I Always Like Going South. Somehow, It Feels Like Going Downhill

     I want to start this blog by talking about the night sky. One of my favorite past times is sitting outside making a fire and viewing the beauty of the night sky. One of my favorite memories is when I was at my Babci’s on Georgian Bay and we were out on the back deck on a midsummer’s night eve. It was a clear sky and when you looked up there were literally thousands of stars shining bright and the milky way was as clear as day. 

     Getting on with my new adventures. The night sky here in NZ has been pretty stunning. There is a constellation that is only visible in the Southern Hemisphere. It is called The Southern Cross, or The Crux. I was able to see it on Saturday night before I made a phone call at 4am local time. It is definitely something all star lovers should see. I was also able to see the constellation Orien. It’s going to be weird seeing him for 6 continuous months. Kinda cool though.

     Every night here has been pretty clear. I haven’t experienced any storms yet and overall the weather has been in our favor. A lot of people said the weather would be crappy when I was in NZ because it was switching from summer to fall and getting into earlier winter. So far they are very wrong and probably a little jealous because every day has been 20 + and the sun has been shining bright. When it has rained it has been light, lasting a maximum of a couple of hours.

      

On Monday we left Kaikoura and headed south to Oamaru. Oamaru is a very small artsy town. We wanted to walk around and see what we could do before sunset but it was a public holiday so everything was closed. We rested in the hostel till the sun started setting. I should mention that Oamaru is famous for their Blue Penguin colonies. You can either pay $20 to go see where the main colony is, or just head to one of the local beaches and try seeing one or two. We didn’t want to pay so we risked it. In the end we saw about 5 penguins. And we were able to get a lot closer than anyone in a large tourist group would have got. It was also really cool cause we were the only ones there. Here is the story.

     Blue penguins are the smallest of all penguins. (I got excited when I read this because small animals make me happy.) At sunset they start heading back to the rocky shores to rest after a long day of deep sea fishing.  So when it started to get dark we headed to the cliffs and waited for the penguins to arrive. SOOOO CUUUTTEEE!! We first saw one peering from behind the rock and checking us out. SIDENOTE: You aren’t allowed to use flash photography or a flashlight to view the penguins.

      At the cliffs we were at there was a pier that went out quite far and had a few street lights on it. We walked down the pier along the rocks looking for more penguins. We saw two climbing up the rocks and just relaxing under the street light. They started playing and waddling around. I was like a little school girl watching them. I want one sooo badly. Once they were comfortable being around us they ran across the pier. Their waddle was adorable to watch because they were going so fast. What made it better was when one of them tripped over his feet, stumbled, then fell. He/she quickly picked themselves up again and continued to the other side. I walked over and sat about 3 feet from them and just watched them cuddling up with each other. It was really amazing being able to sit this close to wild Blue Penguins and just watch them. Only in the southern hemisphere can you do this. They weren’t as inviting as the Fur Seal Pups but it was still amazing. I want to have one as a pet. They are incredibly small and make your heart melt.

     

 Tuesday we headed even further south to Dunedin.  On our way we stopped at the Moeraki boulders and Shag Point. The Moeraki boulders were really interesting because they are very spherical rocks that are in the middle of a random beach and no one knows where they came from or how they were formed. They vary in sizes as well. I think they were made by aliens because the inside of them looks like a brick wall. Almost perfect rectangles held together by some mortar. It’s very weird. Def. aliens.   

      We had lunch at Shag Point. It is known for its Yellow-Eyed Penguin and seal colonies. As mentioned before during the day the penguins are out fishing so we didn’t see any. We did get to see larger seals sunbathing on the side of the rocks. I walked pretty close and one hissed and me and started walking my way so I backed off. I got a pretty good picture though haha. After our lunch break we made our way to Dunedin. When we got there we unpacked, walked around and went to the movies. We went to The Hunger Games. It was a pretty good film, but I’m not going to critique it in my travel blog.

      Dunedin is proud of having the steepest street in the world. That’s right. The steepest street. We arrived at the bottom early Wednesday morning. The   street itself isn’t very long. Apparently they moved a house from the bottom to the top and it took them 5 hours to get the truck up the street. It is called “Baldwin Street”.(Interesting seeing that name pop up randomly in my life hahahaha). Walking up was killer on the legs. People were driving up it and you could hear their engines struggling to keep the car going, and one guy biked down it. All I can really say is that I walked up and down Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world. 

