East As Tour
I finished my last night in Taupo with a BBQ in the hostel, followed by some drinks and an early night in preparation for getting up the next morning.
On Friday I started a small extra tour, the East As tour, which takes in parts of the East Cape of the north island of NZ - focussing mainly on seeing some of the more traditional aspects of the country. Our driver, Jerry, picked us up in a much smaller bus than the previous ones. Our first port of call was Napier, a town which had to be rebuilt after a big earthquake in 1931. At the time, Art Deco was in fashion, and consequently many of the buildings are built in this style. After some lunch and a few photos, we made our way onwards. Originally, the plan was to visit a few beaches along the way. However, the bad weather we've been having for a while decided to accompany us, so instead we visited some hot pools for a dip and a beer to break up the journey. Eventually we reached Gisborne, the biggest city in that area, where we stayed at the Chalet Surf, right on the beach. We finished the day with a BBQ and watching Whale Rider - a kiwi film shot locally.
Saturday was a lot more relaxed, with not so many miles to do. Some people in the group had got up very early for a surfing lesson - I declined this option due to the not very nice weather - I'll have plenty more opportunities around NZ and Australia to do that! When we eventually left, we visited the Maori village where the film from last night was shot, before heading onto Rangitukia, where we stayed at the Eastenders Farmstay (nothing to do with the crap english soap!). Again, the bad weather had followed us in the form of a very low mist, reducing visibility quite dramatically, and making for a few eerie looking photos (to be added later). We went on a horse ride, which was meant to give us dramatic views of the landscape in the area. However, due to the mist we just got wet. Annoyingly, my horse only seemed to have two speeds, slow and slower. It was also quite adept at weaving side to side on the path, blocking the way for any of the faster riders who wanted to overtake! Back at the farm, we had a meal and played a few games of table tennis and cards. I was supposed to be going Possum shooting (what a nice introduction to an animal I've not yet seen!), but the people doing that never turned up. I suspect that the rain had caused this to be cancelled.
As Rangitukia is the most easterly point of New Zealand, one of the suggested activities was to get up really early and see the sunrise before anywhere else. However, the mist from the previous days made this unlikely. Instead, we opted for allowing one person who said she would get up anyway to wake us if there was any visibility at all. This was not the case, so there was no early start. When we eventually left the farm, we headed off on another fairly short journey, with some random stops along the way for food and seeing little points of interest. Our destination this day was Te Kaha, a Maori village, where we stayed at the Te Kaha homestay lodge. This was by far the best night of the trip so far - at this lodge you stay with a Maori family, where they welcome you into their extended family, providing some really good home cooking, and some entertainment. The garden of the house extended right down to the beach, being interrupted only by the hot tub they have just at the end of the garden.
The hot tub was the first port of call once settled in, spending some time relaxing with some beers while the sun went down. Eventually, dinner was called. The dinner was a buffet style affair with plenty of locally caught fish - definitely the best meal I've had since I got here. After dinner, a group of young locals gave us their welcome song - a tradition in the Maori culture when welcoming guests. They then performed a few more songs, before giving us their rendition of the Haka. They are part of a national competition for performing this ritual, and have won this previously. It was very impressive, although I think when we had to come up and join in we spoilt things quite a bit! After this, things turned into a bit of a sing song, ranging from one very talented girl singing solo with a guitar to the Maori singing some more of their songs. Somewhere inbetween, we had to sing our welcome song, which was just plucked from someone's iPod on the bus journey. After all these festivities, we went back to the hot tub to spend the rest of the night, and demolish the rest of the drinks. Also went for a swim in the sea in the pitch black, where we could see phosphourescent algae every time you move in the water! After a late night of drinking & talking, got to bed quite late.
Today, I had to leave Te Kaha. If it had been possible to stay for an extra night, I definitely would've done. However, the bus for this tour only goes three times a week, so I would've had to stay an extra 3 nights or none at all. Not having a huge amount of spare time on the trip, I opted for leaving. It was a fairly long journey, supposedly to Taupo where I would have another attempt at doing a Skydive. However, it is a Kiwi national holiday today, and the skydiving wasn't running. Consequently, I got off the bus early at Rotorua, which I would have to go through to get to my next destination anyway. I knew some of the people I'd met earlier would be here, so met up with them. Rotorua is full of active thermal pools, mud pools, geysers etc, with lots of Sulphur escaping from the ground. Consequently, the place stinks of rotten eggs. I guess I'll get used to it eventually, but it isn't altogether pleasant at the moment! Went for a walk around park looking at the thermal pools this afternoon. I'll probably spend the rest of the night in the bar at the hostel, which seems quite lively.
Tomorrow, I am heading up to Auckland. Not quite sure what I'll be doing there yet or how long I'll stay, so time to hit the lonely planet tomorrow I think!
