Wellington - Nelson - Abel Tasman

Giovanni and I left for Wellington at 8:45 am on Sunday. It was cloudy so we didn't get to see much of the mountains in Tongariro Park. But it was a nice drive through there. The plantation were multiple colours of red, blackish brown and yellow. Mostly smaller bushes or grass that can survive the harsh weather conditions. Really neat. There were signs along the way posting that the military uses those grounds for training so you see "Danger Explosions!" signs. No one was training when we drove though. But would've been neat to see in the distance.We stopped in Foxton at a small cafe for lunch. Giovanni wouldn't take any money from me for gas so I bought him lunch.

Once we got to Wellington, we dropped off the rental car and got a complementary lift to our hostel, the Wellington Downtown Backpackers. Almost all the hostels in the city didn't have great reviews because the buildings were so old, large and busy, and not kept up so well on cleaning. But, ours was ok. It was 6 floors with the 1st floor being the bar, cafe, kitchen, lounge, and TV lounge. It was a good size. Giovanni had his own room, where I was in a dorm so we agreed to meet up later to watch the rugby game (France vs Canada) in the bar later. And no, Canada didn't win, but they did rather well since France is a stronger team. I went to bed after the game and we planned to meet up for dinner the next day at 6 pm.

In the morning, I checked out the shops looking for a new pair of convertible pants seeing how mine are quite tattered and it was pouring rain. Can't believe how long I took, 4 hours! I went to every outdoor shop and went back and forth through town and finally found a pair that fit decently in Macpac. A bit big in the waist, but came with a belt so I can work with that for now. It's grey too, which is the colour I wanted. Now when they get wet, it won't be transparent like my beige one ;)

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the museum, Te Papa. It's free admission and 4 floors. What a great place! I thought it wouldn't be that big seeing how it's free, but it was fantastic! 3 hours wasn't enough time. I learned how to do the Haka, read about the geologic activity (volcanoes, glaciers, rivers, ect...) and the pants and animal exhibits. They even had a colossal squid on

display. I real one preserved in formalin! One thing I really got a kick out of was a story about the repopulation of a flightless parrot, thought to be extinct the last 70 years, that they have discovered and now rehabilitating. They were trying to collect semen samples and the males

kept landing on people's heads to ummm, how to put this... make love. So they made a helmet that looked like a honeycomb made of silicon and called it the "ejaculation helmet" Too funny! Too bad it didn't work, guess the parrots preferred the hair!

The other floors were more historical talking about the Moari people and the immigrants and how New Zealand came to be.

Giovanni and I met up for dinner and went to Hell's Pizza. It was great! Nice thin crust and not super greasy. He was leaving for the South Island the next day to go to a rugby game so we spent the evening chatting and then said our goodbyes. He just wanted the company, such a sweet man!

The next day I went on a Lord of the Rings tour with Wellington Movie Tours. Yes, I know, a bit nerdy, but hey, you have to do it at least once! The guide Ted was wonderful! He played little movie clips in the van so we new what landscape we would be seeing and he even brought a laptop to the sites where he'd freeze the picture and point out all the details. It was neat! He even brought props so we could dress up and reenact the movie scenes! Hey, if your going to do this, might as well go all the way and be a fool! And what fun! We all had a good laugh. We saw the sites for Helm's deep/Minas Tirith (same spot, just a gravel quarry), Isengard, Rivendell (that's where I dressed up as Legolas doing his poster shot, lol), Hobbiton woods for the "get of the road" and "shortcut to mushrooms"scenes.

There were some others as well. Couldn't believe how much was done in

Wellington, even just on their hill, Mount Victoria. We ended the tour going to see the location of the studios and Weta Cave. Weta Cave was mostly just a shop to buy old props and souvenirs and watch a video were you can learn about what they do for all the special effects in the movies. They were filming at the studios making the prequel "the Hobbit" and we saw the stunt man for Bilbo (and Frodo in LOTR) walk in. He's from Kenya apparently. Then we drove around the coastline a bit before being dropped off.During dinner, I bumped into Sally from Australia whom I've bumped into 2 other times (met in Rotorua and again in Thames). We watched the rugby game together (Italy vs Russia) and then headed to bed.
I was heading to the South Island the next morning so I got up early to take the cable car up to the Botanical gardens. It would have been great later in the spring when everything is in bloom, but I did see the alpine parrot, the Kea, up in the trees. There were 4 of them. They're green with orange feathering under their wings. I had a nice view of Wellington as well. It's such a beautiful place. Not too big, and most of the housing is on the hillsides surrounded by trees or along the beachfront. I wish I had more time there. But, had to move on so I caught the ferry.