     

 After Baldwin Street we went to the Otago Peninsula. Again there was a Yellow-Eyed Penguin colony there and sea lions. This beach had full sized sea lions. It was intimidating. We were walking along Sandfly Beach and saw some sea lions lying in the sand. I tried lying down about 10 feet from one and as soon as I got into position for the picture he jumped up, growled and got into a defensive position. I’ve never got up so fast and run. I just wanted to lye in the sun and soak up some rays with him lol. We strolled a little further down the  beach and saw two more lying. This time the one sea lion was massive. This is the full size one we saw. If I were to guess I would say he was at least 10-12ft long and very fat. I was a little nervous just walking by this one. He was pretty chill and just stayed with his lady and didn’t pay much attention to us. Thank goodness. We spent the rest of the day on the beach just relaxing and enjoying the ocean air.     

   

      The girls have left me for a week. They are heading further south to do some hikes in the mountains. I opted out of this one and said I would just relax. I don’t think it is the best idea for me to go hiking in the mountains on 3 day excursions. If I had someone with me that knew my condition better and my legs didn’t hurt from all the hiking already then I would totally be down for more day trips. Today (Thursday) I will be resting in the hostel in Dunedin. It is called Hogwartz. Tomorrow I will be heading to Queenstown and I need to meet the girls next week in Wanaka. Hopefully everything works out and I will be with them again in a week or so.

Against The Power of Mordor There Can Be No Victory!!!

This one is for you Nick. Only the power of stoichiometry can stand a chance against the amount of sheep here. The sheep population is roughly 45 million. The human population here is about 4.5 million. Every field you look into is filled with sheep. The picture in this blog is a field of sheep, and as we were driving by they decided to all line up and march together. It was really weird but I laughed hysterically because I’ve never seen anything like it. Throughout my travels in NZ I have met a lot of people, and just like the sheep 98% of the people I meet are German. They are everywhere! (It’s like a Nazi invasion!! I swear Neil “Deer Hunter” Hirsch is planning something). If I come across an American or a Canadian I get so happy because I can finally talk to someone without slowing down my speech, and they will understand everything I’m talking about. 

On my Abel Tasman kayaking trip today I met two Americans from Denver. We got talking and the guy was a writer for the local paper (he studied journalism in college and has been writing his whole life). He writes about marijuana. I was interested and asked him more. Marijuana is medically legal in Colorado and somehow he ended up writing reviews on the licensed dealers and the quality of their weed. Things grew and now he gets everything paid for and writes articles that are related to marijuana.

My drug is candy as many of you know. NZ doesn’t have the usual candies that I am used to like Cherry Blasters or SPK’s. This is a good thing because I gave those up for lent. Unfortunately I kinda cheated because when we were in the store everyone was buying “RJ’s Strawberry White Chocolate Logs”. So I figured I’d try out the local sweet. OH MAN!! My taste buds went crazy!! It is a licorice stick with white chocolate in the center. Kinda like a “livewire”, but its licorice and chocolate. I’m gonna try to bring some home but I’m afraid I will eat them all on the long return journey.

That was just the intro to this blog. I feel my last two entries weren’t the best and didn’t have enough detail. So from now on I am going to be more detailed. With this detail comes worse grammar and sentence structure because I shall be rambling, and I apologize in advance for this.

Thursday. Today I found my utopia. I was going to try to relax today but the girls wanted me to go up to Farewell Spit with them and check out the area. I did. I figure that I can relax when I get home. I must adventure and do as much as I can while I’m here. Before we left the hostel we asked what there was to do while we were up there. The lady at the desk said to check out Te Waikoropupu Springs, Farewell Spit, and Wharariki beach. 

Our drive to the springs was kinda crazy. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but the highways here aren’t what we would consider highways. They are like Canadian back roads. One lane for each way of traffic and they twist up through mountains with no guard rails. They expect you to go relatively fast around the hair pin corners but even when we are going 40kph it feel like we are on a roller coaster getting pulled by the G-Forces. 

Te Waikoropupu Springs was a short stop. We walked around for about an hour to see what this place was about. Te Waikoropupu Springs are Australasia's largest springs and the world's clearest fresh water. The water was actually incredibly clear. Even where it was 15ft deep you could see the bottom as if the water level was ankle height. The springs are a sacred Maori site so no one is allowed to even touch the water. 

Farewell spit. It is the highest point on the south island (The tip of it is). If you look at a aerial photo of it and the surrounding area you can actually see part of a kiwi bird. We walked along the spit for a bit but had to turn back because there was too much fog and rain. Along the beach I found a starfish!! It was alive too!!!!!  I picked it up and brought it from the beach to the ocean. It was funny because before the walk I told the girls my goal was to find a starfish. Mission Accomplished. On the beach there were also a lot of washed up jelly fish. I touched the top of one and it was super slimy and weird feeling. I don't really know how to describe it. I just remember Marlin from Finding Nemo saying you can touch the tops and not get stung, so I did. We had lunch at the car before heading on to Wharariki Beach. 

