Napier is one of the most Easterly cities in NZ. In 1931 it was destroyed by an earthquake, anything that was left standing was burned down by the subsequent fires. As a result, the rebuilding took place in the late 1930's and the architecture is all Art Deco in design. We stayed at a really nice hostel down by the seafront. It was like a step back in time walking around the town, with all the buildings in lots of different colours and Art Deco styles. We decid...

So this morning I went to Taupo airport for my sky-dive! After spending Thursday and Friday wondering what the hell I was about to do, I felt surprisingly calm in the bus on the way to the airport. There was another girl from the UK there who had never jumped before either so we comforted each other a bit! After getting ready and meeting my tandem partner, 4 of us piled into the smallest plane and took to the sky. We got the most amazing views over Lake Taupo...

Taupo is much better than Rotorua. It's more relaxed, cheaper, more scenic and less touristy, but there is slightly less to do here. From the lake side you can just make out the Mt. Ruapehu and Mt. Tongariro that were used for Mordor in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Also, you could see Hobbiton from the bus on the way down from Rotorua. Just outside of town are the Huka Falls on the Waikato River that flows out of Lake Taupo. The Waikato River is the biggest i...

We woke up roasty toasty in our tent again today, thanks to our thermal floor heating!! its like having an electric blanket on constant, a-mazing! After breakfast we took a stroll down to the hot water beach behind our campsite, which looked out on the Lake Rotorua. The view over the lake was really scenic, with black swans gliding over the surface. The beach itself was a bit of a disappointment however. You're supposed to dig a hole for yourself and sit in it, t...

After a nice warm sleep last night with our under-soil heating, we were up and out and about in Rotorua. Many of the places here seem to offer the same thing, with guided tours of either Maori settlements or thermal parks. We found the one place that combined the two: Whakarewarewa Thermal Village. The local Maori had set up their village right next to a geyser and some thermal springs. This is the one thing that confuses me about Rotorua as a whole: why set up a...