We'd planned to spend around a week in Northland, that was never going to be possible, there simply aren't enough things to see. The idea of heading to Cape Reinga at the northernmost part of the country in dreary weather really didnt appeal to us! We'd left central North Island a few days earlier without really doing it justice and rather than being grumpy about it in the rain we decided to set off back down and put it right.

It was a 6hr drive back to Rotorua but we had a good idea of what we wanted to do. We stayed a little bit out of town so we could camp and avoid the sulphur smell. One of our cheapest campsites yet helped us out a bit even if it did feel like camping in someones front garden! The next day we started out early for a ride up the gondola for views across the city and rides on the luge - a high (ish) speed downhill carting track, it turned out to be one victory each and a close encounter with the edge of the track, made a little more worrying by the fact that my helmet was rather too small for my rather large head.

We also managed to make it to the cinema for the first time since the Raj Mandhir in Jaipur, this was a tad more reserved than that though and with only 14 seats it was also pretty cosy. We saw Goodbye Bafana, the story of Nelson Mandela's relationship with his prison guard. Great idea but could have been done a little better. Speaking of better, Belgian Beer tastes a whole lot better than the tosh they serve in Austalia and New Zealand so a trip to Rotorua's Belgian Beer Cafe after the cinema was quite a treat!

After missing out on thermal things on our previous visit we decided to go to Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland the next day on the road between Rotorua and Taupo, widely regarded as the best thermal attraction in the country. We arrived by 10am lured by the promise of the Lady Knox geyser eruption. It wasn't the best start, around 100 people sat in anticipation waiting for the eruption when some guy rocked up with a bag of bicarbonate of soda to 'help it along'. Fair enough the eruption looked good but come on, i made papier mache volcanoes erupt with bicarbonate of soda when I was in school and that didnt cost $30!!! The main park redeemed the whole affair though, just over an hour walk to see some of the most alien sites on the planet: boiling mud pools, lime green lakes, molten rivers and the Champagne Pool in the (borrowed) picture above. This place is as close to hell as anywhere could be. After lunch in Taupo and a stop off at Huka Falls we headed 'home' for our evening's entertainment.

We'd booked ourselves in for the Tamaki Maori Village, an evening of traditional entertainment with a haggi (earth cooked meal) thrown in for good measure. (See Jaipiur: Choki Dani, we love our traditional villages!) At $95 dollars each this was easily our most expensive NZ attraction but oh how it worth it! After being bussed out to a recreated village we were met by Maori 'warriors' who were checking whether our 'chiefs' were worthy of entering the village. To put this in perspective our chiefs were a merry band of pot bellied pensioners who looked like their pacemakers would give way when confronted by the bare chested roar of a 'mock warrior'. Amazingly these pitiful leaders were deemed worthy to enter the village and we followed them in for some exploration with exhibits of traditional crafts and lifestyles. Later we were given a show of song and dance aswell as stories of the importance of ancestral heritage to the Maori population. Finally, we got the food! It was an amazing feast of lamb, chicken, potatoes and vegetables, it might just have been our biggest meal since we left home!

Then things got a bit weird. The entertainers broke out the guitar and started covering such Maori musical legends as Elvis Presley. The wrinklies loved it. There was a strange evangelical moment where everyone held hands and sang along as the event threatened to morph into bible camp. Thankfully the night ended quicker than you can say hallelujah but there was still the return bus journey to contend with and things didnt get anymore sane as our 'chief' led the bus in a recital of 'show me the way to go home, I'm tired and I want to go to bed'. This Saga like experience aged us by at least 20 years and we were in desperate need of regaining our youth!

What better way to do that than by strapping yourself in to a rubber ball and being hurled head over heels down a hill. Yes we decided to try some zorbing. It definitely made us feel young again as well as tad sick! It was great fun though. After the last three days we definitely felt like we'd done the area justice and totally made the right decision in coming back. There just aren't anywhere near as many attractions on North Island so when you find some you have to make the most of them!

After Rotorua we had a few days left before we needed to be in Auckland so after zorbing we set off with no destination, just to see where we could find. We didn't get particularly far - mostly due to my constant moaning at still feeling sick. After an hour and a half ish we stumbled across Waihi Beach and what a find - beautiful weather, camping only 100m from the beach and a site with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and gym. This was going to be a nice little holiday at the end of our New Zealand trip.