Kris went to university around 9am and I sorted through all my stuff, deciding what I needed for the USA and what I could send home. I was left with two bags of stuff to send home, and still a lot of stuff going with me. I tried walking down […]
New Zealand
Crap weather today. Kris and I planned to go to the Waitakeres, but neither of us fancied hiking in the rain. So Kris went to university and I went into the city. Did some shopping and went on the internet, and got thoroughly wet walking around. I got back to […]
Auckland, Wasting Time
2 It was blowing a gale in the Bay of Islands this morning: everyone in the hostel who had a trip booked had it cancelled. I spent a couple of hours on the internet, then went over to Waitangi, where the treaty was signed in 1840. I saw a really big […]
Northland Day 2
On my own for a couple of days now: Kris doesn’t really have any money left, and wanted to get back into doing work. So I headed north. My first stop was Goat Island near Leigh, which is a marine reserve. I took a walk along the rocks and saw […]
Northland: Beaches and Big Trees
Waitomo is famous for its glowworm caves, and that’s basically the only reason tourists come here. Most of the caving activities, like tubing and abseiling, were too expensive for us though, so we settled with Spellbound: a bit of walking, followed by sitting in a boat in one of the […]
Caves and Glowworms
We checked out, but weren’t planning to leave Taupo until 3pm. Rainbow Lodge lets you stay all day after you’ve checked out though. Kris and I played Scrabble, which I lost badly, but didn’t have a terrible score. Then we went to Taupo’s mini golf, and both did better than […]
Taupo to Waitomo
Went to an internet café early and copied my photos onto CD to free up memory card space. Also found out that my second memory card had a virus, so I bought a new one to replace that. Me and Kris went to Napier today. It wasn’t really worth the […]
Napier
Checked out and went back to Te Whaka for the cultural performance. It was quite interesting having half-dressed Maoris stamping and dancing, and making weird faces at us. Anyway, that finished around noon and we got on the road to Taupo. We stopped at the Wai-O-Tapu thermal reserve on the […]
Rotorua to Taupo
Started our day with a walk around Rotorua. There are a few thermal reserves around where you can pay to look at geysers and mud pools and have a guided tour; but there is also thermal activity around town. We started in Kuirau Park, looking at bubbling mud and steam […]
Rotorua
Walked down to get the rental car at 11am: it’s a red Toyota Echo. Nice car but took a while to get used to the clutch/biting point: lots of boy racer starts! I met Kris’s Welsh friend Sion, and turns out he’s from Mold and worked in Denbigh before heading […]
Travelling Again
Monday.Last day! I had to show Elisabeth the ropes. All done by 1pm, then spent the afternoon doing the usual TV and puzzles. Went to Schnapps around 8pm. Had supper there because it was being bought for me. Hamish wrote “Happy Travels” on the side of the plate. Ange gave […]
Leaving National Park
Thursday. Woke up at 7.30am, so a grand total of 10 hours sleep in the past two nights. Managed to stay in bed until 10am though (it’s my day off, by the way). Paulina finished work and we headed up to the skifield. Really shitty weather, so we headed over […]
Thursday 2nd – Sunday 5th August
Friday. Went up to the skifield around 9am, and spent an hour and a half in the cafe, waiting for the weather to improve. There seemed to be quite a lot of people skiing, but most of the lifts were closed so they were all using one slope. It wasn’t […]
Friday 27th July – Wednesday 1st August
Friday. Bought myself a pair of proper skiing gloves another thermal top (it was pink and only $10). Then went over to Schnapps for breakfast. Eggs Benedict today. Then I spent the rest of the day sat there, by the fire, reading. Jeff also stoppped by and chatted for a […]
Friday 20th – Thursday 26th July
Friday. Phoned Dad at 8am and caught him before he was going to the pub. Got the feeling I was being hurried off the phone! Went for breakfast in Schnapps around 11am. Had pancakes with berries. Yum. Had a very pleasant few hours reading and chatting to the staff. Went […]