Rotorua

From Hot Water Beach we head South for some more soaking in hot water.  Rotorua is a bit of a geothermal hotspot and there are natural hot pools everywhere, including one at our campsite, so we jumped straight in.

There are literally steaming ponds and bubbling mud pools just dotted around the town, but the most impressive is the Pohutu Geyser, which obligingly did its thing just as we were watching from Te Whakarewarewa, a Maori village cum tourist attraction where they show you their traditional lifestyle among the thermal pools.  I suppose that after a while they got used to the smell.

Later we took a cable car, which gave us great views over Lake Rotorua on a beautiful day. Then we got to luge back down the hill in little buggies. This was kids’ stuff really, not very entertaining for us sophisticated grown-ups. But as you can see, I made a good show of pretending to enjoy myself.

More photos on Mr Beet’s flickr page.

The Coromandel Peninsula

We finally made it away from the flooded Northlands.  The area is apparently known as “the Winterless North” but it was being pretty autumnal at least while we were there.  Our next stop was the Coromandel Peninsula and a place called Hot Water Beach.  As you may have guessed, Hot Water Beach has hot water.  At low tide, you dig yourself a little hole in the sand, it fills up with warm water and voila, your own private spa pool.  The guidebook helpfully informs me that this phenomenon is due to “geothermal activity” which is pretty vague as explanations go, but helpful in case you thought it was magic.  It’s a pretty grey day, but we borrow some spades and head off to the beach anyway.

The hot spots are not everywhere on the beach, so you have to push your feet around in the sand until you find a warm place, and that’s where you dig.  You need to be careful because in some places the water is about 80 degrees, which would mean tourist soup if you made yourself a pool there.  Soon, the little area on the beach with all the warm spots was a hive of activity.

The tide is going out as we dig; our first few efforts are destroyed by big waves, but soon the tide is far enough out for us to construct a little pool for long enough for it to fill with warm water.  I hopped in and enjoyed a soak.  Mr Beet just kept on digging.  He was having more fun digging the holes than anything else.  He was reinforcing our pool, helping other people with theirs, and he even built a secondary pool in front of ours to act as a barrier.  People kept coming along the beach and thinking – aha, free pool, I will nab that – but more fool them as the secondary pool was full of scorching water.  After just a couple of hours, the tide started to turn back and we had to abandon our little spa.

After another horrendously stormy night, we woke up to a beautiful morning, perfect for a stroll along to the scenic Cathedral Cove.

More photos on Mr Beet’s flickr page.

The Northlands

From Auckland we head, you guessed it, North. Our first stop is at Sheepworld, one of many NZ tourist attractions based on sheep. We get a demonstration of the sheepdogs in action, then Mr Beet volunteers to actually have a go at some shearing (some people have been commenting that he could do with a bit of a shear himself!), and finally we get to feed the babies. Everyone else got a lamb, but the kid goat headed straight for me, obviously recognising a kindred spirit.

We then continue up the East Coast to our first campsite in Tutukaka.  Our first night in the van is marked by sausages and mash cooked in the campsite kitchen and an episode of Doctor Who on our campervan dvd player. I could get used to campervanning.

The next morning we head off on a cruise to the Poor Knights Islands.  We pop in for a snorkel, as the Islands are in a marine reserve and the waters are teeming with fish.  It is pretty chilly, so I only last about three minutes.  Mr Beet braves it for a bit longer.  Then we have a nice lunch on the boat, cruise round the islands looking at big caves and rock arches, and finally head back to shore soaking up the sun that has belatedly decided to put in an appearance.

The next day we further up the coast. The weather is good so we stop off along the way at anywhere that looks nice, including some gorgeous beaches at Matapouri Bay and Whale Bay.

Our ultimate destination is Waitangi.  This is where the treaties between the Maori and the British settlers were signed.  We took a tour of the museum and the treaty grounds, and we also see a Maori cultural performance.  Unfortunately, this involves audience participation.  I try my hand at a poi dance and Colin gets to do the haka.  The first thing he has to master is the “big-eyes-tongue-sticking-out” expression that is used to intimidate the enemy.  Of course, being a child of the 80s, he is already well-practised in this thanks to Wacaday and Mallet’s Mallet (look at each other and go “bleurrrrgh!“).

The following day we are undecided whether to go for Plan A: kayaking in the Bay of Islands or Plan B: sandboarding.  However, after a night spent being buffeted in the back of our van by strong winds and heavy rain we decide that we need a Plan C.  Plan C is to drive up to the Northernmost tip of NZ at Cape Reinga, where we can see the Tasman Sea meet the Pacific Ocean.  It is by all accounts a pretty wuthering sort of place anyway, so bas weather shouldn’t make too much difference.  We head off north through torrential rain, only to be stopped in our tracks after about an hour’s drive by flooded roads. Plan C duly scrapped, we decide that Plan D will be to head south to get as far as we can in the direction of our next destination, the Coromandel Peninsula. We head back to Waitangi, and about an hour south of there, we get stopped by flooded roads again. Plan E is to return to the campsite that we just left, eat some fish and chips, watch another Doctor Who and try again tomorrow.

More photos can be found on Mr Beet’s flickr page.

Godzone

The guidebook tells me that NZ calls itself “Godzone” short for “God’s Own Country“. Oh crap. I’ve been to two other places that claim to be God’s own; Yorkshire and Kerala. And I’ve learned that God has pretty shoddy taste in holiday destinations.

Minor Celebrity Spotting

I’ve brought this blog category out of retirement for one time only for a very special minor celebrity spot in New Zealand.  The location was en route to Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula and the minor celebrity spotted was….me!  Walking along the path, I distinctly heard the people going the other way say “…blah blah blah beetchawawa…“.  I didn’t imagine it, Mr Beet heard it too.  Now, it is possible that these people were just imitating a surprised Ewok, but it seems an unlikely coincidence.