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Auckland & Rotorua to Turangi - Day 253
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Drove to Auckland first thing this morning to buy a new camera after yesterday's sand dune disaster. The guy in the camera shop said it's quite common for this type of camera to fail due to sand getting into the lens motor. So the moral of the story is, don't put your camera on a sand dune to take a photo of yourself on a windy day. I'm a bloody idiot! On a positive note I bought the better model so I now have a new gadget to play with. Also, due to the favourable exchange rate I got it for a reasonable price too.
Stayed in Auckland all morning and had a walk around the compact city centre which is dominated by the Sky tower, the biggest structure in the southern hemisphere. Then hit the road again and drove south towards Rotorua. Rotorua is New Zealand's most popular tourist town with an unbelievable 3 million visitors a year. Visitor's flock here to see the geological activity which can been seen all around town. Unfortunately most of the geological sights require you to pay a hefty entrance fee which is a bit wrong in my opinion. I hate paying to see natural wonders and I don't think it's fair. I paid $25 to enter Uhuru national park in Oz, but that was fine because it was a two day pass and two days entertainment for 25 bucks to see one of the nature wonders of the world is fair, plus all the money is pumped back into maintaining the park. $50 to see a couple of geyser's blow is not fair in my opinion. OK the entry includes a guided tour and a cultural concert but I didn't have time for that, I just wanted to see the geyser's blow. So I thought sod that and went to the free Kuirau park in the centre of town where there's bubbling mud pools and lakes of steaming sulphurous water. Pretty crazy to see all this geological activity in the centre of a bustling town. Then headed to the banks of Lake Rotorua to take some photos. Tourist's were feeding seagulls in front of a sign saying "Don't feed the birds". Seagulls are pests, which bully the native species, can't you bloody read!! (I apologise for the rants in this entry, I'm having one of those days)
Continued south to Taupo with the beautiful volcanic peaks of Tongariro national park as the back drop with banks of cloud being blown across the summits. The most beautiful landscape I've seen so far in New Zealand.
Parked up tonight at the Waiataka reserve by Lake Taupo near a town called Turangi. Going to head into Tongariro National Park tomorrow to hopefully do one of the greatest day hikes in New Zealand on the volcanically active peaks. I heard on the radio tonight that a weather warning has been issued for very high winds and heavy rain/snow moving north from the south island. Just hope I can get the hike done and get off the mountains before the weather closes in.
Where I stayed:
In my car somewhere
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