I have one of those very blond moments right now, so I can only hope it will turn out okay. I was about to remove a memorycard from my waterproof camera, when it launched itself in the air. I heard it land on a sheet, but I am typing in the dark because the rest is already in bed and asleep. So I have no idea where this card is at the moment... secretly i am glad this doesn't happen with tennispics on it, but all my kayak pics are on that card, so well, hope it shows up tomorrow...

This morning I had an early bus from Auckland to Rotorua, and another bus later on the day to Taupo. It's not that bad to be in a bus here in New Zealand, the landscape is beautiful and with a window seat I can stick to the window as much as I like. When I left Auckland I didn't have a real plan what to do, but reading in my Lonely Planet, I decided to go to Whakarewarewa village, a village where Maori people still live and explain how their life is. It does cost a bit, but hey, I am here to do things too.

So I joined a guided tour, with a Maori woman talking about how they use the plants to make skirts and bags and how they cook in the boiling pools. I tried one piece of corn that was cooked in a pool and it was delicious. If you stand for a while, you can feel that even the rocks are hot, you feel it through the soles of the shoes. And the smell sometimes, it´s weird, and it really does smell like eggs. You might laugh at me, but I regretted eating a sandwich with spinach and egg in the bus.... Rotorua reminnded me of my sandwich all the time. :)

Part of the afternoon was a Maori show, with singing and dance. I don't know how the men do it, but they do look scary for sure with the eyes and the tongues being used. The song they use in times of war is very impressive, and the song where the audience was involved was funny,, we had to dance with them. :-) Afterwards we could take a picture with part of this maori family, as you can see in the pic that comes with this blog.

After this show I slowly made my way back to the city center of Rotorua. I had one and a half hour left, again without any plans. I saw that the lake Rotorua was not that far from the tourist office (where I dumped my suitcase) so I had a short stroll along the river before heading back. The next bus went at 5.30 pm and delivered me in Taupo. That is where I am now, because tomorrow I´ll walk a walk that´s considered the best one day walk in New Zealand. It´s the Tongariro Alpine crossing, 20 kilometers with lots of vulcanic activity in it. I´m very curious how it will go, I have to be back quite early for a return to Rotorua. One and a half day left of New Zealand, why does time fly so fast?

The answer is clear, the AO is waiting very, very soon. The landscapes can be beautiful, the activities thrilling and the whole experience be awesome, I can´t help but thinking a lot of the time about Melbourne. You have no idea how much I look forward to see some people back. :))

But there´s a bit more left here in New Zealand, so i better join my roommates to dreamland. Alarm goes off at 4.30... ouch!

See you later my readers, hasta pronto!