Not quite committed to adulthood: A Long Overdue Update! North Island New Zealand.

So before I start on the update I have to admit it. I a have an addiction. I have tried to beat it. I have tried to go cold turkey. I have tried to hide it from myself and from Duncan. But I think that the only possible way to try to get over this is to say it out loud and admit it to the world. I am addicted to Double Chocolate Coated Tim Tams. They are the most delicious biscuit with creamy chocolate centre covered not once but twice in yummy milk chocolate. (similar to a penguin but more chocolatey - for those who haven't tried them!) I love them. Ok I have said it let's move on.

I have to let you all know also that NZ has some of the best names for shops and businesses. I have recently come across 'The Meat Factory - More than meats the eye', excellent, a sandwich shop called 'Knuckle Sandwich' and the wonderful 'Florist Gump' - you choose your favourite!

Right, on with Turangi and the Bay of Plenty. After a dull day at the petrol station and rush hour traffic through Auckland we arrived in Turangi about 8:30pm and head off out on our first 'big night out' since we started the travels. After all it is Friday night, it is Labour weekend (I don't know what this is but we should celebrate right?) and the town should be wild right? Ok so not so much. We meet with Jon and Felicity (friends we met in Fiji and saw briefly in Auckland) and get straight on the wine - a NZ Sav don't you know. We spot some young ladies wandering around in basques and moulin rouge outfits (sorry I have no pictures lads) and enquire politely as to their evening plans. It is one of the ladies 18th birthday parties (18! for gawds sake) and she invites us to join... it would be rude to say no and she assures us it is really busy... Ok so it was dead (maybe busy for NZ parties?) so we assume she invited us to make up the numbers. We didn't let this or the dreadful r 'n' b stop us and hit the dancefloor with gumph, throwing some rocking party shapes, showing the kids how it is done. Eventually we tired ourselves out and after unsuccessfully finding a kebab house (apparently they all shut at 10pm - who wants kebabs before 10pm) we head back to the hostel for a good, hangover kip.

Urgh we are not good at hangovers anymore, 5 pieces of toast later we embark on a walk to Mt Manganoui. We are assured this is a 1 and a half hours nice walk. hmmm the walk is mostly through an industrial park, where we stop for a strawberry break, and by the time we get to the mountain we are all so sick and hungry we just about manage to find a before 10pm kebab, miss going to the mountain after all and get a bus back through the pretty seaside town.

Strawberry Break

Mt Manganoui

Saying goodbye to Jon and Felicity we head North again to the Coromandel area. First stop is the hot water beack where for 2 hours each side of high tide there is a small area which has heated water reservoirs underground due to the chemicals which rise so people can dig their own hot water pools which then fill with the hot water and you can sit in it like a spa pool. The water runs at about 65degrees C though so one moment the water can be cold and the next you can boil your feet off - so you have to be careful! After burning our feet we moved on to Cathedral Cove where the water has eroded the rock in the middle so it is arched like a cathedral window over the beach. You aren't supposed to walk through this as the rock above could collapse in at ANY TIME! DANGER! So after watching a few people go through and survive we risked it - well I ran though as fast as possible and found the other side was pretty much the same. And I risked my LIFE for that?! Also, if you have ever seen Narnia: Prince Caspian (or however that is spelt) when they get 'drawn' back to Narnia from the train station they land on a beach and it is indeed the Coromandel Cove beach. Cool.

We are heading back South again now and stopping at a place called Rotorua. Which is famous for being a hugely geothermal active area - meaning there is LOADS of sulpher and the area stinks of rotten eggs. Other than that it is quite nice. haha. On the way we stop at Hobbiton (Matamata) where they filmed The Shire part of Lord Of The Rings. We are really lucky because they are about to film The Hobbit so are rebuilding the set so it looks more like the movie than it normally does. However, we are sworn to strict secrecy to the point that I can't actually write about anything we saw on the Internet. You'll just have to see the film! Tonight we head to a campsite a little further out of town on the Blue Lake which is far enough away from the Lake Rotorua not to smell.

Blue Lake

After a chill out day in the sunshine with books we head on a traditional Mauri 'experience' tour. (I don't think traditional and tour really should go together in one sentence...) We visit a Mauri village, which is set up for the tourists. Before we are allowed in though we have to witness a Mauri warrior dance, which is really funny cause they stick out their tongues a lot and go 'bleurgh' as an act of defiance and war but just looks amusing. However we are strictly not allowed to laugh, smile or take photos from a crouching stance as this is seen as an act of aggression. I'm not sure what they would do to us if we do smile...argh now all I want to do is smile. Anyways, after we accept their gift of a leaf we are allowed into the village where they have some wooden huts and fires set-up and we are informed about various Mauri traditions, cooking techniques, weapons, family life and children's games. Duncan 'volunteers' (ok I pushed him into the circle as a volunteer - so mature) to take part in the game which is a stick based game where you can't drop the stick. I'll show you when I get home. Duncan comes second, which I point out is rubbish because everyone gets a clap for taking part and then the winner gets a big clap for winning but who remembers or applauds second place? Think about it. haha. We then watch a Mauri traditional dance and song show before settling down to a huge dinner! Seriously my stomach is expanding - we had lamb, chicken, potatoes, vegetables, fish, bread, pasta and loads of stuff I didn't even take and then we had a MASSSIIIIVVEEE pavlova and steamed pudding dessert. Annie and Duncan happy. done. Just to mention that our bus tour guide was brilliant too! Firstly he remembered everyone's names (30 odd people) on the bus and chatted to us in our own accents (haha) on the journey and on the way back he sang each country our own songs. We had 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' but America had 'She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain' which he sang whilst driving the bus around a mini-roundabout again and again and again. Brilliant.

Mauri 'welcome' dance

Stick Game

I just like this photo because I look TINY!

Today we head to Lake Taupo and on the way stop at the Thermal Wonderland - oh and what a wonder it is. Firstly we see the Lady Knox Geyser erupt at 10:15am. I thought this was a natural phenomenon that it just happens to erupt at this time precisely every day. Actually they just throw soap into the geyser (which looks like earth's giant pimple..mmmm) to cause a chemical reaction which cause the geyser to bubble then all the hot water from the underground reserve to come shooting out to about 10m - 20m. Bit disappointing really so we go on to explore the geothermal wonderland of lakes, craters caused by collapsing ground, bubbling lakes and holes, gurgling mud pits and beautifully smelling sulphur steamy airs. mmm, I turn around to talk to Duncan at one point and get a mouthful of sulphur air - a bit like taking a mouthful of someone else's fart. yak! It is quite cool seeing nature's natural active volcanic area and seeing the land change to something really different, colourful and sometimes even toxic lemon. The prettiest lake was the champagne lake which naturally bubbles at 100degrees C but man it stinks so we are outta here!