The Home of Hardy Rotorua

Our first stop of the day was Tauranga. We parked up and went for a wander along the sea front. It was a really sunny day and we enjoyed the sea air. We then went to the DOC office to pick up some leaflets on the government campsites and as it was lunchtime we made some cheese sandwiches in the back of Daisy. We did however ...

Found just one Thai place in Rotorua and found out why...it must have run all the other places out of business.  Started out with a sweet and spicy seafood curry soup and then came out the char-broiled lamb chops and duck red curry - could be the best meal so far :)

... happy snap' areas (as Josh would put it). Today we went to the Karangahake Reserve gorges. I know going for a walk across a rocky swing bridge with boys jumping up and down sounds like anyones idea of hell (especially for those of us who are terrified of heights) but you'd be surprised how enjoyable it is. In fact, it seemed to sort the hangovers out because you become so distracted by the beautiful ...

... te ontdekken. Dit konden we doen in het Te Puia centrum, waar we kennis gemaakt hebben met de geschiedenis, het houtsnijden, het textielweven, enz. We hebben ons (alweer) verwent op een spa-therapie, met enkele hete zwempoelen tussen 36 en 41 graden Celcius. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

... this rich sources of food have spark a tribal war. During this war, his tribe have lost good warriors in defending the river and their bodies were buried in caves next to the river. Raft have overturned many times before during the waterfall drop, the guide gather us beside the river as we were ask to look at the river while he say prayer in Maori to the ancestors, river, earth, trees as to Maori they were all connected in ...

... have to hike a bit, but man oh man, it was literally just a heated waterfall that you stand under and get perfect bath temp water. If that wasn't hot enough, dig in the sand and it gets hotter... it was just amazing. So then I came back to the hostel and hung out with the Austians and Scotish girl. We talked about relationships and traveling and where to go next. and now it is time for bed. I smell like old firework and am too tired ...

... told them not to tell anyone about it. They thought their meeting was completely random, crazy, but were still willing to give the newly drawn map a chance. After driving several hours north to outside of Rotarua they used the map to find the fabled swimming hole. Andy and Greg spent several days there camping and cleared away parts of the trail. A few months later they happened to meet the same guy randomly while dropping off the Belcaster's kids at ...

Well today I got up, packed and got something to eat before checking out at 10am. Whichreminds me, I've had 3 meals for under 3 pounds, how's that for budgeting.. although I must also add that by the time I'm back I'll never want to see instant noodles again! ha ha! I saw Rory and Sharon again before I left as I spent about 2 hours in the common room waiting for my bus (better than lugging the backpack all round Auckland in ...

... by the accompanying waterfall! Our journey then took us in search of the strange activity known as zorbing - i.e. throwing yourself down a hill in a giant inflated ball! It looked rather beautiful from the bottom, but Steph assured us it was quite a ride as she reached speeds of over 40kph, but fortunately returned safely to normality. A hearty sausage pasta, warm and snug in Oscar as the three of us put the world to rights was a fitting way to round off a great day.

... little cabin, and chilled out for a couple of hours, which was lovely. We bought a nice bottle of wine earlier and enjoyed that outside the cabin, where the weather was still ok, and pretty warm.

A short while later I went off to try the onsite mineral baths a few minutes walk away (which were boiling hot and had a few young girls in there when I arrived ...