Guess who I bumped into on the ferry? Sergio and Andreas from Taupo! They were going to the same town as me. We caught up and decided to stay at the same hostel in Nelson together. Andreas wanted to do the same hike as me in the Abel Tasman Coast Track, but Sergio didn't have any gear. Once on the bus, Andreas and I did a bit of plotting and figured out our plans for the track and how to get Sergio to join us, I had a 2 person tent so there was room for him with me and all we had to do was hire a sleeping bag and mat for him. We both had cookware so that wasn't a problem.
We checked into our hostel, The Bug, once we arrived in Nelson. Anthony, the owner, picked us up at the bus stop and he was very helpful with suggestions on who to get supplies from and which company to use to get us to Abel Tasman. The hostel was small but perfect. Plenty of kitchen space (there were 2), lots on bathrooms and free internet and bikes! That was a major bonus!
The three of us grabbed bicycles and headed into town to the Rollo's Outdoor store to buy fuel for the stoves, dehydrated food and rent gear for Sergio. Once that was sorted, we went to the I-site to book our bus and water taxi ride. We chose Aquataxi as they were the cheapest and

offered pick-ups at our hostel, drove us to Marahau (the starting point of the Abel Tasman Coast Track) and had the water taxi to drop us off at our starting point. We decided to start our trek at Totaranui near the end of the track and to hike back into town. That way we'd sleep 3 nights and hike for 4 days. We then booked our chosen campsites with the DOC (Department of

Conservation), went to the grocery store to buy light lunches that our dehydrated food didn't cover and start the long process or reorganizing our backpacks. We had to leave what we didn't need behind in storage at the hostel so we wouldn't have to carry so much. Lighter is better!

I still ended up having my bag around 14 kgs. Then we all took showers, as it'll be a few days till our next one! Won't we be a pleasure on the bus on the way back, lol!

Our bus picked us up early in the morning and we arrived at the Aquataxi office around 9 am. There, we loaded onto the boat on a trailer, pulled by a tractor. They drove to the beach and backed into the ocean until the water was almost at the tractor drivers feet and launched us off.
Our captain showed us a little point where some of the birds nested on a cliff side and then we headed up the coast stopping at a couple beaches to drop people off for day hikes. We spotted some dolphins and watched them for a little while. There were about 6 or 7 of them. Then we went by Tonga Island to see the fur seals and their pups lounging on the rocks. And finally we

got off at our stop, Totaranui. We had a small snack and since our first campsite was only 1.5

hours away, we decided to stash our bags under some brush and hike farther north to Anapai bay. It was a nice hike, good to get warmed up. The beach was amazing! Nice golden sands with turquoise coloured sea, as is the whole coast. Such a beautiful place. We ventured around a while and then headed back to pick up our bags, eat another snack and head to our campsite at Waiharakeke Bay. They weren't kidding about the sand flies... they're everywhere and ravenous! Thanks goodness for insect repellent.

That was our easiest hike for the trip. Once we got to our site we pitched up our tents, got our beds ready then went back to the

beach. We had it all to ourselves. It was lovely! We found

all sorts of shells.Even a Paua shell! They're brilliantly coloured! Love them. I also found a seahorse skeleton. Crazy. We goofed around taking pictures and exploring, collected some fire wood, then as it started to get dark, walked across the fresh water stream to reach our campsite in amongst the trees. No one else was at our camp. It was great!

Andreas and I boiled some water for our dehydrated dinners of spaghetti bolagnase and shepherds pie and Sergio made the fire. The dinners weren't too bad. I liked the spaghetti best. While we were cooking, we saw 2 possums around us. They were interested in the smell of food, but kept their distance. We tried to get photos of them, but they ran from the light so we couldn't get any. Except Andreas did get one where you can just make the possum out. The night was fairly cold and the clouds were coming in so we didn't see too many stars. Once the fire started getting smaller we went to bed.

What a chilly night! So glad I bought my thermal merino underwear to sleep in and had my sleeping bag liner. It kept me toasty. My Exped air mat kept me very comfortable and with my Lamina sleeping bag, I was super cozy. I researched well and am

very happy with all my camping gear. I still need some practice with the stove though... took me forever to boil the water. He he

he.

Sergio was the first to get up the next morning (nothing new there, that guy's an early riser!). I lingered in bed for a few minutes but then heard Andreas getting up too and thought... ah hell, might as well get up. We boiled water for our water bottles for the day as well as our breakfast. Not my favorite in the dehydrated foods, the traditional breakfast. Don't think I'll get that one again. Once we were all packed we headed for our longest day of hiking at 9:30am, to Bark Bay campsite. We had to time our day as we had 2 tidal crossings to make and within 3 hours of low tide. Our first crossing was the longest on the track. Awaroa inlet takes

about 20 mins to cross.

