cool! Next up was Rotorua, the geothermal capital of New Zealand. The smell of eggy Sulphur hits you as soon as you get off the bus. I was staying at Treks Hostel which was really enjoyable, ended up staying three days, mainly because it was pretty cheap, there were no bunk beds and there were only 4 people in the room.

I spent most of the time driving the Rotorua area with my Swiss roommate. First we hiked up Rainbow Mountain for some amazing views. In the afternoon we went to Geothermal Village to have a look at geysers, hot lakes, boiling water springs and bubbling mud. My favourite bit though was eating a Corn Cob which had been cooked in the hot spring. They must save money on Gas in the Rotorua area!

My last stop on the solo part of my New Zealand trip was to Taupo. It was good, although quite touristy, but then again it was Easter weekend when I was visiting. The lake was nice and I did a walk to Huka Falls with one of my roommates which was fun. The water passing over is so powerful. Apparently if you fell in you'd be held under for several hours. Agh!

On the Sunday I checked out early to head back up north to Auckland, ready to meet Ed and the Sugdens that afternoon. Because of the pass type I'd bought, I couldn't go direct, so I suppose the good thing is that I saw more of the country, but the bad thing was that the coach ride was 7 hours, calling via Tauranga and winding up a more easterly route.

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Photos

Auckland Sky Tower
People jump off it! (it's a payable attraction!)

Auckland
Skyline, viewed from Devenport

Waitomo Caves
It's too bright to see the glow worms but they were cool!

View from the top
of Rainbow Mountain

Geyser
Near Rotorua

Maori Sculpture
On a hill

Sunset
Over the geothermal park in Rotorua

Bubbling Mud
Looked disgusting

Huka Falls
in Taupo