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Published: July 19th 2006
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Auckland
Sky Tower After delaying and delaying I finally made it to NZ, only 13 hours from Santiago to Auckland but it felt like another world. The first thing I really noticed was just how nice NZ is, everyone is friendly, the air quality is good, the cities are clean, the loos are excellent, the buses are nice...you get the picture. It took a few days to get used to the idea of not being in South Am, found myself using Spanish words a few times in conversation. But it was was good holding a full conversation with somebody in a shop for the first time in ages.
The next thing to get used to was the Kiwi lingo 'Sweet As', 'Arr Yeah', 'Shit Yeah' all used in pretty much every conversation. Other words of interest, Trundlers - Supermarket Trolleys, Chilly Bins - Cool Box, Tramping - Hiking, Bach - Holiday Home, Handle - Glass of Beer in the boozer and Chips is pronounced Chups!
After alot of recommendations I booked onto a Stray Tour, a hop-on hop-off coach tour from Auckland to Christchurch. The other option was Kiwi Experience, but unfortunately I'm about 10yrs too old for all that. First stop
Northland
Kauri Tree, huge! on big orange Stray Tour bus was the Northland and Paihi. I thought my summer might have come to an end but the weather here was glorious. NZ - the further north you go the better the weather, the shorts & flip flops got a little more use.
Paihi is a really nice beach resort about 4 hours north of Auckland. The first activity swimming with dolphins, boarded the catamaran at 8am and head off in search. We spotted several pods but all had baby dolphins present, your not allowed to swim with the babies. We eventually found an adult pod, the instructions where clear get in the water as quickly as possible swim as fast you can and make alot of noise and movement under the surface to attract the Dolphins, they like to play you see. First attempt went pretty badly, dived off the boat head under making alot of noise and swam hard, no dolphins in sight. When I looked up I realised everyone else had headed off in a completely different direction! Success on the third attempt though the dolphins swam round the group for a few minutes looking to play. Its amazing how quickly
90 Mile Beach
Sand Boarding and effortlessly they move in the water. One swam right round me!
The Northland is also famous for the 90 mile beach, actually only 55 miles long but still a very long beach. Our dune tour took us to the tip of NZ, Cape Reinga where you see the Tasmin Sea crash into the Pacific Ocean. Stopping for sand boarding along the way I managed to jam my camera.....now on camera number 3 of the trip.
You see alot of Fish & Chip (Chups) shops claiming to be the best in the world. Having sampled a fair few portions in my time I can state the fish is excellent but the chips just don't cut it, too much like fries.
Next stop Raglan a little surf community on the west coast, we stayed in a great hostel stuck away in the woodland near the beach. My surfing is still pretty poor. Leaving Raglan we travelled through Waitomo to Rotorua, possibly the smelliest place in NZ. Yes they do they have soap and water its the areas geo thermal activity that makes the town hum of rotten eggs, sulphur. Walking through town you can turn a corner and
be hit with a full blast of rotten eggs not the best first thing in the morning! The city park is a maze of cordoned off areas where the ground has given way to bubbling mud pools, mini boiling lakes and steam venting from the ground. Sticking to the path is essential! The upside is the area is full of hot mineral springs (to relax in) and amazing rock formations.
The hills surrounding Rotorua have excellent Mountain Biking tracks, apparently the best in the Southern Hemisphere - you see this quite alot in NZ, xxx is the greatest/best in the Southern Hemisphere, no that much competition compared with the Northern Hemisphere - anyhow I had a great day on the tracks! There is a pic below of one of the drops.
Rotorua also has many Maori cultural attractions, one night we took in a Maori experience evening. Excellent fun, eat traditional food, got taught the Haka! performed the Haka on stage!! played traditional fighting games (with sticks) and watched a play. All very interesting, the Maori culture really feels like its embraced in NZ and a strong part of the national identity and culture.
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Markus
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Caving
Did you really just pass straight through Waitomo? There are some excellent caves there, but its not good if you are scared of the dark. Is that a problem in Luton?