Grumpy'S Motel Whitianga

... due to the tidal conditions, we couldn't dop the thermal beach pool thing and also as the taxi (yes, THE taxi) had finished for the day (at 4pm!) we couldn't do much later either. Regardless, was a good time to get to know others and chill out. Photo's, as usual, as pretty pich.<br>

... What I did like about the area was the information on how Wellington was formed.<br>The Polynesian god Maui fished from his waka (canoe). The waka is the south island, the prow<br>is the Marlborough Sounds. He caught an enormous fish, the north island. If you look at a map of New Zealand you can still see the jawbones of the head of the fish. The head of the fish belongs on the Australian Plate which is being buckled up as the Pacific Plate is dragged below it. The Maori ...

... having got there I decided i had to go up it and see the views from the top. Its only a 20-25 minute walk if you race up there but the views are pretty special. I decided to give the beach a miss as the winds were really heavy today but it does look like a lovely beach and place to spend a few days topping up the tan. About 1.30 I got the first of two buses ...

... zum Heiss Wasser Strand in dem Vulkane sehr grosse Vorratsbehaelter des ueberhitzten Wassers entwickeln. Das heisse Wasser gelangt dann von Zeit zu Zeit an die Oberflaeche wo es dann abkuehlt. Das Wasser wird bis zu 64 Grad heiss (hab mir meine Fuesse verbrannt) und enthaelt eine unmenge Salz (kein Salzwasser), Kalzium, Magnesium, Fluor, Brom und Silikon. Der Ort war voller Leute, die in ihren gebudelten Loechern sassen ...

... wir noch im National Kauri Museum vorbei, indem es echt wahnsinnige Sachen aus Kauri Holz gab. Toni,unser Busfahrer, fuhr mit uns auf dem Weg noch am Hotwater Beach und an der cathedral Cave vorbei. Das Besondere am Hotwater Beach ist, dass man sich bei Ebbe ein Loch Buddeln konnte, aus dem dann heisses Wasser kam und man sich reinhocken konnte....die Betonung liegt auf konnte!! Denn an dem Strand war die Hoelle los, da jeder was vom heissen Wasser abhaben wollte ...

... and fries. That was just great, I tell you! That night we also planed our next steps for the next day. Bedtime was at 11.30 as usual... Heute mussten wir nach Auckland fahren um unseren Roy gegen ein Auto zu tauschen, das wir am Vorabend gebucht hatten. Wir verliessen Orewa so gegen 11h und erreichten Hertz in Auckland ungefaehr um halb eins. Wir erhielten einen roten Toyota Corolla mit wenigen Kilometern drauf. Danach brachten wir den Wohnwagen zurueck, unseren Roy. Wir denken ...

4 months 26 days.................. Arriving in New Zealand after 2 long flights (L.A to Hong Kong 15.5 hours, with a 6 hour layover, and then Hong Kong to Auckland 11 hours) we were surprised that we felt pretty good. We were all a little lost in terms of time as we went to the Airport in L.A. Tuesday evening and arrived in New Zealand on Friday morning. We were going to go into Hong Kong to kill some time but when Raymond ...

... I hopped on to a Magic Bus, which will eventually take me down to Wellington where I plan to work. I already have a place to live (I hope), and all I need to do is find a job. Tomorrow I head to Waitomo Caves to see some glow worms, and then will venture on to Rotarua. Can't wait! Anywho, keep in touch. I will send postcards to people soon. Caro xo

... for us to pich a tent as the campsites want at least $15 per person - crazy prices! We got up in the morning to find Coromandel is a really picturesque but sleepy town, we walked around for a few minutes, got a brew on and ate some pot noodles before heading off on our enxt road trip - somewhere towards Rotarora.

... but getting tp the water is a nightmare and i'm suprised we didn;t break an ankle climbing over the rocks in flip flops. then the water was really rough and FREEZING, and the visibility looked really poor, so we decided to not go in. but we did have a nice walk. Decided that we would leave Whitianga day earlier than planned and our hostel said they'd givce us a days money back so all good. On to Aukland tomorrow!