Saturday, June 5, 2010Took the 11 am intercity bus from Wellington to Rotorua. Stopped at flat hills for the lunch break, and arrived at 7 pm. The YHA accidentally booked me in a private room rather than a dorm for the same price. What a shame!
Sunday, June 6, 2010Got picked up by the geyser link shuttle early and went out to some mudpots, the Lady Knox geyser (activated by dropping in soap or surfactant), then dropped off at the Wai-o-tapu thermal park. It was raining a lot but still fun to look at some of the thermal features.
Lady Knox Geyser
Wai-o-tapu
Got back to the isite after noon and had just enough time to get a pie for lunch before the pickup for hobbiton. Even though it was raining off and on, it was still one of the best tours I’ve done here. I would love to say more and share photos, but too bad we had to sign a working film production location confidentiality form!
*insert neat pictures of hobbiton here*
Afterward we got a sheep shearing demonstration.
End of the hobbiton tour
Monday, June 7, 2010The Kiwi Experience “East As” trip was cancelled because the other people signed up for it backed out, but that turned out to be not a bad thing at all. Jumped on the Geyser Link shuttle again and went to Waimangu, the world’s newest geothermal area. The walk went past the world’s largest hot spring, the deep blue Inferno Crater, and other features down to Lake Rotomahana, where the famous pink and white terraces used to be. On the geyser link I met Marie from Denmark, who also wanted to go to White Island so we booked busses and the tour together.
Waimangu
Inferno Crater
In the evening I went to the Mitai Maori village. Had a cultural experience show and a hangi dinner. Went on a Rainbow Springs wildlife park night tour after. There were some glow worms on the bank of the freshwater spring and an eel in the water, then the kiwi birds, some swans and a kea, and the rainbow trout and other fish at the end.
Hangi dinner
Rainbow Springs
Tuesday, June 8, 2010I wanted to fit in something before the bus at noon, so took a shuttle to the redwood forest. Walked most of the red track and up the yellow a bit to a lookout of the Whaka thermal area. Went back to the isite for a lamb, kumera, and rosemary pie before the bus to Whakatane arrived. Marie and I checked into the Whakatane Hotel and walked around town a bit and up to the lookout at the beginning of the scenic reserve tracks. At the White Island tour office they said the tour hadn’t run for the last 5 days because of sea conditions, and there was a 50/50 chance of it running tomorrow. Called the them at 7, and they said the crew still hadn’t decided rather the tour would run so to call back at 8 am.
California Red Wood forest
Wednesday, June 9, 2010Called at 8 am, and they said they hadn’t decided yet so call back in 5. 10 minutes later they finally decided the tour would be running! It was a rocky 1 hour boat ride over (with a cuppa hot pumpkin soup just after leaving), then we had to land on the alternative side because of the sea conditions, Wilson Bay instead of Crater Bay.
White Island
Got into a raft and I ended up soaked from the first wave we hit. Circled around a few times until we could jump onto some large slippery boulders and climb across all the rocks onto the island. When the rest of the group arrived, our guide casually told us “In the event of an eruption, run for cover. They will be very short and violent, with little to no warning.”
We walked up to the very edge of the main crater (the lake inside has a pH of -.5), and right next to all the yellow cone sulfur fumerals. The place smelled a lot more like acid than sulfur, so the gas mask was very useful when we got close to everything since it was a little irritating to the lungs. We ended by exploring the remains of the old 1923-33 sulfur mine, then went back to the boat on the Crater Bay side. Stopped on a calm side of the island for lunch then headed back to Whakatane.
Edge of the main crater
Marie and I went back to the lookouts from the day before to watch the sunset, and cooked dinner back at the backpackers. There was a quiz night we joined at the Irish Pub on the ground floor of the backpackers. It’s a weekly event for the town locals, so Marie and I, the Magma Chicks, lost terribly. Especially when it came to questions on kiwi TV and sports. At least we got a consolation prize for coming in last!
Sunset
Quiz night
Thursday, June 10, 2010Took a bus to Tarunga then a local bus to Mt. Monganui. We heard a lot of people say to go there, so we wanted to see what all the talk was about, and it is a very cool place. Hiked through a field of sheep and up the mountain for an amazing view of the ocean and the city. Spent a long time taking photos of fantail birds at the top. On the way back down we saw someone getting ready to paraglide. Casual as, he lifted up the parachute and shot straight into the air. We watched a few others jump and float around us for awhile.
Overlooking Mt. Monganui
Fantail bird
Paragliders
We ran into Nicole on the mountain, she was doing a Magic Bus tour of the North Island this week. On the way down we watched the sheep trying to eat kiwifruit for awhile (one of the most NZ things I’ve seen), and walked along the beach out to an island for the sunset. Stopped for hot chocolate in town and ran into Nicole again, who happened to be our other roommate at the backpackers.
Hiking down the mountain
Sheep eating a kiwifruit
Friday, June 11, 2010Early bus from Mt. Monganui to Rotorua. Called some places about horse treks, but they weren’t open because of the weather, even though it cleared up at noon. Walked around the Government Gardens to take some photos. Took a tour of the Rotorua museum and spent the rest of the day thoroughly exploring it.
Rotorua museum
Saturday, June 12, 2010Early bus to New Plymouth. Got in at 2 and ran into Josni, Sam, and Sarah at the isite there. Walked down to their accommodation with them, then Leah, Ben, Chelsea, and Amanda got into town and picked me up there. We went to the campsite to set up then walked into town for dinner at subway. Headed out to the stadium early since we just had general admission tickets. Tons of Ireland fans, but they’ve never won against the All Blacks, and it was clear why as soon as the game started. Early on they scored 21 points in only 10 minutes, it was too easy. The final score was All Blacks 66 to 28.
All Blacks Vs. Ireland
All Blacks score again
Sunday, June 13, 2010Ben and I left just after 6 am to take early morning photos. It was too foggy to see Mt. Taranaki, but we drove out to Stratford and got some decent shots a few km down the Forgotten World Highway. Got back just in time to leave by 10. Drove back to Wellington and Nexus. Total photos? 1,736 on this trip.
Forgotten World Highway
