Union Victoria Motor Lodge Rotorua

... They are imported from CA and look like everything that I had imagined in California. The hike is beautiful, although limited wildlife, it is really nice. Mountain bikers are everywhere riding up the trails and back into town.

We then head to a concert put on by the native New Zealand Mora people ( i think that I spelled Mora wrong). We watched the concert that was ...

... and these wonderful fluorescent animals, both the safety questionnaire and talk while we were handed our wetsuits offered hints about what was to come.... A rickety white mini-bus took us and our fellow adventurers up through the countryside and after a walk through a cow field we started a precarious descent on some very slippery ground towards the cave entrance. Once inside it got very dark and eerie straight away as we carried on downwards over, round and through the rocks ...

... and sleep as the chill air creeps in to my not so toasty sleeping bag. I get up and dress rapidly, in an attempt to conserve body heat I do most of this without unzipping my sleeping bag. The air is fresh and clear the sun is crawling ray by ray towards the summit of the hills in the east any moment its warming glow will spill over and ungulf the park, my tent and ultimately me.With my running shoes firmly attached to my iced feet I take to the road heading down towards the lake, the ...

... the intricate details of woodcarving. The afternoon is yours to explore Rotorua or you have time for an optional tour (own cost). After dinner you might want to relax under the stars as you soak in the natural thermally heated waters of the motel spas and pool.

... herself dry. She looked gorgeous lol! We spent a couple of hours exploring, took some great photos and we were really pleased we had made the effort to visit.

Later we went to Rotorua and took a paddle boat out on to the lake - Heaps of fun helped by the fact that the weather had cleared. I recall doing all the peddling while Barb gave expert guidance on where to go and tried not to get us lost (glad I'm writing this blog).
Tauranga and Rotorua, New Zealand ferres

... the bend at the top of a steep hill only to be confronted by them stopped and answering a rather public call of nature. The passing was not without incident either, as I descended a hill at some speed and was using my momentum to propel me up the other side, I came upon the German lady & thought I'd pass her, a car was passing me so I quickly changed my mind and stayed close behind her, 2 seconds later she stopped! I nearly crashed ...

... it is used to produce flour it isn't all that old. Our next stop was at Barry's favourit spot to get a photo of Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe. We then carried on towards Rotorua but when we reached Lake Taupo we got mixed up with a load of cyclists. It was the day of the yearly Taupo Cycle Challenge,which is a 160km loop around the lake. It is ridden by thousands of ameteur riders for charity and you shouldd have heard some of the ...

... and gifts back to the UK (it'll take anywhere between 2 and 5 weeks for them to arrive, so Mum and Chris, don't read this and worry because nothing has arrived yet! By the time I got back to the hostel I was pooped, so I sat in the hot mineral pool for a while and then crashed out on the bed! The evening was spent at a Maori cultural performance and Hangi in the Whakarewara Thermal Village area. This was ...

... sulphur and ferrous salts,
and exaggerated by the cloud overcast- it was seriously like a pool of
highlighter fluid.

11:00 AM - We grabbed a bite to eat in the
cafe before heading out, where we tried an array of mini pot pies of
mysterious content (minced meat, sausage, etc), something as common as
burgers or pizza ...

... is dit het meest bekende dorpje. Op deze locatie is een erg interessant museumpje geplaatst en zijn een aantal huizen uitgegraven. Niet een must see maar wel een leuk extraatje als je hier wat langer bent zoals ik. Zaterdag 28 Juni Vandaag heb ik een tour geboekt die mij naar twee thermische parken brengt. Als eerste gaan we naar Waiotapu. Dit park staat het meest bekend om haar geiser dat elke dag om 10:15 'af' gaat. Voordat we hier naar toe gaan stoppen we nog ...