It was full of muddy sections and streams up to our knees so we were bare foot. The shells were hard on the feet though. Once at the other side, we had a snack and carried onto the next crossing at Onetahuti. That was a short stream we went over and had a nice long beach to walk on before getting back onto the track. We stopped here for lunch which was good for me since I had blisters between my toes, on my heals and under my pads of my feet.

I thought, why is this happening? My shoes are well worn in and I've done lots of hiking without blisters before. Then it dawned on me. The salt was still on my feet, since I didn't rinse them with fresh water and acted like sand on my feet, rubbing with the moisture and all the extra weight of my gear... Ah ha. So... lesson learned. Rinse feet!!.

We stopped for an hour, (mostly because I needed it, the guys were so patient!) and I cleaned my feet and bandaged my sores. Ready to go for another 2 hours.We made it to Bark Bay around 4 pm and set up our beds. Firewood was already provided so we just rested from our 5 hours of tramping and as the sun set, we started a fire. Once we had that going, we made dinner. Roast chicken and turkey a la king. The roast chicken was delicious!! For me, that's the winner. There was another man hiking on his own, so I invited him to join our fire to warm up. He was from England and chatted with us for the evening. Andreas was off taking night photos and Sergio went to bed early. The night sky was clear and full of stars and Andreas gave me lessons the night before on how to take long exposure photos for the sky so we set up my camera too and I got a couple. Amazing stuff. I was super excited to learn how to use my camera more. He was a great teacher!

We had our usual routine in the morning and headed off to Anchorage campsite. It was another beautiful sunny day, but we did see some clouds coming and heard it might rain. But we were

prepared and ready for it. The cloud came, and went with no rain. Sunny again! Yay!

We had to cross a suspension bridge over an inlet to Falls River and as we looked down, we saw 2 fur seals playing in the water. What a joy to watch! They were doing acrobatics, both under and above the water, dashing , jumping, racing, twisting and somersaulting in the water. They were enjoying themselves :)

Once we got to Torrent bay, seeing how the tide was out, we thought, lets do the tidal crossing rather than go around the estuary. Sergio was well ahead of Andreas and I (something we were getting used to, man that guy's in shape!) as I made sure to wear my sandals this time as it would take 15-20 mins and there were lots of shells. Andreas just had his flip flops and when were were near the other side of the shoreline the mud got really sticky and deep and he got stuck! It was the funniest thing watching him try to break free. I could even hear Sergio laughing. Lol, good times.

Didn't take long from there to get to Anchorage, and we made it in 3 hours instead of the 4 they post. Thank goodness for that. My feet were better that day, but still a bit uncomfortable. There was a village there so we had to go to the other end of the beach to reach the campsite. The village is completely run on solar power and there is no road there so all the residents have to use boats to get into town. Maybe a nice summer retreat, but for permanent residency... I think I'll pass.

Once all settled in, we had lots of time in the afternoon to enjoy the sunshine. We were hoping to enjoy lunch on the beach but the wind decided to pick up and blow sand into our food so we moved back under tree cover at our campsite. Yumm, crunchy lunch, glad I didn't break any teeth.

After, Andreas wanted to go to a viewpoint (great more hiking, lol) , but Sergio wanted to stay behind and read, so just us two went. When we saw the sign saying it was almost an hour one way, I thought, maybe we could just go see the bay around the bend as it's only 20 mins? He agreed with me so we checked it out. Another nice golden beach, but this one was blocked from the wind :) We perched ourselves on a rock and enjoyed the view as we chatted about our childhoods.

When we got back, we thought we should think about a fire soon so we checked out the wood situation. Looked like we had to chop our own wood. We spent about an hour doing that. The axe was dull and neither of us were overly experienced in wood chopping. I'm ok using small axes for kindling but am nervous of the big axes. I'm scared that I'll miss my target and swing the axe right into my shin. Always have had that fear. Sergio actually was great at it. He got most of our firewood chopped. Told him he'd make a great lumberjack. Just needed a plaid shirt ;)

We had a roaring fire that night, the best one we've had, and ate our last 2 dehydrated dinners, pasta vegetariano and chicken curry (with cashews, Andreas is a cashew fanatic!). The curry would have been great if it wasn't spicy. But the taste was nice. We played around with our cameras again with the night sky and had an early night. It sure was nice that all 3 of us had fun cameras. Sergio used to do photography, so he was more subdued with his picture excitement, but he had loads of patience for us.

