Stayed with Penny and Pat for a couple of days in the outskirts of Auckland(friends of Lesleys). Had wonderful homemade meals and desserts...roast chicken to start on our first day...mmm. A lovely big house...and carpet (looked strange after none for so long). They showed us around the area and local coastline. This was all far to nice and comfortable for us backpackers, so we said our farewells and moved into the city backpackers....got my wallet stolen! Then camped in Auckland for a night and met up with friends from Fiji. Arranged a rental car, then drove North to Bay of Islands, staying with another friend on the way up. Ate wonderful, huge green lip mussels (very cheap to buy here) and Andre showed us around the coastline there...beautiful and we saw our first dolphins in the bay there.
At Bay of Islands (Pahia), we camped next to a mini version of Niagra Falls. Weather was really lovely and the coastline was stunning. Went to a Maori site and meeting house, went on a boat and saw more dolphins close up.
Then travelled down the west coast, lots of sheep everywhere, stopping to see the largest Kaori trees in NZ and camped by a beautiful lake with great sunsets. Swam in the lake too! Saw our first living possum until it got run over as we saw it. They are considered a real pest over here as they destroy the trees and in turn various wildlife....shame bacause they are quite cute.
Then returned to Auckand and Penny and Pat and also met up with friends from Fiji. Went on to Bay of Plenty on the East coast south of Auckland...Mount Monganui, where we stayed for four days in an empty flat of...you guessed it, friends we met in Fiji.
The mount was on the end of a spit/peninsula..holiday town with lovely beaches. We walked around and up the mount for spectacular views and good exercise. Lots of sheep on the Mount. Went to a party in the town and also swam in the naturally heated hot pools there...lovely!
Had arranged to meet friends from Fiji in Rotarua, renowned for its thermal springs, geysers, bubbling mud pools and stench of rotten eggs...sulphur. Went up in a gondola overlooking the lake and had a few rides in the Luges (little one seated trolleys with a steering column that also acted as a brake when pulled)...loads of fun racing each other (5 of us) with 3 different tracks. All stayed at the same campsite and had a great BBQ.
All moved onto Lake Taupo (huge extinct volcano summit, now filled with water). Played crazy golf there, went to the Earthquake Centre (of which they have many, as they do volcanoes, with a major fault running straight up the middle of NZ). Also went to a Bee Centre and tasted honey...mmm and saw some rapids and a waterfall.
Moving on, Paul did a well know trek "Tongararo Crossing" which crossed 3 volcanoes and was a 17km hike. He really enjoyed and I' so glad I didn't go.
Then went to the West surfing coast, but we didn't go surfing but some of our friends did. We stayed in New Plymouth on a campsite next to the beach...again great sunsets, BBQ, and went to the local Aqua park to continue Dive Club practice on a great set of spring boards and it had a wave machine...what a laugh.
Left our friends and headed down to Wellington, to catch the ferry across to South Island. Here we went to a brilliant free museum, although our car was involved in a hit and run while we were away.
After a police report, a lot of hassle, worry and detective work we found out who did it and they kind of owned up, thanks to a note left on our windscreen. We nearly had to pay $2,500 excess if we couldn't find them, so got away with $100 excess and another car...phew, but what a pain. Also paid more to catch the ferry the next day. Had a nice Indian Meal in Wellington to make us feel better...