Again I had no idea what we were in for when we got to the beach. I got out of the car and to my surprise there was a peacock in the parking lot just wandering around. No one was around taking care of it either. It was a little odd but I fed it some crackers. Our walk to the beach was a 3km path along a dirt road, through a field a sheep, and down through another thick forest. The dirt road was pretty simple. The field of sheep was fun because the sheep were on the track and I chased them around. They didn’t really like it that much. They are scared of humans. The forest was another regular walk but when we came out towering cliffs and a bare white sand beach greeted us. I was blown away. This is my utopia. It was incredible. There was no one around and it was just picture perfect. It’s kinda hard for me to describe this place cause I couldn’t believe was what I was seeing. 

At the beach it was low tide so we walked around and into the caves in the enormous cliffs. It was really creepy just walking into a cave that is usually underwater, and seeing all the mussels attached to the rock and creatures just chilling out on the walls. Again there were crabs. Not as big as the last bunch but there were enough of them to give me a freight. When we were in these caves we had to pull out our flash lights to see what was around us. When I spotted a crab hanging out in a little pool of water I decided to approach him with a carabiner in hand. He jumped up and attacked it, then scurried away. When it jumped I was freaking out because I didn’t know if he was going to attack me (And I didn’t have any pokemon to defend me against crabby). I ran out of the cave and moved on the next area of the beach. Walking along there were sea creatures everywhere it was really cool because some of them were just so colourful. Speaking of colour, the colours here in NZ are astonishing. The colour on everything is so vivid that it looks fake. The colours of the golden sand in Abel Tasman, the dark green forests, the bright blue waters, and everything in between. On our walk back to the beach we saw a sign saying there is a fur seal colony on the beach further down to where we didn’t walk. I was a little sad because I wanted to see a seal from close up.

Friday we woke up and went to Abel Tasman National Park. We got to the park early in the morning and the sun was shining bright. We boarded the water taxi and headed along the coast of the park up to Tonga Quarry. In the quarry we got in our kayaks and headed out to Tonga Island. Tonga island is a popular spot for fur seals. There were a few pups playing in the water and chilling on the rocks. It was really cool seeing them for the first time. I was a little disappointed though because the seals weren’t coming up to our kayaks as I thought they would. It was still worth it though kayaking in the sea, seeing the seals and large jellyfish in the water.   

Not being able to see the pups up close left me a little down but on Saturday the most amazing thing happened. I know I say that a lot but every day just gets better. I think ok what could beat whatever just happened and the next day something does. It’s not a bad thing, in fact I quite enjoy being filled with more joy everyday. Saturday we drove from Manueka to Kaikoura. There isn’t really anything interesting along the way. The scenery changes and the mountains get larger. Along the Pacific ocean we saw some seals on the rocks and decided to stop and take some photos. When we got out of the car a  gentleman told us to cross the highway and look at what was in the forest. A FUR SEAL COLONY!!!!! It was crazy. Only the pups were there because the parents are currently out fishing, and they were playing in the streams. It was the cutest best thing I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t believe I was so close to wild fur seal pups. They weren’t scared of us and they let us come close and watch them play. Some of them even showed off for us. It was adorable!!!! Even though the sign said stay back don’t touch blah blah blah, I didn’t listen. I was playing with one and started petting him. It was funny because he was on his back so I scratched his belly then when he had enough he slapped my hand with his little flippers. 

On Saturday night we relaxed at the hostel and got invited to a wine tasting event for backpackers. It was my first wine tasting event and it was really educational. We tried 5 different wines. 3 whites and 2 reds. Apparently NZ has world famous white wines. All the known and big vineyards are on the south island which is where a lot of seafood is consumed. So I am assuming that’s why they specialize in white wine. We went to bed relatively earlier because Sunday was a busy morning of swimming with wild dolphins.

