Autolodge Motor Inn New Plymouth

... Bergsteiger und wechselnden Wetterverhältnissen immer wieder mal Menschenleben fordert, sticht gleich mal aus dem Landschaftsbild heraus: Da kam ich so in Waitara an, neugierig das kleine Farmerdorf erkundend, suchte eine Unterkunft, und nachdem ich mich in die einzige Bleibe Waitaras eingeschrieben hatte, bewaffnete ich mich mit Extrapulli und Fotoapparat. Die 2 Fish n Chipsshops, den Supermarkt und die ...

... blog please forgive any mistakes, misquotes or outright glitches in my recall. Feel free to add any corrections necessary, I enjoy the whole process. There, I got my disclaimer out there. Away we go...<br><br>Making our way down the Coromandel Peninsula, we thought we'd visit NZ's geothermal area, Rotorua. Upon arriving we finally got caught by the rains. This was actually a good time for us to sit still for a day or two and plan ahead. Apparently ...

... student tickets :D This weekend am off to waitomo caves to see the glowworm caves. Also more excitingly to absail 40m into the caves, go black water rafting (tubing in a cave), climb back out rock climbing and also go quadbiking. Also we are driving down the forgotton world highway to see some sights, and driving back via surf highway...should be fun. Keep you updated soon on how it goes....just hope the weather holds out :) xx

... hundred with us on the Tongariro Crossing so it was a bit distracting from the spectacular views. We entered two craters and circumnavigated Ngauruhoe cone. We got in several traffic jams over the lips of the craters trying to work our way around people crawling on their hands and knees on the slippery snow and ice. At one point the ground was clear of snow and we could feel the heat radiating out of ...

... After my dice with death, I decide to take it easy. Scoffing NZ ice-cream while strolling along the promenade, scaling Paritutu (the coastline craggy hill translated from Maori to 'Rising Precipice'). After a sweaty climb to the top (not aided by my Michelin-man finger and bruised body) I was rewarded with coastal, countryside and Sugar Loaf Islands views stretching for miles from the town to the mountain and across the sea. Next stop: Auckland.

... to drive and even had a little bit of a lesson the day before we left. She did very good, minus a few scares when she got too close to the side of the road! So after making it to the concert in one piece, we then proceeded to wait in line (for our tickets that were already paid for) for and HOUR AND A HALF! Yes, this was because they "didn't expect so many people to come through that gate, and had to send a runner to the top of the hill at the venue to ...

... r*ad in the wrecked skyline: As we headed s*uth thr*ugh Wanganui we w**e l**king f*r p*lice at ev**y turn and *pted t* find a campgr*und *r beach s*uth *f the city and hitchhike in t* use the int**net and l**k f*r a start** m*t*r f*r Jesse's *ld t*y*ta. We made a wr*ng turn and ended up at these shacks *ut in the middle *f n* wh**e wh**e the r*ad became t** sandy t* drive *n with *ut getting stuck. N*thing but black sand and driftw**d f*r miles until the ...

... and some vino, it was lovely to be back at Jims apartment, we nearly starting calling this place home at this stage. Thanks Jim. The next day we went into Auckland for another look around - we went for brunch in the Sky Tower if you don't mind! (it actually worked out really cheap as we didn't have to pay the observatory pass then....good call Jim!). This is a revolving restaurant at the top of sky tower, it rotates 360° in one hour and we ...

... do the rest of NZ with, so much to see and so little time. Anyway, Hamilton was fine, raining but fine, the Hostel was run by old people and they were really quite patronising but i was nice to them because i am a polite sweet girl. We went to the Waitomo Caves and did a thing called Black Labyrinth, which was black water rafting through caves on rubber rings and jumping bum first off small waterfalls in the caves. We had a light on out ...