We got on the Kiwi Experience bus! Yay! Finally our adventures through the rest of the New Zealand could start! Before leaving Auckland we went to Mt Eden, another dormant volcano that overlooks the city. There is a story that a couple of years ago some college grads put burning tires in the crater late one night so when the city awoke to see smoke coming from the mountain they all assumed the volcano was erupting!!
Anyways, now we are out of Auckland and driving the Coromandel Peninsula which is known for there vcation homes and beachs. We stopped a few hours to check out Cathedral Cove. It's called Cathedral Cove because of the archway that has been eroded into the rocks. Beautiful blue skies and water here! Amanda had been giving us a hard time that we hadn't had a swim yet in New Zealand so we cooled off in the freezing water here. We are thinking about coming back here near the end of out New Zealand times because that way we can appreciate the beaches here and visit Charlotte's friends cottage. Back on the bus we headed to Hot Water Beach for the night. Hot Water Beach has this unique thing where at low tide you can dig holes in the sand to find boiling hot water so hot that you actually need to mix sea water with it to avoid buring yourself. Low tide for us wasn't until 10pm so off we went to the beach with flashlights and shovels to dig ourselves some holes to sit in. Our own private hottubs! Pretty cool!
Day 15
En route to Waitomo we visited Karangahake Scenic Reserve for a 30 min hike over swing bridges, through gorges and in old railway tunnels. Next we passed through a town called Paeroa. Lemon and Paeroa or L&P is a soft drink that was originally made here to cure hangeovers but now is "World Famous in New Zealand." And of course we got a pictures with the giant L&P bottle like a true tourist. CHECK! Although it was orginally made to cure hangovers it is good to cause them too...yummy to mix with vodka :)
When we got to Waitomo we had booked the legendary black water rafting trip called the Abyss. Right before going on the trip our guide reminds us of the movie Sanctum where for those of you who havn't seen it basically all the people die in a cave. Awesome! First, we started off abseiling down into a cave about 11 storeys. Scariest part of the whole tour! Then we ziplined into the darkness further into the caves. Next, we jumped into the water with tubes where we floated around looking up at the glowworms. the glowworms were pretty interesting but not as much when we were told they are actually maggots glowing to attract other insects to eat! Yuck! We wandered through more caves, squeezing through small spaces and swimming in cold water with our only light coming from our headlamp. To finish of the trip we had to climb up waterfalls to the surface! So great! Well worth the money!!!! That night we just more rugby at the only bar in town called Curleys.
Day 16
Sunday we are back on the bus to make our way to Rotorua (or Sulphur City or Rotten-ua). Part of this city really smells because of the geothermal activity. There is bubbling pools of mud and water everywhere. Mid-day we took a gondola ride up Mt Ngongataha to go luging. This wasn't typical luging but just taking a cart down a steep hill. We bought 5 runs on 3 different tracks and despite the rain I wish I could have gone all day! Around dinner time we were picked up to go to a Maori (New Zealand natives) village called Tamaki. We wanted to go because Kiwis seeem to really embrace this culture into their own so we wanted to learn more about it. When we got there they had a cermony when they do their famous eye bulging and sicking out of their tongue. We then walked around the village where we were shown poi twiling, weapons and the haka (made famous by the All Blacks). And finally the best part was that they cooked us a feast using the traditional hangi (earth oven-hot rocks, baskets for food and buried with dirt). It was a good substitute thanksgiving dinner! Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
Oh...and more rugby! Quarter-finals with the All Blacks vs Argentina. All Blacks won!
Day 17
Charlotte and I decided to stay an extra night in Rotorua so it was the first time we left our original bus. It was raining all day but we still mangaged to walk around to look at the goverment gardens and the bubbling surphur pools around. It was quiz night at the hostel bar and our team got 2nd to winning a $100 bar tab. So close but probably too dangerous anyways! Good team name too- Quiz-team-a Aguilera. I definitely want to use this when i get back for Morissey House quiz!
Day 18
On our way to Taupo we stopped at a few places before like a bee farm and Huka Falls. The falls are on the Waikato River formed by an earthquake splitting the land. Once getting Taupo we walked around the town. We bumpted into a fun hole-in-one competition where the hole is out on an island dock in the lake. The winners get $10 000! I wish I was good at golf! Lake Taupo is the biggest lake in New Zealand. The country of Singapore could fit into the lake but it still has nothing on the Great Lakes! Since it was still raining outside the only thing to do was play drinking games in the hostel room. Later on most of the bus went down to the bar to go dancing. Good times!
Day 19
Still raining!! We were all feeling a little hungover anyways! I had my first pie of beef, bacon and cheese. Now I know what everyone is always raving about! YUM!
Day 20
To start off the day our bus driver took us to Tawhai Falls on our way out of Taupo. These falls are also known as Gollums pool from Lord of the Rings! I'll have to go back and take notice in the movie. Next we went to Tongariro National Park and we went on a 2 hour hike. There was falls over lava fields and more scerny from LOTRs like Mt Doom. After our hike we took an hour drive twisting and turning through the sheep filled Ruahine ranges to get to the extremely remote River Valley. This was a really cute lodge! We might go back and be slaves to get free accommaodation and whitewater rafting. All there was to do here at night was drink, play giant jenga and go to bed early!
Gollum's Pool
On our way to Wellington we took a short visit to a town called Bulls. Bulls jokes about their town name by naming places and things with BULL in it. For example, the police station is called Const-A-BULL. We arrived in Wellington late afternoon.
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