Thornton Lodge Tauranga

... br><br>So now its the day after and I have hangover to add to my cold, we managed to move but not before the hostel staff rocked up to ensure we did. I now have even less money than before and this combined with everything is making me put on weight but it was fun. <br><br>I do now think enough maybe more than to much and am going back to life of sobriety after all from Wednesday I have to be the sort of women you want to buy perfume from.

... the tour. So we got up at 6 in the morning and drove about 90 minutes to where the boat departs from (a town called Whakatane). After a bit of a delay (A car broke down on the ONLY bridge connecting the town with the rest of the country) we headed out to sea. After about 30 minutes however the tour company decided to turn around as the sea was just too rough and we would not be able to make landfall at White Island. Plus it would have taken another 2 hours to get there and over half ...

... ever invented. It was called the 'Air Pillow' and it was a cross between a trampoline and a bouncy castle without the walls, or the noisy motor. I may have played so long that my legs were seized up for the rest of the evening. The next day we parted company with Ann and Pat, unceremoniously leaving them at the ferry terminal a whole 4 hours before their boat. Unfortunately we needed to rush back to Aukland to sell our little van and catch a flight to Chile...

... born he only stays for 3 weeks then disappears,thought you'd all enjoy this useless info.we then went into the complete darkness of night, we had to be so quite &amp; there they were wandering around amazing.we also learnt some guy came across these animals &amp; shipped the skin to england where it is in the liverpool museum. we spent the evening learning about the maori culture, first we saw the ceromony, before we were let in, then stuart had to sit on the front row as this ...

... today and I should try in Tauranga. "OK, thats the way I'm going, we can look on the way." I sat back down. So off we went, I explained what had happened and she told me about the problems of driving a bus with boy racers and cyclists (she was quite moaning about cyclists I think she had forgotten I was one.) We passed to bike shops which were shut, my heart was sinking. I was trying to come up with a plan C. Then we spotted one, I thanked the lady ...

... we were lucky with the weather and took in some very good views. After an hour or so it was back into the town centre for a mooch around and then a walking trail from the edge of the lake in the town round to a local thermal spa called Polynesian Spa - no guessing who's idea it was to plan a walk that ended up in a spa!! The walk was enlightening with good views of the thermal activity in ...

... the landing site of one of the great canoes of the Maori immigration in the 1300s AD. I missed visiting Tauranga from the sea, but the map makes it look very interesting, as it is sited on a number of peninsulas and isthmuses with sea and lakes all round. My camp spot looks directly onto the water of an estuary, about 20m away.

... line of trees marching across the landscape is the main giveaway)) We walked by the gorgeous, little trickling river with water as clear as crystal, and down through the overgrown forest. We got to the waterfall. A great giant of crashing water, thundering down before us. To the side of us was a backdrop of Rotorua with hazy hills and the calm glistening lake, like a watercolour. Stunning. That night, we went to Te Puia. Te Puia means geyser or volcano in Maori. Te Puia is a ...

... the trees. A scenic course plus intermediate and advanced courses. We try the scenic course first which itself is pretty fast. The sense of speed is enhanced by the fact that your bum is about 2 inches from the ground! After finishing the luge we get the ski lift back to the top and try out the Sky Swing. I hadn't seen the swing in operation and so was quite concerned as we were strapped in and then hoisted up on the swing until we were horizontal in the ...

... is better than eating rats and small birds like the Maori did. I got back into Tauranga late Sunday night. I had taken the Naked Bus in to town because it was uber-cheap ($5 from Roto-Vegas). The problem was that I had to stop in Cambridge for 2 hours. There is not much to do in Cambridge on a Sunday night when it's raining. Especially when weighed down by a half-tonne of luggage. So I sat in the bus shelter for pretty much the whole time, taking an opportunity ...