On Friday I started a small extra tour, the East As tour, which takes in parts of the East Cape of the north island of NZ - focussing mainly on seeing some of the more traditional aspects of the country. Our driver, Jerry, picked us up in a much smaller bus than the previous ones. Our first port of call was Napier, a town which had to be rebuilt after a big earthquake in 1931. At the time, Art Deco was in fashion, and consequently many of the buildings are built in this style. After some lunch and a few photos, we made our way onwards. Originally, the plan was to visit a few beaches along the way. However, the bad weather we've been having for a while decided to accompany us, so instead we visited some hot pools for a dip and a beer to break up the journey. Eventually we reached Gisborne, the biggest city in that area, where we stayed at the Chalet Surf, right on the beach. We finished the day with a BBQ and watching Whale Rider - a kiwi film shot locally.
Saturday was a lot more relaxed, with not so many miles to do. Some people in the group had got up very early for a surfing lesson - I declined this option due to the not very nice weather - I'll have plenty more opportunities around NZ and Australia to do that! When we eventually left, we visited the Maori village where the film from last night was shot, before heading onto Rangitukia, where we stayed at the Eastenders Farmstay (nothing to do with the crap english soap!). Again, the bad weather had followed us in the form of a very low mist, reducing visibility quite dramatically, and making for a few eerie looking photos (to be added later). We went on a horse ride, which was meant to give us dramatic views of the landscape in the area. However, due to the mist we just got wet. Annoyingly, my horse only seemed to have two speeds, slow and slower. It was also quite adept at weaving side to side on the path, blocking the way for any of the faster riders who wanted to overtake! Back at the farm, we had a meal and played a few games of table tennis and cards. I was supposed to be going Possum shooting (what a nice introduction to an animal I've not yet seen!), but the people doing that never turned up. I suspect that the rain had caused this to be cancelled.
As Rangitukia is the most easterly point of New Zealand, one of the suggested activities was to get up really early and see the sunrise before anywhere else. However, the mist from the previous days made this unlikely. Instead, we opted for allowing one person who said she would get up anyway to wake us if there was any visibility at all. This was not the case, so there was no early start. When we eventually left the farm, we headed off on another fairly short journey, with some random stops along the way for food and seeing little points of interest. Our destination this day was Te Kaha, a Maori village, where we stayed at the Te Kaha homestay lodge. This was by far the best night of the trip so far - at this lodge you stay with a Maori family, where they welcome you into their extended family, providing some really good home cooking, and some entertainment. The garden of the house extended right down to the beach, being interrupted only by the hot tub they have just at the end of the garden.
The hot tub was the first port of call once settled in, spending some time relaxing with some beers while the sun went down. Eventually, dinner was called. The dinner was a buffet style affair with plenty of locally caught fish - definitely the best meal I've had since I got here. After dinner, a group of young locals gave us their welcome song - a tradition in the Maori culture when welcoming guests. They then performed a few more songs, before giving us their rendition of the Haka. They are part of a national competition for performing this ritual, and have won this previously. It was very impressive, although I think when we had to come up and join in we spoilt things quite a bit! After this, things turned into a bit of a sing song, ranging from one very talented girl singing solo with a guitar to the Maori singing some more of their songs. Somewhere inbetween, we had to sing our welcome song, which was just plucked from someone's iPod on the bus journey. After all these festivities, we went back to the hot tub to spend the rest of the night, and demolish the rest of the drinks. Also went for a swim in the sea in the pitch black, where we could see phosphourescent algae every time you move in the water! After a late night of drinking & talking, got to bed quite late.
Today, I had to leave Te Kaha. If it had been possible to stay for an extra night, I definitely would've done. However, the bus for this tour only goes three times a week, so I would've had to stay an extra 3 nights or none at all. Not having a huge amount of spare time on the trip, I opted for leaving. It was a fairly long journey, supposedly to Taupo where I would have another attempt at doing a Skydive. However, it is a Kiwi national holiday today, and the skydiving wasn't running. Consequently, I got off the bus early at Rotorua, which I would have to go through to get to my next destination anyway. I knew some of the people I'd met earlier would be here, so met up with them. Rotorua is full of active thermal pools, mud pools, geysers etc, with lots of Sulphur escaping from the ground. Consequently, the place stinks of rotten eggs. I guess I'll get used to it eventually, but it isn't altogether pleasant at the moment! Went for a walk around park looking at the thermal pools this afternoon. I'll probably spend the rest of the night in the bar at the hostel, which seems quite lively.
Tomorrow, I am heading up to Auckland. Not quite sure what I'll be doing there yet or how long I'll stay, so time to hit the lonely planet tomorrow I think!