Sunday was our last hiking day. We walked 4 hours to get into the town of Marahau to catch our bus back to Nelson. Since the bus wasn't until 4:30 pm, we had lots of time and took it slow. Which was good since we had a couple steep hills to climb. It was nice

overlooking the bay as we left since the trees changed to a drier climate on the hilltop. We had some great views up there with the open areas.

We stopped at Apple Tree Bay for lunch which was about halfway. After eating, I explored around the rocks and found a cave. Well, I just had to check inside so I went back to my backpack to get my flashlights. Sergio was looking at me funny when I grabbed them seeing how sunny it was, and I just laughed and told him about the cave.

It was small inside but fun to check out. There were a whole bunch of giant crickets that lived in there and had a webbed nest as well. I got out and convinced the boys to check it out too. What fun!

Then we carried on and made it to town to the Aquataxi shop. We checked in and took our shoes off and put our feet up. Wow, what a great few days! Lovely beaches and nice trekking, not too difficult but enough to get you sweating and tired. We were all looking foreword to a shower.

We got dropped back off at The Bug in Nelson and went out to dinner after our showers. Andreas forgot he had his birthday on the hike so I bought him a beer to go with our roast beef dinners. What a great dinner, so nice to eat a hardy meal after eating light the last few days. After that, we just head to bed.

This morning we did our laundry and took the day to ourselves since we missed the bus leaving town . We slept in.

We arranged our travels for the next day and I took out a bike and disposed of the rest of my stove fuel and checked out the town. I went up a short hill (20 mins hike) to the summit to reach the landmark of the centre of New Zealand. Then I went to get groceries and make dinner. Chicken and broccoli.

Tomorrow we all catch the same bus in the morning, Andreas and I are both going to Punakaiki, but Sergio is heading to Franz Josef. It's going to be weird splitting up.

