Phew! Wayne, did you do that?
Travel Location: Rotorua,New-Zealand
Well, we arrived in Rotorua about an hour ago and it lives up to its name of the ‘smelly city’. The smell of sulphur is certainly in the air, although it’s not as bad as I thought it might be.
Now, to update you on what else has happened….
We flew out at 11.40 on the 26th and Jorgia in particular was absolutely beside herself about being on a plane. We must have had a tail wind, because the flight only took about 2 1/2 hours.
We stayed the night in a motel in the centre of Auckland and had to be up early in the morning to get to our next destination. Auckland wasn’t terribly exciting. Except for the giant bungy slingshot opposite our hotel and the Skytower up the road, it was pretty well indistinguishable from any other big city.
Yesterday morning we drove to Pahia, about 3 1/2 hours to the north of Auckland. We were treated to spectacular scenery on the way, with cows and sheep standing on hillsides that looked impossibly steep. Everything is so green, unlike home at the moment.
The thing that has really struck us is the hydrangeas (impressed Charmaine?). They are HUGE! the bushes are the size of a family car and they are so vividly purple that it almost hurts to look at them. The agapanthus are really purple too.
We also like how considerate the drivers are here. Merging traffic just seems to happen without anyone getting in a bother.
Anyway, yesterday we did an afternoon cruise at the Bay of Islands. The cruise was about 4 hours long. The weather was a bit ordinary on the way out and it was difficult to get out on deck to see things as the boat was lurching around a bit, so initially we were a bit disappointed. But then, we went through the Cape Brett Hole in the rock. That was incredible (I’ll post pictures when we get home). The boat didn’t have much clearance on either side. then we stopped off at a little island where Zane Greay (American author) stayed a lot. Jorgia and Wayne walked to the top of a rather large hill and got spectacular 360 degree views. The boat trip home was much better as we got a seat out on the deck and were able to see the many beautiful islands. All in all it was a great day.
The drive down today was long (7 hours), but everyone coped well with the drive… Jorgia did get a bit carsick, but nothing major, just required a swap of seats and she was right. Despite the length of the drive, there is always spectacular scenery to watch and the vegetation changes frequently, so there is always something new to look at.
Tomorrow we stay in Rotorua and do the geothermal stuff, as well as a Maori tour and concert. I’ll try to post again in two days from Lake Taupo.
OOOOH, guess what Charmie and Roz???? Lindauer Fraise is $7.99 a bottle!!!! (That’s NZ dollars!!!). Petrol, on the other hand, is $1.42 a litre.
Hope you enjoyed my first post, keep your eyes peeled for more news.
