Back in Auckland with Rudy and Sunia. It was raining and overcast when we land, but true to the northern New Zealand weather - it doesn't last long. The flight was pretty uneventful except for the woman in the third row from the back who entertained us all with her crying and wailing every time the plane hit an air pocket. The next couple of days in Auckland were nice and sunny and we spent them chillaxing, BBQing and visiting beaches and parks; before boardin...

Jo and I arrived in Wellington at 8h40pm after a eleven and a half hour bus trip down the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. Thank heavens for my Kindle and the movies on our phones. Mind you, some of the scenery that we travelled through was really beautiful - especially in the mountains. Spent the next 7 days with my sister and her fiancé and the rest of the family - what a mad house. We'll need a holiday after this. Also attended their wedding at t...

Finally arrived in Waitomo after Glenn took a wrong turn somewhere and we ended up driving for an additional 60km. We then couldn't find the motel where we were to spend the night and by then our petrol was dangerously low. Glenn had scheduled a cavern abseiling experience for himself and Joanna and a glow worm cave walk for Jo and I. We stopped at the site where we were to meet up with our guides and after waiting for more than half an hour past the meeting ...

The next day we drove to Rotorua, but stopped at the Waitapu volcanic zone on the way. Boy, did all that sulphur smell!! What a fantastic experience though. We saw the Lady Knox geyser, which erupts around once every 24 hours for about an hour at a time. We were also told a little secret by the locals - not to pay to go to one of the many places where the hot springs are located, but to rather drive to a specific place where a hot geothermal spring and a cold ri...

Taupo is home to New Zealand's largest lake and some of the country's most amazing scenery - the view from the YHA that we stayed in was beautiful, with Mount Tongariro in the background. Trivial fact of the day - apparently Lake Taupo was created by a volcanic eruption so big that the sun went hazy in China. Oh yes - we visited Turangi as well.