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Published: March 18th 2011
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Finally got my new computer working again. I bought a new netbook before I left the south island and it quit working about a week later. Unfortunately, I found that the store I bought it from only had locations on the south island and the only Acer repair center on the north island was in Auckland. Fortunately, it only took a day to fix and I'm back in computer action!
The ferry ride over from Picton on the south to Wellington in the north was very nice.
The ferry was huge, like a cruise ship with bars and restaurants, and even a movie theater. I spent my time watching the islands go by....much better than a movie!
Wellington is known for being windy. Check! Between the wind, and the uncomfortable hostel beds, and having to pay to park my car, I cut my trip to Welly short. I did enjoy a museum and a concert before I left. The concert was a trio comprised of an American, an Irishman, and a Kiwi and played Americana/"newgrass" music in a great old theater.
I drove to Taranaki the next day to climb the volcano. Mt Taranaki is a lone volcano in
Mt Taranaki
Mt Doom in the distance the middle of rolling hills close to the ocean. I had to wait out a couple of days of rain, but was rewarded with a great hike with a couple of other folks from the hostel. It was a hard climb up to the top, but well worth it.
More rain, so I headed underground to see the glow worms in Waitomo. There are many caves in the area and many tours through them. Some of the tours are more adventure oriented where you float through the underground rivers in inner tubes and rappel down waterfalls. Normally, I'm all about the adrenaline, but I just wanted to see the best glow, so I went on a more laid back tour. It was awesome! The highlight was floating in a raft through the cave completely illuminated by the light of the glow worms hanging from the ceiling. It was bright enough to cast a shadow after your eyes adjusted and looked like little green stars. Magic!
Next, I continued the volcano theme and did a 3 day hike in Tongariro National Park around the volcanoes. One of them was supposedly Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings. Awesome
hike, interesting landscape. A highlight of the trip!
I drove through Taupo to Rotorua for a few days. Rotorua is the NZ version of Yellowstone with many thermal features, but is not a national park so people live in the area. Many of the homes in the town are heated with the hot water from underground. My hostel had a natural thermal spa which I used after mountain biking for the second day in a row. Rotorua is well known in NZ for its mountain biking trails. 100 kms of fast flowy single track! Woohoo! Before I left Rotorua, I attended a church service there at St Faith's. The outside looked like a typical quaint little church, but the inside was completely decorated with Maori carvings. The service was in English and Maori. It was great seeing the melding of the two cultures.
On to the Coromandel Peninsula for some beach fun. I stopped in Hahei for some kayaking in Cathedral Cove. Also went to Hot Water Beach where natural hot springs are accessible at low tide right on the beach. Everyone gathers, finds a hot spot and digs a hole to make their very own beachside hot
tub! Very cool to work up a sweat digging your hole (usually taking a few attempts with the ocean waves breaking through the sand walls a few times), cooling off in the ocean, and then happily steaming away in your handmade pool. Great fun listening to all the languages as people from all over the world gather to recreate their childhood, happily digging in the sand!
After a leisurely drive along the peninsula to see other beaches, I did another hike through what used to be a spectacular forest of kauri trees and is now regenerating. The kauri trees where almost as large as the Sequoias and the wood was very valuable, so it was all cut down in the 1920s. The NZ lumberjacks were pretty determined and didnt leave any trees in that area. It was a nice walk to the largest hut in NZ next to an interesting rock formation (the Pinnacles). I decided to wait to climb up until sunrise the next morning. that was a mistake since there was no view due to the clouds. Oh well....
I've now made my way to Auckland and will venture north a bit further before coming back to fly
to Australia. I am kind of sad that the NZ adventure is coming to a close, but will sqeeze out some more fun before I leave!
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sam
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Annie, You turned down an adrenaline tour floating in an underground river and rappelling down a waterfall for glow worms.....are you feeling okay? Let me guess....are you saving your energy for something big in Australia???? Can't wait to read your next blog!!! Stay safe, Sam