One thing on most people’s bucket list is to swim with dolphins. Many people do it in florida or the caribbean, but I don’t consider that actually swimming with them because they are trained to entertain and spend time with you. Swimming in Kaikoura with wild Dusky Dolphins was an experience I will never forget. We boated out and saw a pod of dolphins. We got our snorkelling gear on, sat on the back of the boat and then when instructed got in the water and swam towards them. It’s so much different because we are entering their home. We started off relatively close but then had to swim in their direction and be on their terms. If they wanna come close and check you out that is their choice. And once I was swimming with them I really got a feeling that they are in charge. Even with big flippers on and a buoyant wetsuit on I wasn’t able to keep up with the dusky’s. They are incredibly fast and agile. It was crazy. I took a few videos and tried to get some pictures. After I put my camera away one dolphin came really close to me and I could touch him. They told us that if they circle you they are interested and the best thing to do is swim in a circle with them and keep eye contact. If you can keep up and pass the test, they will spend time with you and show off a bit.The showing off for a dolphin is spins under water, and full flips in the air once they breach the surface. So with this one dolphin I circled and dove down with it. I think I passed the test because he spent quite a while with me. The feeling of swimming with a wild dolphin and spending one on one time with them is indescribable. Looking into their eyes is incredibly amazing. I kinda felt a connection with it (I lost track of time and all my surroundings) and it is something I will never forget. (We were swimming with a pod of 250-300 Dolphins, and the Dusky’s are only found in the Southern Hemisphere.)

Tonight we are going out for some fresh seafood on the coast. I would like to try the crayfish. It is a NZ delicacy. They don’t have lobster here so they eat crayfish instead, but their crayfish are the same size as lobsters if not bigger.

The next thing to do is see some penguins. Hopefully I can accomplish my goal this week and have even better stories for you guys.

Right. Bucklebury Ferry. Follow Me!!!

Welliwood!! This is what the locals call Wellington, ever since Peter Jackson made multiple films studios around the city. Yes once The Lord of The Rings was finished and made millions of dollars Peter Jackson was able to build and purchase multiple studios in the area. He owns multiple houses and his primary estate cost $65 million. It is just north of Wellington and has multiple houses on the property with rail and train connecting them. This way guests can stay in their homes and when they are invited to the main house they just catch the train. There is also a 18 hole golf course on his property and every fake tree made for The Lord of The Rings is planted in his yard. After he purchased the property he didn’t want to plant trees and wait for them to grow to full size, so he took his movie props and planted them. He also took the interior Bag End set and put it on his property. No big deal right??!!!

Our time in Wellington was short and that is ok. It is a pretty busy city and the weather is mediocre. It is cloudy and windy with a little bit of rain. I got to go on a LOTR tour which was my main plan here. On the tour we went to the Mt. Victoria forest where they shot the scenes where the hobbits are leaving the shire, Bree, and Dunharrow Plateau (that’s in the final film). After the location areas we went to the Weta Cave. It is a mini museum and gift shop. It was so surreal to see all the props from LOTR, Tin Tin, District 9, The Halo shorts (short films done by Weta and yes Halo the video game), King Kong, and so many others. There were also miniatures there from all the movies and exclusive ones done by Weta for The Muppets (2011) movie (AKB). After the cave our driver took us into the studio filming area and let us get up close to where they are currently filming The Hobbit Part 2. I was so giddy looking at the set. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!! I was actually there!!!! Unfortunately we weren’t allowed inside the stage buildings because there were “top secret” things going on. But it was still amazing to see the set outside the studio with the green screen back drop.

That was the most exciting thing we did in my opinion. We also walked around the city and went to the Te Papa Museum. It is a free museum so we escaped the wind and looked around. They have a giant squid on display. I believe it is the biggest ever caught. The eyes were the size of soccer balls. I also took the girls out for lunch. They have never had fish and chips before so we went for fish and chips on the pier. It was delicious.

I have decided to travel with the girls a little longer. Everyone says the best way to see the south island is with a car, so they are letting me tag along. We have a good thing going. I mean it’s me and two girls from Europe sharing a room, I see no problems :) lol. 

Today (Wednesday) we took the ferry from Wellington to Picton. The straight was super rough. We weren’t allowed outside on the decks because the rain, wind, and waves were too crazy. I tried walking around to see what was on the ferry and it was challenge. You definitely needed sea legs for today. As we were approaching Picton the weather was starting to clear up. The drive from Picton to Motueka took us about 3 hours, only because we stopped to look at the scenery and buy some groceries. After we arrived at the hostel we walked down to the beach. I bought new $10 flip flops because my old Teva’s having been cutting my feet up. These new flip flops aren’t much better. So I spent today walking around the beach, through the ocean, and down the road bare foot. My feet are pretty torn up right now, but it will only make them stronger and more Hobbit like. My feet are cut up because at the beach it was low tide and we had to walk about 60 metres through shin deep mud and clay with sea shells everywhere. It wasn’t the most pleasant walk but the end result was totally worth it. The water was incredibly warm underneath the waves was smooth white sand.

