My stopover in Auckland was predictably dull. The bus left the city at around 8am the next day, transporting me to a town called Hahei, situated in the Coromandel region of NZ. This part of the country generally looks like this:
Hahei and around
On the way to Hahei we stopped at a place called Hotwater Beach. Disappointingly, there was no hot water for us that day, as the tide had already come in and mucked things up. But it was quite a handsome beach nonetheless:
As it was rather cold and windy, I opted to wait in the cafe, where I chatted up by an ancient local man. He must have liked me, because he told me the same story three times - lucky me.
We also visited a beach called Cathedral Cove:
I must confess, I didn't take the above shot, I cheated and lifted it from Google images.
I took this one though:
We stayed in a pretty dire hostel comprised of temporary buildings (like the kind you had at school) in a campsite. Perhaps by way of compensation, our bus driver cooked us a BBQ (I'm sure it was meant to be included in the price of the bus tour, but he charged us a tenner each...)
Whoever saw fit to call this a 'track' must have been having a laugh...
En route to my next destination, I made a pitstop in Waitomo, an area famous for its network of caves (complete with glow worms).
And what do you do in caves? That's right - you go caving!
This is the kind of thing I had HOPED to see in Rotorua......
This is what I actually saw:
...I sense a theme emerging.
Hahei and around
On the way to Hahei we stopped at a place called Hotwater Beach. Disappointingly, there was no hot water for us that day, as the tide had already come in and mucked things up. But it was quite a handsome beach nonetheless:
As it was rather cold and windy, I opted to wait in the cafe, where I chatted up by an ancient local man. He must have liked me, because he told me the same story three times - lucky me.
We also visited a beach called Cathedral Cove:
I must confess, I didn't take the above shot, I cheated and lifted it from Google images.
I took this one though:
Yum.
.
Raglan
Raglan
The following day, I travelled on to Raglan. Raglan is a bit of a surfers' paradise:
My hostel was situated way, way up in the forest-covered hills (with Raglan town centre a mere two hours' walk away). My first evening here was spent participating in the preparation and consumption of a fish curry, with my temporary new best friends...
....preparation
...consumption.
As they all pissed off the next morning, to entertain myself I decided to hike the local 'Loop Track'. I was informed it was a little muddy up there and that I should take care not to slip, but I thought nothing of it, so decided I would brave it - alone.
.....Bad decision.
This is not a track! It's a freakin' jungle! And there are dead possums everywhere!
I staggered out of the forest two hours later, bewildered and covered from head to toe in mud and bruises, (slipped over on my arse at least three times). I thought I was lost and it had started to get dark... It would have been well into the night before they sent the search party out... they would no doubt have found me rocking backwards and forwards, incomprehensible and dribbling, possibly hugging a dead possum. Sob!
I made a swift recovery though, and was fit enough to take a walk (along a proper road!) into Raglan the next morning. I was mystified by some unusual carvings on the pavement...
OK, so that kind of makes sense so far, I suppose???
But then...
Hmm?
Not sure what the rules are here.
Even more confusing:
This was the weirdest one of all:
Jesus, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SCHOOL PONIES?!!!
No time to ponder, however, as I was starving and had to go home to cook myself some eggs...
Very pretty. The blue one wasn't so good though... damn those eggs, winning me over with their lovely colours and then being all furry on the inside.
Waitomo caves
And what do you do in caves? That's right - you go caving!
Kind of fun.... kind of traumatic.
The best part was climbing a 20ft sheer rock face, complete with overhang and waterfall pouring onto my face, wearing a very wet wetsuit and wellies! Those sessions at Mile End climbing wall certainly paid off. I felt pretty frickin' Rambo-esque after that...
Very proud.
In the evening, I caught a bus to Rotorua and threw myself straight into a hot tub, to warm up and ease my aching bones. Stuart had caught a cold while down in those freezing caves, so it was an early night for him:
Poor Stuart.
Rotorua
Rotorua was something I had really been looking forward to, but I only had a night and one half-day there, and there wasn't time to visit the geysers or multi-coloured mud pools I had heard so much about.
This is the kind of thing I had HOPED to see in Rotorua......
Wow!!
This is what I actually saw:
Parp.
So yeah. Great.
I must not grumble, as I was fortunate enough to experience the town's rotten egg odour.
Any way, the town centre was just about all I got to see of Rotorua. To be honest I found it a bit of a depressing place to be. It's really just a series of roundabouts and fast food joints. It reminded me partly of Milton Keynes, only without any decent shops. And partly of the Bog of Eternal Stench in the movie Labyrinth, only without David Bowie.
But I was not to be disheartened, because I was looking forward to my next stop in TAAAAAUUUPO WOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! (That's 'Taupo', but said in an excited tone of voice.)
Hahei - Rotorua verdict: Terrifying and bewildering, but je ne regrette rien
Do I miss England: Nah...