Mount Maunganui - Rotorua - Taupo

Su picked me up at 10:30 am in Thames as planned. We decided to go to Tauranga and stop at a beach along the way. We had a nice picnic on Waihi Beach and went for a little stroll to see the other side of the point. Some good waves there, only a few surfers though. The sand was really neat. Completely made up of shells along the water, but a distinct line where the shells end and soft volcanic sand starts near the high tidal area.
After, we headed to Tauranga. There was a small mountain near the town that Su said was really nice so we checked in to the Mt. Maunganui hostel. What a wonderful place! We had fresh muffins baked everyday by the owners and they were super friendly. The owner used to have a cattle farm with 400 cows, all by which were named, so that was why he said he could remember everyone's names who were staying there. Crazy!
The weather turned a little ugly the next day and I was feeling pretty tired from this sneezing cold I seemed to have acquired, so it was a low key day. I read my book and then walked into town in Mt. Maunganui to check out the shops. There were 2 stores that I could have easily drained my bank account in! Not only were they expensive, but I loved their clothes! So many beach wear and great pants, skirts/dresses that I could use for belly dance! I had to remember to just browse... and run out when temptation was getting to strong :) Later that evening I ended up in the TV lounge watching a little "trash TV" that a few girls were watching. Passed the time anyway.
The next day was better, the wind was moving the clouds quickly so that if it did rain, it went away just as fast. Su and I hiked up Mt. Maunganui to the summit. It was very nice to see the view of the town. Many sheep where along the bottom portion of the mount and some were newborns! Still covered in placenta, how cute! Lol! Su and I walked around the base of the mount as well and saw a kingfisher while telling stories to one another.
We had a quick lunch before heading down to Rotorua. We checked into the Funky Green Voyager again and I stuck around the hostel chatting to people while Su went to the Polynesian spa. She warned me she'd be out late (as she is normally in bed around 9 pm) and she didn't come back till 11 pm! I was surprised she wasn't all shriveled up as a prune, after being there 5 hours! That woman loves her spas :)
The next morning, we drove to Wai -O-Tapo to see the geyser. The park official placed soap in the geyser and after a few minutes, the surfactant causes it to bubble and eventually erupt. It was neat to see, but would have been really cool to see it's natural eruption as it's much bigger. Unfortunately, it erupts fairly randomly so that's why they do the demonstration every morning.
Su went to see the rest of the park, and seeing how I already have done that, I hitchhiked back into town. I was on the road for maybe 3 minutes before a car pulled up. A nice German guy working in Auckland as a builder. He told me about his job and how he hopes to move to the South Island and find work in Christchurch since they need many repairs and new buildings from the earthquake. The city centre still needs a lot done.
He dropped me off near the hostel and then I decided to go for a walk in the Redwoods Forest again. I took a different track this time, the green one. It walks though the forest rather than around. Took 1 hour which was fine as it takes 40 mins to walk to the park from the hostel and rain was heading my way. I made myself dinner and Su and I planned for the next day.
We drove around the lake to Hamurana where there was a natural spring with Alama, from France, whom we met at the hostel. It was cold crystal clear water with lots of birds and really green vegetation. The spring itself could fill an Olympic pool 2 times an hour. Really neat!
We then dropped Alama off at the bus stop and went to see the Blue Lake, just outside the Redwoods park. We walked around the lake and attempted to eat lunch at the picnic table back at the car. It was such a windy day! I was trying to make my peanut butter and jam sandwich and my jar of peanut butter flew away! I tried to grab it and then off went my water bottle and my bread. Of course the peanut butter was already on the bread so it stuck to my water bottle before landing on the ground making such a mess! Glad I was by the lake to help clean up! We had to sit in the car to eat. At least the birds got a good snack. He he he.
We continued to drive to Taupo and stopped at the Huka Falls just outside of town. The water had that beautiful glacier blue colour. The water level was decent with the occasional rainfall and had some nice rapids. There were people on jet boats down below getting up close for a look. Amazing boats those are. Pretty powerful.
We checked into the Blackcurant backpackers hostel. The guy working there, Henry from England, was very charming and just pouring with enthusiasm! A pleasure to talk to. The hostel was extremely comfortable and clean. Su and I were planning to hike up the Tongariro Alpine crossing, which is around 19 km long, and would be a great day hike. For those of you who have seen Lord of the Rings, it'd be known as "Mt. Doom." But, since the day before we arrived, it started snowing up on the mountain making it very dangerous and impossible to see. So, no hikes. The forecast was stating awful weather for the next week, so didn't look like it would happen. Su and I thought, let's check the weather again tomorrow, as it changes here so fast, and go check out the natural hot water stream up the road for now.
It was a small stream that emptied off a little ledge (making a tiny fall) into the river. The river was freezing! We'd try to be as close to the fall as possible, then get really hot and swim out towards the river. You could hear me squeak! Why did I do that, not once but 3 times? Right, supposed to be good for your circulation and most importantly, everyone else was doing it ;)LOl!
There where 8 other people to come and go and they were all Irish. All nearby for the Rugby games.
After our refreshing dip, Su and I headed back for dinner and a shower and spent the night chatting with Cecilia, a nice girl from Taiwan who works at an animal shelter back home. We stayed up late and it was wonderful. Such great people.
The next morning didn't have any good news with the weather. Still no change. Su decided she should head back home. We said our goodbyes and I wished her all the best. I'm sure going to miss her!
I decided to pay for a day pass with the shuttle and check out a few free places. I went to the Huka Honey Hive where they had a colony of bees that you could watch through glass. You can also learn all about them by both a video that was on the TV or reading their wall posters. It was fun watching the bees do a little dance to communicate to one another where the flowers were.
There was also free tastings of all different kinds of honey (I like the lavender honey best), honey wine, juice concentrate with honey, mead and an Irish cream with honey. All very interesting. And guess what mom and dad! I actually liked the honey wine! It was pretty sweet.
I sampled 2 different body creams as there were dozens of different kinds. Honey does wonders for the skin.
My next stop was the Aratiatia Dam at 2 pm to see the dam open and watch the rapids. It was ok. Nothing too outstanding. Took a while for the water level to rise actually. Took 15 mins for the water to really flow through the channel.
I got picked up and dropped off at my final stop at the Lava Glass. I watched the artist make 2 different glass pieces. A vase and an ornament. It was warm in there! The furnace sits at 1060 Celsius 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No wonder he was so skinny! He He. It was really neat to see. He had lots of his work on display in the shop for purchase. Neat how he could even put landscapes on some. He had one with trees and hills, another with waves from a river, and one with different volcanic plants. Amazing!
Once I got back to the hostel and made dinner, I met a few people. One girl, Debra from Belgium, I saw before in Rotorua, an Italian man named Giovanni, and 2 other men. Andreas from Germany and Sergio from Spain. We chatted for a while and talked about what each others plans were for the next day. There was a rugby game on (New Zealand vs Japan) that night and I think most of us staying at the hostel all crowded around in the lounge watching the game. I still didn't know all the rules but was doing my best to follow. I only asked a couple questions and only understood half of the answers. A few people had very strong accents making it difficult to understand what they were saying and I didn't want to interrupt everyone, so I just did my best to follow along.
The next morning was cloudy with some sunshine so I took advantage of the weather and hiked up the local Mount Tauhara. It wasn't maintained by the parks so the trail was very narrow and overgrown. I was warned to be careful as it can be dangerous when it's windy and wet, but I had no problems. I had proper hiking shoes and great hiking clothes so I was well prepared for the wet. Once near the summit the foliage changes. Instead of all the ferns and palms, I had more larger trees with tons of moss growing over it. So beautiful. Once at the summit, I could see a big rain cloud coming so figured I needed to make my break a short one and get back under the tree cover. I only passed 3 other people that day going down the mountain. Not so many people go up when wet and slippery. I had maybe 2 mins of hail and 10 mins of rain on the way down, but once I got to the bottom and had to cross the farm field to the car park for pick up, it was sunny again.
The shuttle dropped me off at the Debratts Thermal Spa. I spent about an hour there and walked back to the town. Took about 45 mins walking along the lakeside. It was very windy, but being in the 40 C spa had warmed me up so no problems there.
I spent my last day here just lounging around town window shopping. At dinner, Giovanni, Debra and I decided to go to a pub for a beer and watch another rugby game, Ireland vs Australia. I got to understand a little bit more with Giovanni explaining things. He was also heading to Wellington tomorrow and offered me a ride since I was wanting to head there to. So, plan is to leave tomorrow at 8:30 am. It's a 5 hour drive so it'll be great to have company :)

