The Kilns Pottery and Station B&B North Island

... the most fantastic sunny day, so the boat trip was more than pleasant and being on the island in the sun showed all the yellow shades of sulpher colours. I'll say it again but this was just an amazing day. Wow Wow Wow!!! Big smiles all over leaving the harbour and driving back into Rotorua (really pongy rotten egg smells again) and heading south to Lake Taupo, New Zealands biggest lake at 606 km2 and also a volcannic crater or a ...

... about 30 min and then we drop the tubes and walk through the caves, sometimes actually swimming in the freezing cold water (we do have wet suits!)... it is quite pleasant although I feel the guides are trying a little too hard to make it "fun" and "scary"... still it is nice, we even get a natural mud mask on whilst doing it all : part of the fun apparently... ;o) sounding a little sarcastic I know... I think I picked that up from this new group.. ;o ...

... s Avonds hang ik wat voor de TV, speel wat op mijn computer en, aangezien ik de kamer voor mijzelf heb, ga ik vandaag bijzonder vroeg naar bed. Donderdag 3 Juli Vandaag sta ik weer vroeg op! Net na negenen sta ik bij de information center om een trip naar White Island te boeken. White Island is een actieve vulkaan ongeveer 50 kilometer uit in de zee. De boottochten brengen je hier naar toe en zetten je af aan land waar je met een gids naar de ...

... the only way to be totally covered is if you're over 25 but i didn't mind. Bay of plenty is very nice place. The beach stretches for miles and miles. Stopped of at it on the way down and took a few photos. Had to cross over a railway track to get to the beach which was pretty cool because a really long train carrying logs came just as we were leaving the ...

... chatting, especially about their new life here and the New Zealand lifestyle. It really is a great place live. We stayed for a delicious home cooked dinner, our first for over eight months, thanks Niall and eventually left very late. A very enjoyable afternoon and evening. Sunday 18th May Another late start, then a short drive to explore the surrounding area. We visited the site of an old Maori 'Pa' (fortress) on the top of a hill overlooking the river and ...

... After our long winding and dusty trip we arrived a Whakatane (pronounced fa-ka-ta-ne) which is the closest town to NZ most active volcano called White Island. The volcano is said to have some spectacular diving with massive schools of fish and occasional whale sightings. We arrived a little late to make a booking for the next days diving so decided to save the money for the Poor Knights islands.

... across the island by past eruptions are the size of small cars, so I have serious doubts as to the usefulness of these hats, but I suppose they made us look the part. We were taken around this continually changing landscape to see the sulphur chimneys, lakes and remnants of the old sulphur processing plant. Another New Zealand great experience ...I'm starting to see why people enthuse so much about the place ...I really am. A&Vx

... ook niet al te druk om te maken. In het Information Centre pleegden zee en telefoontje voor me en voor ik het wist had ik een deurcode in mijn hand en kon ik naar het hostel. Met een bakje koffie nestelde ik me op de veranda en raakte in een interessant gesprek met de eigenaar van het hostel, een Maori. Die middag ging ik het dorp in om wat te winkelen en te lunchen. Na de regen die we afgelopen weekend eindelijk gehad hadden, was de hemel nu weer strakblauw ...

... essential. Our guide Robert was fantastic and knew so much about the island and it's history. We had to take off our shoes to get back into the helicopter as the earth on the island is so acidic, it could corride the aluminium on the helicopter floor. On the way back in the helicopter we spotted a pod of dolphins, Robert brought the helicopter in low over the ocean so we could get a good look. It was an amazing experience Talk soon, Lisa and Paul

... it was enough to make it a little lighter for the rest of my travels. I then started out on my journey up to Whakatane, just 84km north of Rotorua so the shortest of any of my drives so far. As I did not want to arrive there too much before I was able to check in I decided to do the tourist thing and stop at every possible scenic site on my way there. First bit of scenery came courtesy of Lake Rotoiti, a huge expanse of water ...