Puriri Park Boutique Hotel Tauranga

... glow or even cherries jubilee. You may also here these words:<br> <br><br> &#8220;Do you have anything more orange?&#8221;<br> <br><br> or <br> <br><br> &#8220;You don't have my skin tone, nevermind i'll take it anway it's cheap&#8221;<br> <br><br> or the complaint<br> <br><br> &#8220;It's to hard you should make it easier&#8221; really its buying lip stick, it's not even high school science. <br> <br><br> Some people are so amazed by our emporiam of wonder ...

... Dave. It rained all day yesterday so we just sat around and watched about 4 films in the tv room. Today the weather was a lot better so we took a stroll around town and down to the beach. We'll be happy to leave tomorrow as the hostel were staying in is full of strange characters and apparently there was an incident between 2 guests which involved a knife a few nights back!? We're off out to see the new Star Trek film now, Rach has been waiting for ages to see this!!!

... are two lookout points, allowing for great views of the surrounding area, as well as a sculpture garden and (rather short and unfinished) bush walk. The next day was a continuation to Whangamata, again with a few choice stops. First was a two hour walk to Cathedral Cove and Gemstone beach. On the beach we managed to wade out a little and see a stingray that was floating around, my first wild stingray! Then we moved on to Hot Springs Beach, famous for the ...

... Day two, we still stink of eggs but that's not going to put us off zorbing and free falling. We went to the Agrodome and signed up to do the Freefall Xtreme which is basically a parachuting experience without the parachutes! You don your Xtreme suit and jump on top of a net until a huge pillar of wind lifts you off it. Then try and balance without getting flung off the edge, it's harder than it looks! Then it was time to get strapped into a huge plastic ball and let ...

... dinner, I went to the Shore Excursion Office to thank them for doing it - they told me we had a $25 credit to make up for our inconvenience which I hope shuts up the complainers.  Again, I just wonder why people find it necessary to complain in such a nasty and aggressive way, rather than just stating their case, and asking for something to be done. All the huffing and puffing just irritates me, and seems pointless.   I had something to eat - we had been ...

... the picky! Whilst staying in Rotorua we signed up for a Maori cultural night where we visited a reconstructed village complete with a battle re-enactment, a Maori dance and an all-you-can-eat roast dinner. The dinner was cooked underground in a pit over a 8-hour period using nothing but volcanic rocks and it was amazing!! There was every meat you could possibly wish for and mountains ...

... its hot springs, so this was incorporated into the rooms. Not the smell but the idea of the sulphur pools, that is! Next to our very small bathroom was a large window from ceiling to just above the floor. Climbing non-ladylike out of this window brought you into a very enclosed outdoor stone paved pool. The pool was only about 2 metre sq! But there was a big long pipe coming down the wall with attached taps. The idea is that you fill this small outside area with hot water and bathe ...

... laid back place. From there we went back to their house which is very beautiful. Its about 15km outside of own in the hills. They purchased the house about 2 years ago from a Dutch family. On the property, besides a great view of the countryside, is a horse, 15 sheep, a pig, several chickens. They also have a rottweiler/something mix whose name is Marley. He's a really cool dog, but in my opinion not as cool as Max...but then again ...

The van switch in Hamilton takes the best part of a day and, rather than go back to the caves (thinking that they will be pretty flooded by now) area we decide to move on to Rotorua. We arrive late in the day and look around a couple of commercial campsites but decide they are not worth the money and decide to head off to the boat landing on a small spit of land right beside the lake. A beautiful setting, lots of birds and the sunset is amazing. We settle ...

... some of the requirements for growing and harvesting kiwi fruit - one of the country's major crops. We continued on to Wai-O-Tapu, almost missing the eruption of Lady Geyser. Once that was finished, we went to the park's entrance and began our walk through the thermal areas, where the boiling water and various chemicals produce pools and craters of amazing size and color. We quickly got used to ...