Hopefully tomorrow is a better day.

Mordor...The One Place In Middle Earth We Don’t Want To See Any Closer

       In Rotorua I met up with Anne and Magdalena. Two girls, one from Germany and the other from Austria who are renting a car. They were heading down to Taupo and planning on doing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Coincidently that was my plan. So I am traveling with them till at least Wellington. I’m not sure of my plan after that but for now I’m with them.

      On Thursday we left for Taupo. It’s about a one hour drive from Rotorua. When we got to Taupo the girls decided they wanted to go sky diving. Due to my health I wan’t able to jump out of a plane. I was allowed to chill in the landing areas and take photos. That was pretty cool. The weather was perfect. After the jump we heard rumors of a hot and cold pool. We asked around and found out that near Lake Taupo there is a hot stream/waterfall that goes into a large cold stream. We were also told that anyone is allowed in the hot or cold stream for free.

       When we got there, there were a few people sitting in the hot stream under the waterfalls. We brought a few brews and joined them. Funny enough it was all locals and apparently this place is not very popular or heard of by tourists. So it was nice to talk and swim with the locals. Again it was a perfect night. No clouds in the sky and the stars were shining bright. Sitting in a natural hot stream, under a waterfall, with the stars shining bright and no other lights around or light polluting the surrounding sky. So romantic lol.

     We had to get back to the hostel earlier then we wanted to because we had to be up at 5 and in the car for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing for 5:30. At the Tongariro National Park there are three mountains. Two of the mountains are where Peter Jackson filmed the shots for MORDOR!!!! The Tongariro Alpine Crossing actually goes up and through Mt. Ngauruhoe, which is the primary filming mountain for Mordor. The crossing is 19.4km and changes scenery likes nobodies business. You start in grassland with beautiful streams flowing through them. Around this area is where Peter Jackson filmed Weathertop. So I was in awe looking at the hills because I felt like I was walking the same path as the fellowship. After the grassland was the volcano. Just picture when Sam and Frodo are walking through Mordor in the final film. The final descent was a long walk through a very thick forest. The vertical on this walk is 736m and for some reason all 736m are in one section,“The Devils Staircase”. It was awful. I believe this is the first mountain I have ever climbed. OH BOY was it exhausting, tiring, and difficult.  After that it is mostly down hill but the first half of the walk/climb is killer. We started at 7:30am and finished the crossing at 3:15pm. It was a long exhausting day but I’m glad I did it, I climbed up Mt. Doom. Mt. Ngauruhoe is an active volcano with lava flowing out of it steadily. When we got to the top the scenery was amazing (like all of NZ). The weather was perfect. In the crater of Mt. Ngauruhoe which is half way to the summit I grabbed a few volcanic rocks. Technically rocks from Mt. Doom. Yeah I’m a nerd, deal with it. I now have a piece of the set from Hobbiton and a few rocks from Mordor. I’m pretty happy about it.      

      On Saturday we headed to Huka Falls in Taupo region. It was a pretty cool water fall. It looked very powerful. I don’t really know much about it or why it is famous, but we saw it and it was cool. After the falls we drove to Wangarei (sometimes spelled Whangarei). Our hostel here is really nice. They have hammocks under a big palm tree and a trampoline in the backyard. It isn’t the busy season either so we had the hammocks and trampoline to ourselves all night. We sat outside under the stars and watched “Boy”. Another excellent night. Im really happy about the weather NZ has given us. I thought it would be a lot worse than it is. I’ll keep praying that we continue to have good weather. Already in a week I have a sun tan/burn, and my hair is a lighter colour blonde from the amount of sunlight I’ve been giving it. Hopefully when I get back I’ll be able to blind people with the colour of my hair and intimidate them with my taller more muscular body haha.

        As you can probably tell I have been a busy guy. Having done a new activity or walk everyday, I decided that Sunday would be my day to relax. I stayed in and slept till 10:30. After lunch the girls and I went to the beach. It was a black sand beach. There are plenty of them on the west coast of the north island. When we got there we immediately went in the water (this beach was on the Tasman Sea). The water was warm and clear. So clear in fact that as I was walking on the sand bars I saw and felt TWO crabs (the size of both my fists together) walk over my feet. I was so freaked out and scared. I ran so fast back to the beach. Two crabs just crawled on me and I had no clue what there intentions were. Their claws were massive. And now I know how scary the sea can be. The second time I went out to go swimming I tried not to be such a sissy but I was still really nervous. What made it worse was that the waves stirred up the sand and made it harder to see the bottom. I finally got out far enough and swam for a bit. It would have been a much better swim if I didn’t see those crabs. 

