Kiwi Experience
On Monday our kiwi experience tour started. For those who haven't heard of it- it's essentially a coach tour of New Zealand aimed at backpackers. Most people are mid 20s, but still quite a few of us nearer the 30 mark. The tours are designed to be flexible- you can stay longer in places and hop the next coach. At their peak, they run a coach every day, but in the barren post covid tourist world, there is a shortage of drivers so they are currently every 3 days. In fact, we are on the first tour since covid- 293 days since the7 last one. Being on the first big bus that has rocked up in a while in some of these towns definitely makes us the pioneers (/and guinea pigs) in this post apocalyptic era.
Hot Water beach
Our first day kicked off with heading to Hot Water Beach, which is what it says on the tin. We dug holes in the wet sand on the beach that filled themselves with hot water like a jacuzzi, then sat in them until the tide came in with much colder water.
Waitomo
The following day we headed to Waitomo, famous for having caves lined with millions of glow worms. Here you can do "blavk water rafting" where you travel through the cave's underground river on rubber rings, jumping off waterfalls etc. It was the highlight of my last trip to NZ. This time I chose to go for the more sedentary (and cheaper!) boat tour. Once again, it was pretty surreal to being pulled along in the dark with glow worms above you, like the stars. A bit like the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland where you are flying through the stars.
That evening I ate a really cheap takeaway roast dinner?! Apparently that's a thing here as I've seen a few, dreamy. We also went to the pub, wahoo!
Rotorua
The following day we travelled to Rotorua, nicknamed Rottenrua because of the smell of sulphur that lingers in the air. We were staying in a pretty random hostel with it's own climbing wall. That evening we went to a Maori cultural evening, where we we watched a show, learnt about Maori culture and ate a hāngī- meat and veg that had been cooked in a geothermal hole in the ground.
On Thursday morning, some of us visited a nearby geothermal park which was pretty spectacular, full of massive geizers, bubbling pools and hot rocks.
Taupo
In the afternoon, it was back on the bus to Lake Taupo, stopping off at more scenic places on route. Taupo was beautiful, some of us went for a walk along the lake. In a classic Vic style injury, I managed to twist my ankle in a rabbit (?) hole when bounding down to the waters edge. Whoops. Provided a good comedy moment though. That evening everyone headed out to a nearby bar for more beer and bad pool playing.
We were supposed to be doing the Torringo Crossing on Friday, a 17km walk through the volcanoes and mountains but it sadly it was cancelled due to bad weather. So instead of a 04:30 start, a lie in and a trip to a nearby spa with natural hot pools in the rain. It was an absolute steal at £7 and was surrounded by nice forestry. We then headed up the road to watch the Wairakei dam open and flood the valley in a dramatic fashion. It continued absolutely chucking it down for the rest of the day so not much to do but venture out to the world's coolest McDonald's (as voted for) which has seating in an old plane. Annoyingly, the plane bit closed late afternoon, but once the idea of maccas has been planted, nothing will stop me.
The next morning, I headed there for breakfast and finally got to sit in the plane, it was deffo worth the calories!
Next stop, Wellington!
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