Napier, Taupo and Rotorua

It was yet another gloomy looking day when we made our way from Picton onto the ferry bound for the north island. we were a bit concerned that the crossing would be rough (neither of us travel well on boats, with or without stinking hangovers!) but luckily the waters reamined almost eerily calm as we sailed up through the sounds and onwards to Wellington. the journey took about 3 hours and I took the opportunity to relax as I knew we had crazy drive ahead in little cynthia.

We landed at Wellington but didn't stop to see the city (we knew we''d get local guides over christmas to show us the highlights) so got straight onto state highway one which (shock horror! and great delight!) had 3 lanes!! This was unheard of in the south island so we gleefully concluded that it would take us a lot less time to get to taupo than we'd thought. Oh how wrong we were..... SH1 is 3 lanes for.... oooh, about 3 miles and then, despite being THE main artery road to and from the nations capital, it dwindles to a solitary lane which winds itrs way through many a one horse town with 50km/hr speed limits! We were somewhat disappointed by the north island at first sight- there were none of the sweeping vistas afforded by the south island and it all looked a bit bland and dreary. our misconceptions were further compounded when we stopped for fuel in a little town. Rosie got out to pump the gas and not one, but two young chaps came out to ask her if she needed any help! (one of them sadly only had one arm so not sure what help he could have given us!!) When we went in to pay and lingered at the chocolate aisle we were once again asked if we needed help! (with what?? mars or crunchie- hardly a decision requiring three brains!!) We noticed that there appeared to be about 12 people working in the patrol station and we were the only customers! We revved up cynthia and got away quick sharp before we got eaten alive by the strange folk!

We drove for what seemed like miles (and it was!) through fairly non descript countryside before reaching the cute art deco town of Napier. I had wanted to stop and see it as I'd seen loads of pictures in guide books of its amazing art deco buildings and structures. It was a lovely little town and the art deco was pretty good but, after a coffee (or a double expresso and an energy drink for me!) we decided to press on to Taupo.

We arrived thjere just as the light was dying but were still able to see how impressive lake Taupo was- its absolutely HUGE! To give an indication of scale, it's the same size as Singapore and the whole town thrives around it as it is a major tourist draw. We checked into a really nice motel and i decided that, after driving for 6 hours straight, if i didn't get a drink I might die, so we headed out to town. It was pretty quiet but we still managed to find ourselves some locals to drink, play pool and generally raise hell with! It was a fun night and a nice change from staying in the middle of nowhere on the south island (not complaining about that but god it was nice to go to a bar!!)

The following day we were nursing sore heads so decided to head to the thermal pools which are heated by all the volcanic activity in the area. We payed for the "private pools" which i would highly recommed to anyone (especially couples if you know what I mean- nudge nudge wink wink!) We had our own little cabin with a hot pool in it and it was sooooo relaxing! We also chilled out in the main pools as they had jacuzzis and massaging jets and, by midday it was as if I'd never had a hangover at all! (may bottle it and sell it as a cure!) We left taupo with big chilled out smiles on our faces, stopping en route to take in the Huka Falls which are an extrmely powrful and raging waterfall. It started to rain again so we headed (for some completely unimaginable reason- can I blame the lack of sleep/hangover?) for a local attraction called "The Prawn Farm" which we'd been told was fun! Well, it was all outdoors and it was bucketing down but, as new zealands only fresh water prawn farm, we thought the restaurant would be nice. All I can say is- when you order prawns- make sure they are SALT water, as freshwater ones taste of nothing, cost a bomb and have the consistency of cottage cheese- yuck yuck yuck!!

Suitably chastened by our attempts at being "local" we hurried on to Rotorua where we were to spend the next few days. We checked into a really cool "lodge" where we had our own cabion with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a big lounge/kitchen- all for the price of a crappy twin at a backpackers- bargain!

Rotorua is known for its extreme thermal/volcanic activity and hence stinks of rotten eggs due to the high levels of sulphur. The following day we set off early to the Wai O Tapu region where you can look around the Thermal Wonderland and see all the bubbling pools of water/mud and the geisers going off. It was fantastic to see, so much stream rising from the earth and pools of water in vivid colours due to their high mineral content. however, the stencch was quite overwhelming and we both soon felt very sick! After a few hours it was just too much so we made the joint decision to go zorbing instead. Zorbing is a New Zealand invention and involves strapping yourself into a giant hamster ball and rolling down a hill- extreme!! We decided to try the HydroZorb where you don't get strapped in- instead they put some water in the zorb so that you slip around and tumble upsidedown all the way down the track. I have to say it was one of the funniest things I've ever done- I screamed and giggled my way down the hill and was really sad when it was all over! (to getinto the Zorb is probably the most challenging thing- there is a small entrance that they unzip- Rosie got her bum stuck and my boobs fell out on entry- ooops!)

The followinday dawned sunny for once, so we wasted no time in hotfooting it up the hillside on the gondola. the views of the town and lake were fantastic but, to be fair, that wasn't really why we were there. We'd gone to ride the Luge, a gokart type contraption that you ride down the hill on tracks of varying levels. At the bottom you take a chairlift up and do another run. We'ds paid for 3 runs so startedon the scenic one to get used to it and then progressed to intermediate and advanced. it was so funny and only a little bit scary but the adrenaline hit was HUGE and we both came away grinning like maniacs! (although i think some of the turns I had to pull on the south island mountains were worse than the luge track!)

Having stayed a bit longer to enjoy the views and the sunshine from the top, we headed off to Waitomo, our next destination and home of the famous glow worm caves!