        Our next stop is Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. I plan on doing another Lord Of The Rings tour there. Both in the studio and the shooting locations in the surrounding area.

My Cousin Balin Will Give Us A Royal Welcome!!!

I will start this blog from where I left off in my previous one.

Rotorua. One of the most active geothermal and volcanic areas on Planet Earth! The crust here is only 3km thick, which actually isn’t very thick. In fact it is quite thin. The ground is warm when you touch it. During the summer it can reach 60C in the area. Also tea tree is a native plant to the area. That’s where tea tree oil comes from. Here the plant is called “Manuka”.

On Sunday, March 11th we went to Wai-O-Tapu. It is a very popular thermal reserve in the Rotorua region for its geysers, and geothermal lakes. The first thing on the tour was The Lady Knox Geyser. This was the first geyser I’ve ever been to and boy oh boy was it cool. Lady Knox was physically very small. (maybe chest height, and also kinda thin). But with 30,000 litres of water underneath her and pressure constantly building, the spectacle she gave was astounding!!! I thought while sitting there that ok maybe it will go up like 15ft for like 30-40 seconds. It was more like 45 feet at first then down to 25 after 10 minutes. She continued to go off for a full hour. Yeah, 25ft geyser for an hour. 

After Lady Knox we went into the park and walked around for 3 hours covering the whole area. It was cool to see the silica everywhere. Also there was lots of sulphur stains on the rocks and hot pool and lakes above boiling temperatures. Seeing the different colours in the water was really cool. Different chemicals produced different colours. There were oranges, purples, reds, yellows, whites, and greens. One lake was called “The Artists Palette”. In this lake all the colours are present. I enjoyed looking at it. SIDENOTE: A lot of the caves and lakes are named after the Devil. Example: The highlight for me was “ The Devil’s Bath”. This arsenic lake was the craziest colour of green you’ll ever see. I took pictures of it, but still it didn’t capture what I was seeing. I found out that the amount of cloud cover and sunlight actually changes the tone of green and yellow in the lake. So if you come to NZ you MUST come to this place.

On Monday we visited “tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao”. A small village just outside Rotorua where Maori people still live today. Our tour guide showed us how the people there still live like they did 300 years ago when the village came to be. They use the hot pools and steam vents to cook food, bath, wash clothes. There are little ovens over the vents and the meat is wrapped in leaves and placed into the ovens at noon. They temperature of the oven is 250 C. By 6pm or so a full chicken or chunk of lamb will be fully cooked. Sweet corn is then placed in a fishnet bag with a rope tied to the end. They throw that into a hot pool with a temperature of 150C. It takes 15 minutes for it to cook and doesn’t require any season because of all the natural salts in the pool.  

It was really cool to see how the people of tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao are living today with modernization going on around them. Yes they do have some modern technologies but they use them as least as possible. Our guide said that dishes are unnecessary and they do not use them, and that Maori time is the only time they follow. From what I saw it was a very relaxed way of life.

Now time for Steve’s “Things I’ve noticed” section.

1. Cemeteries are located on hills and people are not buried underground.
2. Rugby fields everywhere...DUH
3. Everyone walks around in bare feet
4. Hedges in front yards are 30ft tall No Jokes!. They want privacy
5. All the kids still ride scooters
6. Aquarius is a popular word
7. The KFC Double Down is a copy of a NZ Chicken Ham and cheese savorie (Nz is probably healthier too)
8. McDonalds has free wifi and a combo called the Mac and Cheese- Big mac, Fries, Drink, Sundae, and double cheese burger for 11.90 NZD. Thats equal to 8 CDN. There is also one called The Mac Attack..Take a guess at what’s in that.
9. They have “Aged Persons” Caution Signs...WTF??

Back to my trip.

Today, Tuesday we went ZORBing. Holy F. That was sooo much fun!!!!! I knew while I was ZORBing that I had the second biggest smile on my face ever. (First biggest smile was on 17/FEB/2012. But that my friends is another story). We went for a walk around the city and through the parks. In the city parks they have natural hot pools set up for people to sit in. We did, it was enjoyable. After lunch we went to the information center and got a special deal for ZORB. 

