kez & hay travels 06

Well after a very emotional and difficult farewell to my great travelling buddy, I headed north from Windy Wellington alone. Yes, that's right Kerry is back in blighty now, I know the write ups will not be the same without her talent and nor will the travelling but please keep blogging on with me! Oh and it was planned like that we didn't have any big bust up or anything.

My first stop from Wellington was to a small town called Tarangi. With the Tongariro National Park not far away I booked to do a walk, yes that's what it said but after 8 hours of climbing vertical mountains and hiking through knee deep snow I thought otherwise! The Tongariro crossing as it's known is regarded as the finest one day walk in NZ and the hardest if I had my say. It is home to three active volcanoes and played the role of Mordor (Lord of Rings). The last eruption was from Mt Ruapehu back in 1996. We tramped (kiwi lingo) on the oldest of the three through it's red crater which last erupted in 1926 but there was definitely some activity still going on. Ummm Do mountains usually smoke?...We were the first trampers of the day so it was like stepping on the moon with no footprints to follow. I realised just how hard it was going to be within the first hour when we started asending a side dubbed "The devil's staircase". In true Kerry and Hayley style I was at the back of the group puffing and panting but this time complaining and cursing to myself. It was all worth it at the top though as the views were stunning.Back at the hostel we celebrated our sucess with a bottle of wine and I worried about how I would walk the next day!

Next stop was Lake Taupo and with a beautiful day ahead of me I hired a bike from the hostel. I fancied a nice bike ride to the Huka waterfalls, little did I know that the bike ride would turn into a professional mountain bike track! Why do we never learn? Anyway after pushing the bike for most of the way I arrived at a great torrent of turquoise water that was plunging through the rocks. I had a well earned icecream and walk through a nearby forest that held some beautiful trees and plants, very relaxing until the 2 hour journey back.

Rotorua nicknamed "Sulphur city" or as I prefer stinkyville. It has the most energetic thermal activity in the country, with bubbling mud pools, gurgling hot springs and evil eggy smells hovering around. I visited a Maori village and saw traditional dances, including the famous "war dance" that the All Blacks perform. Enough of culture for day 2 though and it was off to do some "Zorbing". What??? Well it involves throwing yourself into a plastic ball that has a bucket of warm water in and then rolling yourself down a hill at 20mph. Kiwi invented and great fun but not to be done after a large fry up!

With the adrenaline still pumping I headed to the coastal town of Tauranga. This is the main town of the Bay of Plenty and is NZ's principal kiwi-fruit region so I was staying with quite a few pickers in the hostel which meant free kiwis! Here I caught the bus to Mt Maunganui for the day and climbed the 232m-high hill passing cute lambs with not so impressed mums on the way.

With time runing out I made my way to Auckland. Blessed with yet another gorgeous day I set out to explore the busy city. Stoping by at the Auckland museum and relaxing in the Eden garden with it's great views of the city from Mt Eden. To celebrate my last night in this wonderful country, I went up the skytower to see the sunset with a glass of vino from the sky high bar. See you in OZ.