Advertisement
Published: August 16th 2007
Edit Blog Post
HEY everyone, sorry its been a while!! You probably heard about the travelblog problemo though? Well, heres lots and lots of photos of the North Island - just thought we'd get up to date before we fly to . . .. . FIJI TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CAMPERVAN
Oh Yes, We've gone and got ourselves another smelly campervan. Have to say, bigger and better than the last one, but the bed seems to be a collection of 0.5cm thick panels of MDF that you lay across the van to kind of create the illusion of a double bed. Go to sleep on it, big mistake, as one can gurantee that you will be woken due to the panels caving/slipping and falling beneath you. We both feel a weee bit deprived of sleep at this current moment in time, but hey, a night in a hostel with a REAL BED tonight will do the trick and just for an extra quick recovery we're gonna fly to Fiji tomorrow. Sweeeeet.
Apart from that, the campervan was pretty good - we've seen pretty much all of the north island when and where ever we have wanted. It all started with. . . . .
.
1. WELLINGTON - The capital of New Zealand. This is where the ferry from the South Island brought us and our camper too to start exploring the North island of NZ. There were some funny buildlings here - the beehive (their parliament) and lots of shops. It was a pretty average city. To be honest, we have seen our best things when we have been in between the CBDs and going about our own ways through the countryside, seeing the sheep, the calves, volcanoes, hot mud, the usual. Its very different to the SOuth Island, there are many more people here, much more business orientated and so to see the the beauty of New Zealand in the North, you really have to escape all the people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. NAPIER - ART DECO TOWN - So we read up a bit about this place, a place with the art deco feeling everywhere you turn. A small town which was destroyed in an earthquake and rebuilt in the 1930s which lead to the current Art Deco look that it sports. Wasnt really a lot there other than the buildings. We stayed for one day and then moved on.
3. LAKE TAUPO - a pretty place by a lake (obviously) which caters for mad sports enthusiasts. Unfortunately a bit too late in the year for us and everything just that bit expensive. Went to Huka Falls, which was quite an impressive stretch of river which the craziest rapids. Nice to watch and zone out for a bit. Craters of the moon, a huge thermal areas with steam escaping from vents in the grounds everywhere as well as a scattering of bubbling mud pools.
4. ROTORUA - One of the 1st stops = HELLS GATE (thermal park) - THERMAL MUD POOLS, INACTIVE VOLCANOES - We wakled around the park to see bubbling pools of mud with secret legends, secret skin perfecting properties and lots of other interesting things. It was pretty amazing. Some of the pools were sulpher pools and therefore had an unbearable smell hovering around them of just eggy farts really - was quite funny seeing other people walking around the park with scarves over their noses.
Another experience in Rotorua was going to a Maori village, meeting Maori people, sharing their food, experiencing a traditional introduction to a Maori tribe (chiefs offering eachother a silver fern
leaf, acceptance, the touching of both person's forheads as a greeting - by both women and men.) We saw Maori fighting, dancing, hunting, also experienced and participated in the most scary tribal dance, the HAKA. Noone can do this half effort, it just has such, i dunno, RAHHHH to it! Heres the translation of it for you -
"Tis Death,
Tis Death,
Tis Life, Tis Life,
Tis Death, Tis Death,
Tis Life, Tis Life,
This is the man, the fierce, powerful man,
It was he who captured the sun
and caused it to shine
It rises and sets
Rises and sets,
The Sun Shines!"
When doing it, you gotta really open your eyes, so your eyes lids appear not to be there, and shout every word as loud as you can, grunting and roaring between each word, stick out your tongue, slap your thighs and chests - as hard as you can handle -, stamp your feet and by the end of it, (the Maoris had the reddist chests and thighs, the sweatiest bodies, reddest eyes) you're so out of breath and so fired up - its amazing. It was great to see the All Blacks doing it,
but they were quite far away from us, seeing it done so close up, seeing the feeling and emotion in the eyes of the people. . . .beautiful.
5. BAY OF ISLANDS - BIG TREES - KAURI - Chris did very well with the driving that he had to do to get us to the Bay of Islands in the time that we had left. Time has sone so quickly while we have had this campervan. We had to get to the Bay of Islands as we had heard that it was so pretty and there were some amazing 2000 year old trees that we had to see. The Kauri tree. It had a girth of over 6metres, the trunk was about 16m tall and with the branches and leaves etc added on, the total height of the tree was over 60 metres tall. Quite overwhelming, especially to think- it was alive at the time of Christ. . . .
Advertisement
Tot: 0.473s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 15; qc: 70; dbt: 0.1762s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Tricia
non-member comment
New Zealand
Beautiful photos again. That flower is the arum lily I think darling. Hope by now you are in the heat of Fiji - lucky things!! Summer here but no heat. Nicky and I got to the semi finals of one of the Cromer tennis tournaments so are pleased with ourselves. Speak soon - tons of love - Mum