Stuart's new look

What do you think? Stuart has decided to grow his hair long and go for the slick back and soul patch look :-) should he keep it? Or go clean shaven and a buzz cut?

Travel Map

An update of our travels.......................

Tube It

While in Waitomo you have to take a tour to explore the glow worm caves. You can take a leisurely walk, or a quiet boat ride......

 ......but instead we decided to Tube It!!

You get kitted up with a wet suit, helmet with head torch and a black inner tube ring.. They take you down into the cave and explain the Maori stories behind them, while swimming through the black waters. There were five of us in our group with our Maori guide Rodney.

While holding onto the feet of the person behind you, we were pulled by our guide through the black waters in complete darkness while looking up at the glow worms. It was really special, just like stars. But the whole time you can hear a waterfall in the background....

On reaching the waterfall you jump off backwards while sitting in your tube! I tipped too far and ended up with a mouthful, nosefull and facefull of water lol

You then have to pull yourself through the water using ropes attached to the walls of the caves. And the water was absolutely freezing I should add!

 And then the bit I was dreading, the steep slide into pitch blackness!!

But I did it!! Stuart enjoyed it a lot more than me, but it was a much more interesting way to see the glow worms.

Waitomo

In Waitomo we visited a pretty eccentric guy who ran a motel made up of an old ship, a hobbit village and a bomber plane. It was too expensive for us to justify staying the night, but it was really weird having a look around them. Very quirky!

We did quite a bit of walking in Waitomo. First to visit was the Mangapohue Natural Bridge. This arch bridge was once the roof of a cave that has now collapsed to create a gorge, and the arch is all that is left.

We then took our torches and explored the Piri Piri Cave...........no chicken inside though! :-)
This cave has not been commercialised like the others so you are free to explore for yourself. It was pitch black though, and taking photos was pretty much point, take a guess, then set off the flash.

 There were beautiful rock formations on the floor and roof, extended as far as the torch would light.

Marokapa falls has 30m of plunging foamy waters, and is a frequent backdrop to the TV series Hercules. I loved that programme as a kid, prime Sunday TV watching. :-) Stuart couldn't help but strike a Herculean pose with a beautiful rainbow in the background.

Geothermal Explorers

 We have entered volcano territory! The North Island of New Zealand is bursting with geothermal activity. Stuart and I visited the 'Craters of the Moon' walk while in Taupo. The craters give off steam that has built up below ground from the intense magma temperatures, and creates bubbling pools of mud on the surface. Look a bit too close and it's a case of 'steamy windows' lol.

We also went an hour long walk to find then take a dip in natural hot stream pools at Spa Park in Taupo. It was actually a lot hotter than I was expecting, too hot for me to stay in for very long but Stuart loved it. Climbing over the rocks in barefoot and feeling the slime and dirt at the bottom of the pools was a bit creepy too!!

We also drove to see the massive Huka Falls. They are created by the massive river upstream being forced into a very narrow but very deep crack before exiting on the other side. They are extremely dangerous and no one has been down them, but that didn't stop me having to hold back Stuart wanting to go down them in a canoe! :-)

A geothermal adventure would not be complete without visiting some active volcanoes. In Tongariro National Park they have three......which they use as ski resorts! These volcanoes are all active, the last eruption being in 2007. The single cone volcano was used as the setting for Mordor in the Lord of the Rings movies. We spent the night in a campsite beneath the volcanoes. There were no eruptions luckily, but the smaller of the three was giving off a lot of steam.

It was quite cloudy when we were sleeping there so we didn't have a fantastic view, but a few days later after travelling north we had a pretty awesome clear view from a distance.

Napier

Napier is famous for it's art deco architecture. They say it is the best example in the world. The previous town was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1931, so when rebuilding it was when art deco was the latest trend. But on arrival it is definitely not what I expected..............rather than a well preserved art deco town, it has become a total mis-match of buildings and eras. Rather than only allow art deco within the town centre, they haven't really bothered to control it. I did get to see the famous Tobacco Company building though which was pretty stunning.

Another highlight of Napier (for me anyway) is the port. My dad visited this port back when he was in the Merchant Navy, so I just had to have a look. From a good vantage point up on the hill I was lucky that day to see a cargo ship being offloaded. And by the look of the port and surrounds I don't think it would have changed much since my dad's visit.

Wellington

Wellington is a very hectic, very populated place. We have been used to the quiet South so it's pretty crazy to arrive here. We took a ride on the Wellington Cable Car. Not exactly what I would call a cable car, it was more of a finicular railway, but very pleasant all the same.

The weather here has been glorious, nice to spend some time in the sun. Hopefully it's a sample of the good weather to come.