Country Comfort Accolade Lodge Motel Rotorua

... will share with you all when I get back. The Buried Village is a remake of a old Maori town that got covered with lava. That was also very interesting. The next day I went to a NZ spa and had a mud bath made with the mud from the mud from Wai- O- Tapu mud. That was very relaxing. We then started our trip back home. On our way back I had my first Hokey Pokey, a original NZ ice cream. Thats about it for this week so bye for now!

... Then it was off to Rotorua -or as some
locals call it Roto-Vegas, because of all the hotels and tourist
activity. Rotorua is known for it's geothermal activity and we could
smell sulphur miles before we got to the city. We decide to splurge
and stay at a motel and our first lamb shank dinner! Also enjoyed a
nice soak in our own private spa right out the back door of our room
– life is good!

... was very warm..so i sat myself under the waterfall for a while with nature's own massage and heat. It was wonderful. A perfect end to a very busy two days.

So im particularly exhasted as i feel like haven't stopped in a few days...its a good exhaustion though and loved every minute of it. I will hopefully slow down for my last few days in NZ as im headed to Auckland where im hoping to meet up with a friend, traveling bud.

... darkness and silence. Amazing. The climb up is rewarding if exertive - you climb up through the caves and at one stage a gruelling ladder hike which is draining. Great experience all round. Hakka After picking up the photos of the experience and watching a slob eat a cheese sandwich with a snot dangling from his chin, we get back on the bus and tell everyone how fabulous it was as they sit back counting their yellow pack bargain label ...

... and the various colours pf rock formations made from cooling sulphur on the ground. And of course the eggy pong. This was a very strange experience but well worth the visit for its uniqueness. At the end of the walk around the park, we dived. Into a mud bath for 20 mins, had a freezing cold shower and relaxed in a hot saltwater spring pool! Once again another strange but fun experience. The reason for so much geothermal activity is the right through the ...

... Our leisurely relaxed attitude to the day ahead was given some urgency though when we realised that the ferry we'd hoped to catch was an hour earlier than first thought! We were very keen to catch up with Spud and friends (on his stag do) when they got the ferry from Auckland to Waiheke. So we drove like demons (within the national speed limit of course) to Auckland, threw our car into Hertz petrol-less (oops ...

... We were welcomed by our group manager and after electing a chief for our group of guests, we headed off to meet the local Maoris. The welcome ceremony was impressive, with men demonstrating combat techniques and "welcoming" the guests. It was amazing to watch these warriors doing their "dance", observing the passion in their eyes and the intensity in their movements. Women convey a similar dynamism through their elegant dance. After the traditional nose ...

... into a jump suit, all the harnesses, a cap and then we toddled off to the plane - they kept asking me if I was excited, and no, to be honest, that wasn't quite how I was feeling - sick, more like! So the plane set off and I stayed cool, no panic, it was all part of this 'inevitable' feeling. A few minutes before the jump, I'd to sit on Eric's lap and that was when he strapped us together. I'd got my instructions. When he pushed us out of the plane (at 9000 ...

... songs and dances. Our guide was great too, and explained the Maori understanding of how the earth and life came to be ("the scientists have their explanation, and we have ours. Ours has been around longer.") and even made a joke about Bill Clinton's infidelity that everyone laughed at and understood (sometimes it's really embarrassing to be an American). All-in-all, it was a fascinating experience, although part of me feels like ...

... was stopping on the way at a place called Waitomo. But before we left Auckland we were going on a side trip to Mt Eden. Mt Eden is one of the extinct volcanoes situated around the city, I had been meaning to come here myself but had just never gotten round to it - so thank fully I now was. You got such a good view of the city from up there, you could see both harbours which is pretty cool, so we had a few minutes up there, took some photos ...