Right so it's been a few days since my last post again. We're in Wellington now. It's been a long trip here with a shitload of driving ( well mostly sleeping on my part, I knew there was a reason I never learned to drive). Been to quite a few places since I last wrote so I'll try to include them all...
So when I last wrote to you we had just arrived in Tairua and we were staying in this place called the Pinnacles which was quite cool. Mostly cause ther sign had Obelix on it. If you have to ask who Obelix is I don't want to talk to you. From there we headed north to Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove. Being honest neither of these were very impressive. If I could do it again I wouldn't be arsed with them. Hot Water Beach is this beach where at low tide you can dig a hole in the sand and it fills up with hot water. Sounds cool doesn't it? The reality, there is only a very small section of the beach where this is possible and that soon gets filled with half naked old people and likewise pasty europeans. So take my word it does not make for a pleasant sight. A hundred half naked people diggin holes in a tiny stretch of sand. They look like lunatics, something akin to one of Monty Pythons stranger sketches. Before this we were at Cathedral Cove. Which is a coastal cave. We have some of those in Ireland I believe. Fair enough they're not such a nice colour but I really don't think that it's worth so much tourist attention. Aside from this Coromandel is pretty beautiful but in my oppinion you get similar elsewhere in New Zealand without the hordes of tourists.
So after this we headed down to Rotorua very briefly and then on to to Taupo where we met up with one of the girls from CVNZ who had left a few weeks ago. Had a few pints here and stayed the night. Liked the town. Somewhere to visit on the way back I reckon..
From here we went to Waiotapu "Geothermal Wonderland". Very cool place. With a geyser (advertised from 20m high more like 5). Muti coloured lakes and bubbling mud pools. Kinda pricey at 30 dollars but I don't know anywhere else where you get a lake thats bright yellow/green/ orange edged and spouts off steam.
From here we went on to Te Urewera National park. Beggining the trip through the park we were met by a somewhat daunting sign "105km of unsealed winding road". For those who don't know what unsealed means (I didn't) it's a very basic gravel road. And when they said winding, they weren't taking the piss. The road we set upon wound its way though steep forested valleys. Sometimes descending to follow along beside streams, other times rising again to follow along cliff edges high above the forest floor with vast stretches of trees in every direction. Te Urewera National park is the largest in the north island and as you make your way through it you can really get a feeling of the scale of it. For periods of hours you will meet no one, and every time you rise above the tree line, all you will see in any direction is trees. It has a felling akin to what I imagine the Western Frontiers in America must have been like. *As you make your way slowly(slowly is the only way you can go on such roads) through this amazing place you really do think "Shit, it can't get much better than this." then you emerge form the forest and unto the steep cliffed edges of Lake Waikremoana. The lake is pristine blue, a perfect reflection of the sky. The deep green of the forest reaches down between the sky and its surface to provide a buffer between the two. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. And all too soon we left Te Urewera national park and still the gravel road winded on for quite a while. Before eventually getting to what people in those parts of New Zealand know as civilisation.
Nothing much interesting has happened since then. We stayed in Napier last night then drove all day to get here, Wellington. We're staying here tonight and tomorrow night. Getting the ferry to the south island on Monday and hoping to undertake a 3 day kayak trip through Abel Tasman National park on Wednesday. Should be interesting I think, especially knowing my natural grace and finesse. So thats about it for now... Oh met some Kiwis tonight who thought I was scottish, they kept shouting "BRAVEHEART!" I don't recall any scottish person ever shouting "BRAVEHEART!". I do seem to recall a film of that name though... Silly Kiwis. On another note. People don't know Fairytale of New York here. Is there not something fundementally wrong with this?
So when I last wrote to you we had just arrived in Tairua and we were staying in this place called the Pinnacles which was quite cool. Mostly cause ther sign had Obelix on it. If you have to ask who Obelix is I don't want to talk to you. From there we headed north to Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove. Being honest neither of these were very impressive. If I could do it again I wouldn't be arsed with them. Hot Water Beach is this beach where at low tide you can dig a hole in the sand and it fills up with hot water. Sounds cool doesn't it? The reality, there is only a very small section of the beach where this is possible and that soon gets filled with half naked old people and likewise pasty europeans. So take my word it does not make for a pleasant sight. A hundred half naked people diggin holes in a tiny stretch of sand. They look like lunatics, something akin to one of Monty Pythons stranger sketches. Before this we were at Cathedral Cove. Which is a coastal cave. We have some of those in Ireland I believe. Fair enough they're not such a nice colour but I really don't think that it's worth so much tourist attention. Aside from this Coromandel is pretty beautiful but in my oppinion you get similar elsewhere in New Zealand without the hordes of tourists.
So after this we headed down to Rotorua very briefly and then on to to Taupo where we met up with one of the girls from CVNZ who had left a few weeks ago. Had a few pints here and stayed the night. Liked the town. Somewhere to visit on the way back I reckon..
From here we went to Waiotapu "Geothermal Wonderland". Very cool place. With a geyser (advertised from 20m high more like 5). Muti coloured lakes and bubbling mud pools. Kinda pricey at 30 dollars but I don't know anywhere else where you get a lake thats bright yellow/green/ orange edged and spouts off steam.
From here we went on to Te Urewera National park. Beggining the trip through the park we were met by a somewhat daunting sign "105km of unsealed winding road". For those who don't know what unsealed means (I didn't) it's a very basic gravel road. And when they said winding, they weren't taking the piss. The road we set upon wound its way though steep forested valleys. Sometimes descending to follow along beside streams, other times rising again to follow along cliff edges high above the forest floor with vast stretches of trees in every direction. Te Urewera National park is the largest in the north island and as you make your way through it you can really get a feeling of the scale of it. For periods of hours you will meet no one, and every time you rise above the tree line, all you will see in any direction is trees. It has a felling akin to what I imagine the Western Frontiers in America must have been like. *As you make your way slowly(slowly is the only way you can go on such roads) through this amazing place you really do think "Shit, it can't get much better than this." then you emerge form the forest and unto the steep cliffed edges of Lake Waikremoana. The lake is pristine blue, a perfect reflection of the sky. The deep green of the forest reaches down between the sky and its surface to provide a buffer between the two. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. And all too soon we left Te Urewera national park and still the gravel road winded on for quite a while. Before eventually getting to what people in those parts of New Zealand know as civilisation.
Nothing much interesting has happened since then. We stayed in Napier last night then drove all day to get here, Wellington. We're staying here tonight and tomorrow night. Getting the ferry to the south island on Monday and hoping to undertake a 3 day kayak trip through Abel Tasman National park on Wednesday. Should be interesting I think, especially knowing my natural grace and finesse. So thats about it for now... Oh met some Kiwis tonight who thought I was scottish, they kept shouting "BRAVEHEART!" I don't recall any scottish person ever shouting "BRAVEHEART!". I do seem to recall a film of that name though... Silly Kiwis. On another note. People don't know Fairytale of New York here. Is there not something fundementally wrong with this?
*I promised I'd actually try and describe some of the things I see from now on. It's not usually the kind of writing I'm very good at but I tried. Hope it does ya.
One more note. The forest described is not actually rainforest. Which was a nice change. Was something more like the woods back home. Just much bigger
