New Zealand - North Island - Rotorua to Tongariro National Park - Day 5
December 21, 2005

Setting off at a comparatively late 9am, we decided to check out a few of the attractions around Rotorua that we had missed the day before due to my flu, which while still present was slightly more bearable than the day before. Passing the green and blue lakes (which weren't anywhere near as impressive as we were led to believe due to the overcast and rainy weather) we made our way to the Buried Village of Te Wairoa.


Buried Village
One of the many waterfalls.

The Buried Village is the buried remains of a town destroyed by the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1846. With a timetable to stick to we rushed through the museum showing artifacts excavated after the eruption and information on the eruption and the Maori prophecy which foretold the disaster before making our way to the buried buildings themselves. We wandered through the partially buried and some partially excavated buildings before coming to a stream which passed through the village, we could have grabbed the big rainbow trout swimming in it with our bare hands from the shore, but we didn't. We took the lookout path past a series of waterfalls to a spot overlooking Lake Tarawera before making our way back to the main building and back on the road again.


Wai-O-Tapo Mud Pools
One of my flu symptoms.

We drove back towards the Lady Knox Geyser and Wai-O-Tapu to see the Mud pools which are apparently one of the largest mud pools in the world. After grabbing a few happy snaps of erupting mud globs it was back into the car and south towards our next destination - Tongariro National Park. We stopped a couple of times on the way, first at Huka Falls to see the vibrant blue colour of the waters and then briefly at The Craters of the Moon thermal area. With the rain getting heavier we decided that we'd already seen similar things at Rotorua and figured it would be better to stay dry, so we moved on.


Huka Falls
It's really blue 'n stuff.

As we drove along the road to National Park we could barely make out the base of the volcanic mountains of Tongariro, Ngaruhoe and Ruapehu as they rose up through the thick cloud above us. Disappointed that we couldn't see the supposedly stunning views of the mountains, we dropped the luggage at our accommodation and drove up to Whakapapa Village on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu. After stopping briefly at the visitors center we drove up to the ski field at the very top, being summer there was no snow (even though it was bloody freezing), but the barren rocky landscape surrounded by thick fog was quite eerie, and you could see why they filmed some of the scenes for Mordor in the Lord of the Rings movies there.


The Slopes of Mt Doom.
It's really rocky 'n stuff.

On the way down the mountain we decided to attempt one of the shorter walks (1 hour return) up the slopes as the weather seemed to be clearing up a little. We must have made it about half way before the rain and cold set in again and we had to admit defeat and turn around. Cold, wet, sick and miserable we went back to our accommodation and made use of the hot spa. We spent the rest of the night relaxing in the lounge of our accommodation before having an early night, hoping the weather would be clear in the morning so we could catch a glimpse of the volcanoes.

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New Zealand - North Island - Waitomo to Rotorua - Day 4
December 20, 2005

After much protesting I was awoken to hit the road to Rotorua (or "The Big Stink" as it's known), feeling thoroughly shitty as my flu was getting worse. We left Waitomo on our two and a half hour drive east to Rotorua through the pouring rain and sheep blocking the highway.


Rush hour at Waitomo.
A classic example of a kiwi and his harem.
We reached our first stop at Wai-O-Tapu "Thermal Wonderland" which is a group of natural thermal formations with a fence around it and an entry fee to get in. We paid for our tickets and grabbed a dodgy umbrella (it kept opening of its own accord) from the gift shop to protect us for the torrential downpour outside. However, then we discovered that the Lady Knox Geyser which was due to erupt in about 10 minutes was back on the road we just came from on an unlabeled side road, so we could have basically gotten in there to see that without paying, had we known it was there.


Fiona with the Lady Knox Geyser
Something in this photo smells.
We jumped back in the car and raced to the geyser, stepped out of the car with our umbrella ready and the rain stopped. This would be the first of many times the weather fairy would bless us as we developed a bit of a pattern with rain stopping as we opened the car door and starting again as soon as we got back in. We enjoyed our first taste of the sickly sulfur smell as the geyser erupted in front of us before we drove back to the main area of Wai-O-Tapu to see the rest of the formations.

We wandered the "wonderland" for a good hour or two with much complaining and taking rest stops for my failing body, witnessing various sights like bubbling mud pools, strange coloured lakes and hot pools belching stinky steam, hot waterfalls and a small lake of water which was literally neon green in colour along with many steaming craters and vents. We eventually made our way back to the entrance and set off again for our accomodation at "The Funky Green Voyager" in Rotorua.


Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland
Take a deep breath before you enter.
We reached our hostel around lunch time and made sandwiches before I took a few cold and flu tablets we'd picked up in town and had a brief nap. It didn't last long as Fiona dragged me back into the car as I muttered between breaths "I'm dying". We made our way to Kuirau Park which is a free public park in the town itself with several active hot pools and mud pools dotted between trees and naturally fed hot spas for your feet. Though not as varied and large as Wai-O-Tapu, Kuirau Park was actually quite good and some of the hot pools and mudpools were more impressive and active than the paid entry park.

