Mozzeenet

The final leg of the journey - when was that again? Already seems like ages ago. That’s sad! I had no recollections of New Zealand north of Wellington from childhood holidays so it was exciting to be venturing into the unknown.

The trip up through the centre of the North Island was great and completely different again to other parts. I especially like seeing the volcanic mountains in Tongariro national park - Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe were two of them. Mount Ruapehu erupted as recently as 1996 and is one of the most active volcanoes in the world! Quite amazing!

We stopped off at a geothermally active area just past Lake Taupo called Craters of the Moon. Steam rose up out of the ground there. That was a precursor to the famous Rotorua which constantly smells like someone let one rip!

Te Puia is the place in Rotorua where the geysers, boiling mud and mineral springs can be viewed. It was really interesting visiting there and was one of the only places we saw Maori carvings and learnt a bit about Maori culture as well as seeing some kiwis (i.e. the small, flightless birds with the long beaks and not the kind which says ‘fush and chups’ and ‘lupstuck’).

It’s also great because most places to stay at in Rotorua have hot springs. Our campsite had 3 hot pools and we had a nice relaxing dip in one of them for a while. I think the temperature of the water was around 30-35 degrees. Nice!

I inconveniently left my book behind at the place we stayed and didn’t realise until Auckland. I wouldn’t have worried so much except it was a library book. As suggested by the campsite manager, I sent them a self-addressed stamped envelope and they kindly posted it back to me in Australia. It obviously happens quite a bit. I was relieved to get it back and return it safely to the library! Lesson 1: Don’t take library books on holidays. Lesson 2: Don’t leave book down the side of a bed where you may not check in the morning.

Auckland was an interesting city and a good end to the holiday. It is quite a picturesque city and quite reminiscent of Sydney with its harbour, sailing boats and bridge. It probably doesn’t do it justice to compare it to Sydney though because it is a lot smaller.

We did go up the sky tower which was pretty impressive. The view is fantastic and they have these glass windows in the floor which you can walk over. It is a bizarre feeling to do so and you have to be pretty trusting of the building materials. There are signs assuring people of the strength of the glass. Andrew had vertigo so was holding onto the central wall and didn’t come anywhere near the windows which was quite amusing. I also saw someone do the sky jump off the tower, attached to vertical cables. Crazy!

We saw my cousin and his new daughter, only a couple of months old and drove over the bridge to see the views from that side. There is another volcano, Rangitoto, off the coast of Auckland but it’s a lot older (not active) than the ones we saw in Tongariro National Park. It’s amazing though to think that the city is basically built on volcanoes. Andrew’s workmate and his partner, took us for a drive up Mt Eden where we saw volcanic craters and got a great view of the city.

Then it was time to leave New Zealand and head back to Oz (sadly). We dropped off our trusty rental car at the airport and checked in for our flight home. We managed to spend every New Zealand cent we had left on magazines, chocolates and food at the airport! Before we knew it we were back in Melbourne. As you can see it had been a pretty eventful 2 weeks. The good thing was we were back to work for one day and then had a day off for Melbourne cup. Good planning!!!