Coromandel Peninsula

So, I arranged to work for my accommodation at a hostel, named Sunkist, in Thames. I was to work 4 hours a day for 5 days and then get 2 days off. The position was for painting, however I did a lot of cleaning. Unfortunately, it wasn't the best place to work. The owner's have been trying to sell the place and are just completely done with it all. And their misery affects everyone there. Sad really. The hostel itself was nice at least. I was there for a total of 10 days.
Thames is a small mining town along the coast at the mouth of the Coromandel Peninsula. There is one main street with shops for 2 km and the rest is residential. The beach is a bird sanctuary with mangroves all along the shore. I was wondering why no one walked along the beach, so I thought I'd try it. I found a clearing and as soon as my foot hit the muddy surface, I almost lost my boot! Ah, now that's why! You'll fall flat on your face trying to walk through that mud. Hence the cement pathway that follows the shoreline for 5 km. Ha ha ha. Yup, I'm a quick one, lol.
I did go on a killer of a hike on one of my days off. A girl named Miriam (yup, you guessed it, she's from Germany) accompanied me to the Kauaeranga valley to hike up to a summit called the Pinnacles. It was 3 hours and 20 minutes to the top, and it was stairs almost the entire way! I thought I was going to die! I tell you, steps are way harder than a steep slope! I couldn't believe I made it. But what a lovely view! So worth the effort.
There was nice foliage the whole way up, and we crossed the river a couple times. A hut was located near the summit for people to camp in. There were beds with mattresses, stove tops and sinks with running water (not for drinking though) and outhouses. You bring in the rest, including cookware. What a great place. We were planning to stay there a night, but it was all booked up with school kids learning survival stuff.
The last set of stairs from the hut to the pinnacle summit took 45 mins (as I was so tired, but still made it 5 mins before the estimated time, yessss!) and they were a killer! After them, you had to climb up the slippery rocks to the viewing platform. Was it ever windy up there! Cold too.
On the way back down to the car park, we took a different trail. It was called Billygoat trail. Not as many stairs, but that was a good thing as my legs were jelly and having the shakes. What I like to call as "Elvis leg." The trail was steep in places and a bit slippery, but we managed just fine. Much easier coming down. Saw a little waterfall and some old train tracks from when they used to log the Kauri trees back in the day.
My other day off I hired a car to drive up the coast to Coromandel town. Such a gorgeous drive! Very narrow, and twisty but I drove slowly with my music blaring so I didn't mind one bit. It was neat how in places along the highway the trees would grow over the road, forming a "tunnel." The highway had a limit of 100 km/hr, but I have no idea how anyone can go that fast. So narrow with the steep cliff edge on one side and the steep coastal drop off on the other, with winding and twisting and more winding! My top speed was 70, lol.
The town itself was very small. Took me 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other. So, I decided to keep driving and went to Whangapoua. At the end of the town was a long beach with so many different shells. So pretty. I climbed along the boulders and followed a short path to another beach called New Chums Beach. I had it all to myself. After that, I headed back to the hostel for a few more days work.
Thursday was my last day working at Sunkist, so Friday I rented a car for the day again. This time, I drove to the east side of the coast to Hot Water Beach. I rented a shovel and walked out to where the rocks and warning signs were and dug myself a shallow hole. The hot spring seeped through the sand to fill the hole. It was super hot! Glad the tide was at maximum low and was now starting to come back in. With the occasional wave mixing in with the spring water, it was like a pool. So nice. I spent 3 hours there, chatting with a Korean lady named Su. We just chatted about life. She seemed a bit down and lonely and asked if I wanted to travel with her for a while. I thought, why not! Should be fun! We arranged that she'd meet me back in Thames the next morning at 10:30 am, as I was staying there one more night (only at the other hostel, Gateway Backpackers. And it was fabulous!)
After Hot Water Beach, I drove to Cathedral Cove in Hahei. Trail was about 45 minutes with a few other stops along the way to see other bays. Once at the cove, I met up with two boys that were staying at Sunkist a couple nights back so we chatted for a couple hours enjoying the beach. The sun started to tell us it was time to leave, so headed back to cars and called it a day. I drove back to Thames for my final night.
Once I was all settled in, one of my bunk mates, Debbie from England, thought we should head to the pub to watch the rugby game. It was The All Blacks first game, so we thought it would be good to see the locals enjoy themselves. But with Thames being such a small town, the pub was pretty quiet. Just a few of us. That's alright, at least we got $2 beers till the first point scored and free potato skins! Now off to bed with hopes of some new adventures with Su!

