In Auckland

Here 'tis, the end of our Kiwi Adventure draws to a close. The whole thing was just unbelievable. I had no idea one small country could be so beautiful...and friendly!

As I suspected, the dinner in Paraparaumu was delicious. Chicken stew, kumara (sweet potato), yams, steamed brussel sprouts (which I actually sorta liked), and sauteed broccoli. Not to mention the apple crumble, custard, and ice cream for dessert. Wow, I haven't eaten like that in ages. Mary proved to be excellent company and she just loved having us over. The following morning she took us and the dogs to the beach for a walk and from the beach we saw Kapiti Island, a bird sanctuary.

We drove on to Tongariro National Park, in the middle of the North Island. We stopped in Ohakune, where the cast and crew of LOTR stayed while filming. Most of the scenes of Mordor were filmed at Tongariro. Mount Doom is actually one of the three volcanoes that comprise the Park. They are still active--the last one, Mt. Ruapehu, erupted exactly 10 years ago. Nath and I drove into the park and did a short bush walk through the snow (literally, it was up to my knees) and got an amazing view of Mt. Ngauruhoe (aka Mt. Doom). That night we chilled at the hostel in Ohakune and chatted with some British folk. Awesome conversation that night. Probably my favorite part of travelling is meeting all kinds of different people.

The next day we went skiing at Turoa Skifield on Mt. Ruapehu! That's right folks, we skiied on a volcano. It had snowed right before we arrived and it was packed powder on every trail! However, every trail meant exactly two, maybe three. They didn't get enough snow at the top of the mountain so it wasn't open. So we skiied a half day and it was so weird being back on skis after five years. I really enjoyed it until my fingers and toes started going numb and that's when I remembered why I've stayed away all those years.

After skiing, we drove to Taupo where we spent a quiet night in and soaked in the free spa. The next day, we went on a walk to Huka Falls, saw the Craters of the Moon (a thermal park), and went to the Honey Hive where we tasted lots of different kinds of honey...mmmmm. Then we drove on to Rotorua, the Sulphur City.

Ah Rotorua, how can I properly describe ye? Just imagine a rotten egg and pretend nobody ever cleaned it up. That's Rotorua...really smelly. It has thermal springs, hot pools, and natural mud baths throughout the city, and apparently that's what makes it smell like that. But good lord, it was not fun walking around. And we stayed two nights! But nothing compared to what awaited us at Wai-o-Tapu, the Thermal Wonderland. Oh man, I actually paid money to subject myself to acres of sulphur lakes, streams, and pools. I'm sure it's pretty awesome, but I almost passed out from the smell, so I barely noticed.

Rotorua is not only the thermal capital of NZ, it's also the Maori cultural capital, so every night several companies do these Maori cultural events with a concert in a simulated Maori village and a hangi (a traditional dinner cooked in the earth all day). We went on Friday night to the Tamaki Maori Village and were treated to one of these Maori experiences. So, it was pretty cool and definitely great seeing the different dances (especially the haka) and songs and the food was really yummy, but it was all really touristy. Plus, some of the performers looked like they were really sick of singing and dancing and acting for all these bloody tourists, even though I'm sure they're glad to share their culture with everyone. It all just seemed a little contrived to me. It was an enjoyable evening, nonetheless. On the way back from the village on the bus, the driver had everyone sing a song from their country, so I sang "American Pie." What a laugh.

Yesterday, after leaving Rotorua, we drove around the Coromandel Peninsula...just spectacular. And the weather was perfect, sunny and warm. However, the road is insanely curvy and narrow. We stopped at Hot Water Beach for lunch, which was so cool. There are thermal waters underneath the sand on the beach, so you can dig yourself your own hot tub. And the water is really hot...something like 60 degrees Celsius! Really bizarre. From there we drove all the way around, stopping in Coromandel Town for a stroll, and stopped in Thames for the night. This morning we left Thames and drove to Auckland where we dropped the car off. We walked around and went to the harbour. The weather has been holding up beautifully. So tonight is our last official night in NZ. Tomorrow night I fly to Christchurch and both Nathalie and I will be sleeping at the airport (she in Auckland) before our flights at the ass-crack of dawn the following morning. Then it's back to Sydney...