New Zealand - act 2

The next few days saw us being haulled around Auckland sightseeing, we went to a lookout point (great panorama), up the Sky Tower www.skycity.co.nz and then to Bryces (our host with the most) parents house for a home cooked meal (mmmmm venison).



The next day we took off in the Mystery Machine and headed for the waitomo caves -->> www.waitomocaves.co.nz. Nice caves and lots of glow worms.
After that we headed to Rotorua, a hub of volcanic activity that allowed us to sample the local Polynesian outdoor spa --> www.polynesianspa.co.nz (pretty wierd sitting outside in a 40 degree spa on a freezing cold night!) and also mud baths and more spas at a place called Hells Gate --> www.hellsgate.co.nz.
We also went to a Mauiri village and witnessed some delightful displays of entertainment and traditional Mauiri ingenuity. I really enjoyed this culture feast, it had such an impact on me that i even did a spontaneous Haka on the way out! (Can you tell which Mauri Warrior is me??)


After this encounter with Rotorua, we headed south to Lake Taupo, and into another volcanic crater, it was a bit cold so we didn't hang around too long, we headed up to mount Manganui, a very scenic spot on a peninsula (and quite posh too!)

One of the things that caught me out in NZ is the sheer size of the place. In total i must have driven for about 9 - 10 hours and i have barely scratched the surface. Another thing that surprised me was the Aucklanders complete lack of ability to drive, but thats another story ;)