We drove through a few back streets and witnessed the many thermal vents dotted around people's yards on our way to St Faith's Church and the Tamatekapua Maori Meeting House which overlooks Lake Rotorua. We headed back to our hostel after briefly checking out the Government Gardens surrounding the Rotorua Museum. There we waited for our bus to take us to the Mitai Maori Village, an "authentic" maori dinner and show night. The show is run by the Mitai Maori family and consisted of a demonstration of maori culture, dance and costume, minus the tattoos (they're all painted on) in a show and a Hangi meal (buried food with hot coals) afterwards.


Matai Maori Village
Caution, rehearsed bad jokes await you.
We were seated with a couple of Victorian kids (one that blinked a lot) and a friendly backpacking pom while we ate, after which we were taken on a short tour to a small spring on the property, passing some glowworms through the forest on the way. With our bellies full and very tired we jumped back on our bus to take us home to bed at the Funky Green Voyager.

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New Zealand - North Island - Auckland to Waitomo - Day 3
December 19, 2005

Up bright and early to hit the road to Waitomo, roughly a 2 hour and 45 minute drive south of Auckland. We stopped on the way at Otorohanga to visit the Kiwi House, a bird sanctuary which should be renamed "A crap load of other birds and 2 Kiwi's House". Rain started setting in as we progressed to Waitomo and by the time we reached our accommodation at Juno Hall Backpackers it was well and truly pouring. We had a quick look at our first room with an ensuite on the trip and put on the slicks as we took off again for our cave tours.

We had a bit of time to kill so we stopped in at the Angora Rabbit Shearing Shed. Here we met a strange over informative Kiwi woman who told us that the buildings and facilities for the glowworm caves had burnt down completely just 3 days prior, and that the caves had only just been reopened for tours that day. "They think it was arson" she half whispered to us.


Otorohanga Kiwi House
Kiwis are much larger than I thought they were
The conversation eventually moved on to the angora rabbits and it was then she told us about the possum problem in New Zealand after I pointed out some of the possum fur and hybrid rabbit/sheep/possum wool items for sale in the shed's shop. The native Australian possums were introduced years ago and now are a huge problem in New Zealand with an estimated 70 million over both islands causing major problems for the native vegetation and fauna. We saw hundreds of them squished on the road during the trip ourselves.

We actually walked in as they were just finishing shearing one of the rabbits and saw it stretched out length ways on something resembling a torture rack. Shaved ("not shaved, they're actually sheared" this woman would say) they don't look much different to a regular rabbit, it wasn't until they brought out a before specimen that we saw what they really looked like...a big ball of fluff.


An Angora Rabbit
Satan comes in many forms.
We managed to escape from the shearing shed by distracting the woman with an elaborate plan which I won't go into, let's just say it involved duct tape, flashing lights, loud sounds and a bottle of chloroform. Upon arriving at the Aranui Caves we met our tour guide and discovered that we were to be the only 2 people on the tour. With our own private tour guide we wandered the caves at our own pace and took a ton of photos which didn't turn out and generally admired the stalagmites, stalactites and various strange formations as we chatted to the tour guide about real estate prices in Brisbane.

Moving on we arrived at the Glowworm Caves and saw the big black patch of ground where the office, cafe and souvenir shop once stood. We entered the cave with our large Maori tour guide with a strange over-pronunciated way of talking and had a brief tour on foot through the caves which appeared much larger in height and width in some places than the Aranui Caves. Working our way down, we jumped in a little boat and slowly cruised through the underground river to see the thousands of glowworms (which are actually fly larvae) above us, the river exited the caves back near where the now burnt down buildings once stood and we made a mad dash through the rain back to the car.

With the rain showing no sign of easing we went to a local cafe at another hostel for pizza before heading back for a lazy evening in our room at the hostel and early to bed as I felt more symptoms of a flu setting in.


Aranui Caves
Natural habitat of the Angora Rabbit

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New Zealand - North Island - Auckland - Day 2
December 18, 2005

After a crappy night's sleep and awakening to a sore throat we chugged our way up Mount Eden, which is actually one of several "potentially" active volcanoes dotted across Auckland, so I was ready to "potentially" run and scream like a girl at the slightest tremor. We reached the top and found what you would expect of any potentially active volcano smack bang in the middle of a metropolitan city...cows... grazing on the volcano's crater, accompanied by thousands upon thousands of annoying little bugs.


Auckland
Beautiful one day, cows and erupting volcanoes the next.
After ejecting some hitchhiking bugs from the car we grabbed some breakfast from a nearby bakery and drove up to the One Tree Hill Domain to eat it in the gardens there. One Tree Hill Domain got it's name from a large pine tree that sat at the top of a hill overlooking the city...until it fell down. I guess they just haven't gotten around to changing the signs to No Tree Hill.