At the hill I was really excited, and not to nervous. At the top they asked what track   I wanted to try out. I asked which one was the wildest and most people say is the best. It was the Zig-Zag track. I jumped into the ZORB, the gentleman filled it with a little hot water and locked me inside. He said stand up, run, and push. I was able to stand for about 5 seconds then gravity took over and I was tossed around with water splashing everywhere. I’ll leave it at that because everyone should experience this for themselves. After the run I quickly jumped back into the van and got a ride to the top (even though I didn’t pay for another ride). It wasn’t very busy and they didn’t seem to mind. (The people in NZ are really welcoming, nice, and friendly). I laughed and smiled so much. Awesome day. This is like the perfect roller coaster for pacemaker patients lol. At the end I figured I had so much fun that I would support the company and bought a ZORB shirt.

  

A traditional Maori dinner is called a Hangi. On Tuesday night I decided to go to a Maori Hangi and culture show at Mitai village. (A few of us were waiting outside the hostel and we started chatting. It turns out I met and had dinner with Henrik and Daniel Sedins Cousin. His name is also Henrik). It was a really cool experience. You could taste the difference in the potatoes that were cooked in the steam, and the chicken and lamb was so succulent and juicy. It’s a lot different from a Canadian meal and the way it is cooked. It almost tasted better. The performance by the tribe included a view of their Waka along the river, traditional dance and song. (the song was beautiful, their voices were so nice), and a Haka. The Haka that was performed was really intense the warriors were sweating from putting all their effort into it. Their chest were super red because during the Haka the warriors slap their chests and yeah you could tell they were giving it their all. The Haka is a sacred thing for the Maori and it was nice to see that even though they probably do it every night, that every time they give it their all. Before we go back on the bus the tribe let us walk through the forest to see the glow worms. It was a spectacular walk. We got to see a Silver Fern that was actually silver in colour, weta bugs, the glow worms, and even a blind eel. Again the weather was perfect and the stars truly a sight to see from within the forest.

HOBBITON!!!! (I am actually speechless). It was a jaw dropper to say the least. The full sets are build permanently now because of The Hobbit movie coming out and at the end of the year the Green Dragon pub will be turned into a bar for visitors to have a drink a for the premiere. It was just so amazing! Our guide asked, “Who’s hobbit hole is this?” and me being a huge LOTR nerd answer instantly. For that he gave me a piece of the set. It’s just a leave from the tree a top Bag End, but still. (I also took a stone from the front walk of Bag End). The gardens in the Hobbiton set are real, so naturally I ate some fresh mint. The strawberries were already gone and I didn’t want to eat a tomato or a whole cabbage.  

Rotorua and Matamata (Hobbtion) are a must see for anyone passing through NZ. There is a lot of history and culture here, as well as amazing activities, and beautiful scenery. My next goal is to get to National Park and walk the Tongariro National Crossing. It is suppose to be one of the best walks in NZ and it is also where Mordor was filmed.

Now that I have been to Hobbiton (where Frodo first got the ring), I am off to Mordor where it was destroyed in the fires of Mt Doom!!!

What Is It? What Do You Smell?...Man Flesh!

     It is Sunday, March 11th, 2012 and I have arrived in Rotorua. On my first night I met another solo traveller (Ted) from France. He’s pretty cool. Really nice guy who is renting a car. We hit things off and yesterday we went to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. 

     In my mind I pictured Cathedral cove being a cool spot along the beach. I’d drive into Hahei then walk down the beach to the cove. OH BOY was I wrong. you have to drive up a mountain, park your car then walk 30-45 minutes to get to the cove. And this is no easy walk you walk up and down the side of this mountain for 1km. It was awesome walking through the forest/jungle listening to the birds and hearing the waves crash against the rocks but the hills are killer. What made it worse was I decided to wear sandals that day. Eventually we got there and the payoff was totally worth it. Down on the beach, the Pacific right in front of you and massive cliffs and Cathedral Cove all right there tucked away. One thing I’ve noticed in New Zealand is that everything is a lot bigger than you think it is. Looking at pictures your like ok yeah big rock...NO NO. Once your standing in near them you get a sense of perspective of just how gigantic this place really is. Another example, at Cathedral Cove I decided to go into the Pacific. The locals said it was a calm day and the waves were 7-10ft high (and that was when they were breaking ON THE BEACH). 

     After the exhausting walk back we drove to Hot Water Beach. The highlight of Hot Water Beach is, when it is low tide you get as close to the seawater as you can and dig a hole in the sand without letting the ocean water come into your hole. So you dig a hole that you can sit in and the ground water is literally boiling in places. We dug our hole and it was about the same temperature as a hot tub. Then we dug another hold beside and there was steam coming up from the water. We merged it with our pool and the temperature of our pool rose. But where we dug to get the boiling hot water was soo hot, you actually couldn’t even touch it with a toe. I TRIED and my foot felt like burning for most of the day. Coolest thing ever. On top of that it was a cloudy day and I still got a sun burn. It was really cool to be at Hot Water Beach on a Saturday and see all the locals bringing their families too. 

