New Zealand, I can honestly say that it’s better than I was expecting! To be honest, that doesn’t say a lot as my expectations were well below par. I’ve had such an amazing time in Australia that the country to follow was going to get a bit of grief as there is no way it could match up. To New Zealand’s credit, it is a stunning country with some interesting history and you can definitely feel the effects that the Christchurch Earthquake has had on the place. Again, I’m not too sure what to make of the Kiwi people. They seem pretty friendly when sober, as soon as alcohol touches the system I feel quite unsafe as a girl travelling alone. Nevertheless I am enjoying my time here.
I told you about my first night, and catching up with Helen. I have to say again how good it was to see that girl! The following day was spent organising myself – flights booked from San Francisco to New York and from New York to Seattle, as well as my hostel booked in LA, booking car rental for parts of my time in New Zealand, working out what I wanted to do with my time here and many other details which I shan’t bore you with!
I’m currently writing this from a maccas in Rotorua. I have a Nissan Sunny (automatic thank god) which I drove from Auckland down here today. It’s a good little car, drives along nicely. I got given a map from the car hire people (Juicy cars and campers – normally $35 a day, I got it for $19!!! Woo) and using that I had to figure my way out of Auckland and down to Rotorua. Once I actually found the motorway entrance in Auckland I was sorted!!! Still don’t really know where that is, I stumbled across it turning down a little side lane!
Anyways, decent drive down, I’ve found a place to park for the night – right next to the Sulphur Lake. Yes, it smells, but it’s a good view, warm from the geothermal activity, tucked away from the main streets and it should be good for the night. I’m in maccas now to apply for my student accommodation – joys! I spent the rest of my day in Rotorua walking around the government house gardens, which are beautiful and interspersed with geothermal pools. I also had a tour round Rotorua Museum, which used to house a bath house trying to be the “Spa of the South Seas”. It was interesting, as it gave a bit of information about the Maori culture in this area. Did you know that Maori actually means common, and when the locals heard the Maori’s saying something was Maori they believed they were talking about the tribe….hence the name!
Away from the history lesson! Tomorrow I am planning to get up at 7am, come to maccas for brekky (its cheap and they do English tea!) and use the toilets to freshen up, before driving to Wai-Tau-Pou or something like that. It’s simply the geothermal “theme park” here. Yes admission is slightly steep, but it’s the best place to see this kind of activity. It opens at 8.30am (when I plan to get there) and if you arrive before 9.45am you get to see the geyser which goes off once a day. From here, I shall be driving over to Waitomo (about another 3 hours) to go into the caves. I’m excited about this because apparently they are some of the most stunning in the southern hemisphere, with glowworms!!! I shall spend the evening in Waitomo before driving back up to Auckland the following day.
My plans then consist of spending a day at Pahia (a black sand beach), a day sailing an America’s Cup yacht (I’m so fricking excited about that!), another 3 day car trip (up to Bay of Islands that time), then a tour round Auckland Museum to learn a bit more about the Maoris. And then I’ll be leaving New Zealand!!!
I figured it out and I’m happy. 2 weeks is long enough for me here. I have to say I’m very excited about all of America. The next 6 weeks are definitely an exciting time. I can feel my trip winding up, and I can feel myself trying to wind up the amount im doing in such a short amount of time to try and get the most from it!!
That’s all for now folks.
Peace and love xx
No comments:
Post a Comment