Rotorua

I caught an early morning bus from Auckland to head to Waitomo caves to see the glowworms. I arrived there around 10 am and just did a small tour. The cave was explored in 1887 by a Maori chief and an English surveyor who discovered that the millions of little lights were illuminated by larva of the glowworm. They emit light to attract its food and have long sticky lines hanging down to catch flying insects. Once caught, they draw up and devour the insect. So, the hungrier they are, the brighter they get! I wish I could post a photo, but we couldn't take pictures in the cave because of camera flashes. It really was like looking up at stars in a cave... only green in colour :)
After, we hopped back on the bus and arrived in Rotorua at 1:30 pm. You can instantly smell the sulphur in the air. Took about a day to get used to it. What a cool town! There was steam coming up from hot water pools or mud pools all over the place. Such a thermal active area! I loved it.
I checked into the Funky Green Voyager hostel which had a homey feel. Very comfortable and clean place. After talking to the receptionist, she asked if I wanted to go with the cleaning lady, Claudia from Germany, to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. Seeing how Claudia had rented a car, it was a perfect opportunity. So off we went. I hadn't even been at the hostel for 15 mins! Lol!
Wai-O-Tapu means sacred waters in Maori language. It was fantastic. Unbelievable the power mother nature has. The hot pools temperatures were up to 100 degrees Celsius, so no swimming here folks! The steam was wonderful. You warmed up instantly, had your sinuses become completely clear, and facial pores opened. So refreshing! There were many different colours coming up from the earth's core.
Here are some examples:

Green = colloidal sulphur/ferrous salts
Orange = antimony
Purple = manganese oxide
White = silica
Yellow-primrose = sulphur
Red-brown = iron oxide
Black = sulphur and carbon

The area was about 18 sq. km, and covered with collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud, water and steaming fumaroles and the volcanic dome of Maungakakaramea (Rainbow Mountain). The area dates back about 160,000 years of volcanic activity and is located on the right edge of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Streams are heated underground by magma left over from earlier eruptions and temperatures have been recorded up to 300 degrees Celsius! The hot water absorbs minerals out of the rocks and carries them to the surface where we see the different colours and smell the "rotten egg small" created by hydrogen sulphide. Nice. Ha ha.
We spent 2 hours walking around then checked out the bubbling mud pool. It was explosive! Some of the bubbles were huge and mud would fly a good distance. There are many places in town that have spas using the warm water and mud for facials.
On our way back to the hostel, we stopped by Kerosene Creek were you could swim in a natural hot spring. It was so nice. I spent the rest of the evening chatting up my fellow travellers and made pasta with veggies and tofu for supper.