     Around 4pm we called a hostel in Rotorua and got a room for the night. We drove for 2.5 hours and made it. People say that Rotorua smells like eggs because of all the natural hot springs and sulphur in the air. Yep that is correct, it smells. (BTW not like the egg smell you wake up to in the morning, rotten egg smell). 

     We got to our hostel, unpacked, ate, got settled in. Since it was a Saturday night I figured something was going to be happening somewhere, it’s the end of their summer so somethings going on. Sure enough free concerts along the lake! I walked down to the lake and watched the concerts. Excellent music, no clouds in the sky, no light pollution, stars and the moon above. It was terrific. After the concerts they announced fireworks! The fireworks started and it was the best display I’ve ever seen. No building around just the night sky and maybe 4 street lamps. Incredible!! I’ve never seen fireworks literally light up a sky like that before. 15 minutes of large big fireworks going off made it a night to remember.

     From here I will probably stay in Rotorua for a week, Hobbiton is 40 minutes away and I can also Zorb in this city. Also I’ve been on the move quite a bit so I think it will be nice to sit and relax.

A Wizard Is Never Late, Frodo Baggins. Nor Is He Early. He Arrives Precisely When He Means To

     It’s so surreal to think that I have finally landed in New Zealand. A place that I have been dreaming of visiting for years. I arrived at YYZ 9am local time. An hour and a half later I was through US Customs and security. I got to my gate and made some calls to say everything was going well and off I went. Boarding my plane I got a window seat (24F), which usually I am a fan of because that way I can lean and sleep against the wall. I didn't really think of bathroom breaks and how much of an inconvenience I would be to the people sitting on my left. OOPS. I managed to hold my bladder for 3.5 hours then I finally asked them to move. They didn’t seem to upset because it gave them a chance to stretch and move around before our descent into Los Angeles. 

     It was a pretty uneventful flight. I managed to watch an episode of Departures and the latest Walking Dead. Rest is what I needed most because I knew the next day or two were going to be long and exhausting. Every so often I looked out the window to see the geography change. I looked on the map and saw we were over Las Vegas. It was really cool to see it from 10,000 feet in the air. Very flat  desert all around then one “small” area of tall building with large mountains far in the background. It was an awesome view and I loved how the scenery changed so quickly from flat desert to tall mountains.

     We arrived in LA at 2:45pm local time (5:45pm EST). Terminal 2 is where we arrived and coincidentally it is where my next flight departs from. I walked around a bit and after finding out that there is no free wifi in terminal 2 I got a little disappointed. Out of curiosity I asked a young lady at the gift shop store if there were any computers anywhere. She leaned over the counter and said, “take the elevators up 1 level and sit outside the Air France VIP Lounge. There is free wifi there.”  And so I did and it worked. I got to send some emails and watch the Apple Keynote on “The New iPad”.

     10pm LA time we boarded NZ05. Our plane was unique because it was built 6 weeks before this flight. The plane was painted al black to honor the New Zealand All Blacks on winning the Rugby World Cup on home soil.  The flight was a lot better than I expected. No one sat beside me so I had room to stretch. Somehow I managed to sleep for most of the ride, which was good. When I woke up breakfast was being served and the sun was rising behind us. 

     The captain then came on the speaker and told us we were beginning our descent into Auckland. I got my first glimpse of New Zealand and instantly became a gitty little school girl. At the same time I was so mesmerized by the landscape and scenery. Perfect blue waters, rolling green hills. The land was untouched which made it look almost fake. The dark green forests were like nothing I have ever seen, and right across a bay were bright green fields that flowed down to white sandy beaches. The scenery and colours and sun rising just behind made it a sight I will never forget.

      After landing in Auckland airport I cleared customs, got my bags and asked the easiest and best way to get to Whitianga. Outside at 8:30am it was sunny and hot with not a cloud in the sky. I waited about 15 minutes and got on my first bus to Manukau City. From there I had to catch a bus to Hamilton, then from Hamilton to Thames. And finally from Thames To Whitianga. During those bus rides the scenery changed beautifully. It’s hard to describe just how amazing the trip from Auckland to Whitianga was. It is truly something you must experience for yourself. I arrived in Whitianga 5pm Friday March 9th local time. That would make it 11pm Thursday in Ontario. 2 planes, 4 Buses, and 38 hours later I made it.