We drove back to the hostel and dropped off the shitbox car before heading on foot into town. We wandered the wharf area briefly before getting some "fush and chups" from Pompino restaurant which I had eaten at while in Auckland briefly on the way to LA in 2002.

With our stomachs full we jumped on the free inner city bus and did a lap of the circuit to check out all the sites before jumping off at the top of town to check out the town hall and places like the Civic Theatre a 1920's Art Deco design theatre where some interior shots for the new King Kong movie where filmed. We couldn't get inside to take a look but we had a peek through the windows to see the fancy pants foyer which I could recognize from the film.


The Civic Theatre and King Kong (Not Shown)

We then strolled down to the other side of town to the Victoria Park Markets to wade through stalls and shops filled with tacky trinkets and gifts. We stopped by a cheapy warehouse shop on the way back to the city and after asking where the Eskys were and getting nothing but blank stares in return we had to explain what we wanted before being pointed to something the Kiwi's call a "Chilly Bin" which was close enough for our needs.

We took the bus back to the hostel, dropped off the Chilly Bin and took the car out again to the Auckland Domain to relax for a bit in the gardens around the museum. We then drove back into town and arrived at the Skytower where we had planned to have a cheap dinner in the cafe at the top. Inside we discovered that the entry fee for the cafe and viewing deck was $18, but entry was free if you ate at the fancy pants rotating restaurant at the top, as long as you spent a minimum of $25.

Armed with our coupon for the restaurant which gave us free glasses of wine with a meal and our tactic for getting entry and meal for not much more than the usual price of entry we watched the bottom of the elevator shaft fade away below us through the glass floor of the elevator as we ascended to the top. It wasn't until we had ordered our meal (more fush for me and pasta for Fiona) and had our free glasses of wine that Fiona realised that the rotating restaurant was actually rotating!, though only very, very slowly.

A couple of rotations later and we went downstairs to the viewing deck and watched the sunset over Auckland before we grabbed what would be the first of many local beers (Red Lion) for me and an ice-cream for Fiona. After a stop at a supermarket on the way back to the hostel to pick up supplies we lay our heads down for another haunted, restless sleep.


Sunset from the Skytower with diamonds

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Well I haven't posted in months, a lot's happened, but nothing has happened with the site so I'm refocusing it for a while. To cut a short story long, I've got a new job at Krome Studios and I've just returned from a three week trip to New Zealand with my girlfriend Fiona, and here starts the beginning of my diary of the events (based off Fiona's extensive diary notes).

New Zealand - North Island - Auckland - Day 1
December 17, 2005

We landed safely at Auckland Airport and sat enjoying the spectacular views of the tarmac from our plane while we waited half an hour for buses to take us to the terminal, thanks to an Air New Zealand flight which stole our terminal gate, great start to the trip!

We picked up our brand new piece-of-shit-4-Door Hyundai Getz from the car rental company after complaining that the car they originally wanted to give us wouldn't fit all our luggage in the boot. But with only only 64kms on the clock and getting a 4-Door (rather than the 2-Door we paid for) with that lovely brand new toxic car smell - we thought it was great, until of course we tried to drive it up it's first hill...Slowly.


Our Hyundai Getz
Indian Name - Stallsonhills
Fiona took the wheel and off we went, we dropped off our luggage at "City Garden Lodge" Backpackers and as we drove out to the Skydome Observatory at approximately 6:50pm (a mere two hours after we had picked up the car) a police car behind us decided to flash his lights and use his siren behind us. Fiona, obviously not aware of the local custom, asked "What do I do?!, What do I do?! at which point I had to suggest pulling over might be a good start. The officer kindly informed us that she was driving at the leisurely pace of 68Kmph in a 50 zone. After fumbling trying to get the electric window open to explain herself and producing her license and passport and telling him we had just arrived from Australia and wasn't aware of the 50Kph speed limit in towns and city streets unless otherwise marked, the police officer took her license number and the car's license plate number and let us off with a warning.

After a sleepy evening at the Skydome Observatory (thanks to the reclining seats and starry sky projected onto a screen above us) we headed back to the City Garden Lodge, it was as we were leaving we realized how late the sun sets over there, it was past 9 o'clock at night by the time the sun ducked behind the hills! Though that was nothing, by the time we got to the South Island, the sun was setting closer to 10:30pm. Anyway, we went back to the hostel, and had a shitty night's sleep as drunken backpackers came home from the city at two in the morning and made a heap of noise in the bathroom right next to our room, it's for this reason I give "City Garden Lodge" of Auckland - New Zealand the "Shittiest Place We Stayed" Award.


City Garden Lodge
Don't stay here on a Friday or Saturday night.

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