Day 3-5

Monday - We drove to Whitianga on the Coromondal Penninsula is a teeny van that was made for 12, but we are 14. We're getting a new van tomorrow. Steve, the tour guide, is driving back into Auckland tonight and picking up a new van for us.

We stopped at Hot Water Beach for lunch and then went to a place that lets you do your own bone carving. We all made little tiki necklaces. It was a lot of fun - I got to play with power tools and ended up with a lovely little fishhook carving.

Since Steve went back to Auckland, Roger, the proprieter of our hostel (Turtle Cove Backpackers) drove us out to Hot Water Beach again to dig for hot tubs. Indeed, the water there is very hot. If you wiggle your toes just a few inches in the sand you can burn your toes. There is boiling hot water just under the sand. You can actually see it boiling. Unfortunately the low tide was still pretty high, so no matter how hard we digged the sea kept filling in the hole. Since it was Auckland Anniversary Day the beach was super full of people. After playing in the water Roger took us on a little tour to see kiwifruit orchards and Cook's Beach, where Captain Cook landed to record the Transit of Mercury. The ladies at the hostel had a big meal of spag bol (spagetti Bolognese) and garlic bread waiting for us. After that Ed and I took on Ronnie and Norrie, the Scottish guys, in doubles pool. Since neither of us were very good it was a lot of fun, and we ended up winning! Yay!

Tuesday - We woke up at 7:30 to find out that the girls had all spent the night in the boy's room - nice and quiet in our room :) Since Steve was in Auckland we got more beaches. Yippee. Roger took us out to Cathedral Cove. He neglected to tell us that the parking lot was 45 minutes away at the top of a cliff, so we had to hike down to the cove in the scorching heat. For those of you who know me and heat you're probably already aware that I was pretty cranky by the bottom. I took some pictures and then took a nap in the shade. After hiking back to the top of the cliff, Steve picked us up in a shiny new van - bigger seats, more headroom, less windows that open and no air conditioning. He wanted to get some surfing in, so we ended up back at Hot Water Beach for lunch as he surfed for an hour, and then on the road to Waitomo. We gor stuck behind a timber truck for miles on a single lane highway, so our progress was pretty slow. We finally hit Waitomo at about seven-ish, checked into the hostel, and then met at the pub to discuss how the next few days would be going.

Wednesday - Massive day! It's cave day. Susan and I signed up for the Ultimate Caving Adventure, so the two of us, along with Norrie and Ronnie, Steve #2, and Joe were picked up at 10 am by the Legendary Blackwater Rafting Company. We got taken to the caves and kitted out in wetsuit, boots, and helmet and then got a few minutes of practice abseiling (rapelling) before abseiling 30 meters down a hole into a cave. There was a lot of walking though underwater streams, jumping into a river with an inner tube, floating down and seeing glowworms, and climbing up waterfalls. Then they gave us bagels and soup. It was fun!

We then hopped into a van and headed to Rotorua. Then came my absolute favourite bit so far! We stopped at the Zorb and went rolling down a hill in a big hamster ball. I was screaming with glee all the way down! It was so much fun. The inner chamber is filled with water so you go slipping around inside as you go. I went twice :)



We got to Rotorua, checked into the hostel (Base Rotorua) and headed out to a Maori village (a recreation) for a hangi (a traditional Maori meal). Norrie dressed in his kilt, and he got elected cheif of our group, so he got to participate in the challenge/welcome ceremony. There were dancers and singers and it was realy interesting. The village itself was more like a series of tableaus with Maori peolpe demonstrating and explaining aspects of Maori life. We then saw a concert with songs, stories, and a haka (war dance). Then it was dinner time. The traditional method of cooking is underground, so we had a ton of food cooked underground - we had lamb, chicken, carrots, two types of potato, fish, and some Western sides like coleslaw and egg salad. Everything was delicious, and for dessert there was pavlova, which I've never had before - it's yummy - and steamed giner pudding (cake) with custard. Yum. We then went back into town and while some of the group partied, Susan got to drive the van to the grocery store for breakfast stuff - it was so much fun to be in the van with her driving on the wrong side of the street!

Pictures are up on Flickr but I haven't have time to label them yet, as I have to head out soon for sledging. More later!