Friday 9th December, was up this morning at 5:15am ready to be picked up at 6am to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. This is a 19km walk over a volcano and along the foot of Mount Ngauruhoe, or better known as Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. The walk was really good; we set off at 7am and finished at 12:30pm. No more activities planned now for the next few days.

Went to Cathedral Cave and Gemstone Bay again on Tuesday morning but the sea was still too rough to go snorkelling so had to abandon that idea, we may call back there before we leave New Zealand in March if we have time. Left the Coromandels and headed towards Rotarua. Rotarua is famousfor its sulphur pools, and you know when your near them as they smell similar to traveling past Port Talbot but about 10 times stronger. We stayed at a campsite/hostel about 5 mi...