The next day, I went on a hike with 2 friends from the hostel, Deborah from Germany (yes, there are a lot of Germans here) and Sebastian from England. We drove to a forest called Redwoods. Named after the trees, Coastal Californian Redwood. The largest trees here stand around 67 metres tall and 169 cm in diameter. They have nothing on those Kauri trees though!
There were 6 walking trails, but we just walked one that went around the forest, as it was the longest one that was open in the winter. Took us 2.5 hours to roam through. Saw many different species of fern, including the national emblem, the Silver Fern. It reminded me of the movie, Jurassic Park.
The Silver Fern is a really neat plant. The Maori people used to use it when they were hiking in the forest. They would take a piece off the plant and place it on the ground back side up. The underside is a pale colour and when the moonlight or torch light shines on it, it reflects back like a beacon leading the way back home. Just like the story Hansel and Gretel.
After the hike, Sebastian and I went to check out one of the Maori villages. We saw Whakarewarewa village. There is about 23 different families who actually live in the village and use the hot pools for cooking, bathing, and making decorative skirts. They also use the steam to cook all sorts of food and heat their home. We watched a demonstration on how to make the skirt out of flax, and a cultural performance with singing and dancing. It included the war dance the "haka." They stick their tongues out in a show of defiance. It's quite intimidating!
They have a small geyser that erupts throughout the day every hour. The bathing pools are dug outs that are filled up by the natural hot spring flowing down a channel. The natural minerals give the water an oily feel, so the people don't use any shampoo or soaps. Au natural! The ground however is unstable. If you stomp on it, you can feel the vibration as the surface is not to thick. One of the houses had an area that collapsed inside and now has steam rising up inside the home. They were still in the process of sectioning off the area so the house could be removed safely. Scary! Amazing these people still live here! But they sure make use of their resources.
I spent today just roaming around town and checking out the local market of arts and crafts. I found a job painting for my exchange of accommodation north of here in a town called Thames so I'll head there tomorrow.

Paihia

I caught the intercity bus up north to Paihia. Small little beach town, but beautiful... and quiet! I stayed at the YHA Paihia hostel. Really nice being here out of season, as I imagine it being "party central" in the summer.
I booked a double tour so I could see the 2 main sights I went up there to see, 90 mile beach and Waipoua Kauri Forest. Then I just roamed the town and sat by the ocean side till dark.
The next day, I did the Cape Reinga tour. And guess who got on the bus? My friend Julia from Auckland!
We stopped for a tea break at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom, which was a cafe and gift shop. They featured old dead kauri trees that they've pulled from swamps and carved them into sculptures. The shop itself had an amazing staircase made up of an old stump. These trees are impressive!
Then we continued to 90 mile beach where the coach drove right along the shore. It just kept on going, and going, and going... We took a little stop to stretch our legs and enjoy the ocean. Our driver dug up some shellfish for us to try, but I passed on that one. My friend Julia tried it. Brave girl! Then we continued to the dunes for some sand boarding. I could have done that all day! So much fun... but a good workout. Wasn't easy climbing up the sandy dune.
Then we drove to the very northern part of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. There's a little lighthouse at the point that we walked to. Lovely coastline. Would be nice to take the time to walk the trails along the coast. Note for next time!
On the way back we stopped at a little park that had a boardwalk through the forest. Only took about 10 minutes, very short. After we arrived back in Paihia, Julia and I went out for dinner before calling it a day.
The next day, I went to a farmland owned by a Swiss couple. There were huge boulders on their farm that was really out of place. We went for a walk around the area. Saw 2 hawks and a parakeet. Stunning colours to see in the wild!
After, we headed to Waipoua Kauri Forest to see the largest tree in the country, Tane Mahuta. I was in awe. I've never seen anything so big. Absolutely amazing! It is believed to be 2000 years old and sprang from a seed during the lifetime of Christ. The height is 51.5 metres, trunk girth 13.8 metres and trunk volume is 244.5 metres! Wow! The birds were singing lovely songs and our guide was telling us stories from the Mauri people. What a neat experience!
After I got back, I went over to Julia's hostel for a visit. And she made a wonderful dinner. With dessert as well! Very nice.
I'm staying the night in Auckland tonight and will head to see the glowworms tomorrow!

Auckland

I arrived just fine :) My backpack made the long flight as well, so it is a great start. I haven't experienced "jet lag" before, but if it includes vertigo, then I guess that's what I'm getting over. Feels strange standing in one place and yet the world is still moving.

I checked into the BK Hostel on "K road" and have been meeting such wonderful people. Everyone's very friendly, and my bunk mates are great. The first night, I had a girl named Julia from Germany, and a girl named Avvil from Taiwan. We went for dinner together and chatted for hours. They both left the next morning, but 2 more people checked into my room. Caoimhe (pronounced Queeva) from Ireland and Jaques from Canada. Caoimhe and I hit it off very well and spent the next few days roaming the city together. Jaques joined us for chats and a film one of the nights.

Auckland isn't to different from other cities so I'm ready to move on now. However, there is the world cup rugy games coming up. They have the countdown going right in the city. Lol!

I'm in the process of trying to find short term work, but it's tricky with the amount of time I'm here for. Easier to get employment if I'm here for 6 months. But I'll head up north tomorrow to do some sightseeing while I wait for replies.