A couple of days after going through the glow-worm caves, we decided to return to do some 'black water rafting'. This involved going into some different caves with an inner-tube, walking through some pretty tight spaces, floating along an underground river, and jumping backwards off waterfalls. It was great fun, made all the better by the constant view of glow-worms above us; the water was quite cold but the wetsuits kept us warm enough for a couple of hours
On the 21st of January we left Derek and Hamilton and headed across to Rotorua for a few days. That night we went to Tamaki Village for another Maori cultural experience, this time including a traditional Maori Hangi, which is a meal cooked by steam in a large hole in the ground. Before the meal I got roped into a couple of things, including learning the Haka, much to Holly's amusement;
the meal was also really good
accompanied by traditional
Maori songs and performances.
We got down to Hamilton on the 14th, after putting the car through it's WOF test (MOT equivalent) which it passed with no problems much to our delight. We are staying with another of Holly's relatives named Derek. The day after we arrived we went into the center but soon concluded there wasn't a great deal there, so returned back to Derek's for a wine drinking session that seemed to happen whether he had guests or not!
The next day we went to Hobbiton, which is where some of 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Hobbit' films where made. We had a tour of the set, where we learnt about the ridiculous amount of detail that went into making sometimes just a 1 second shot. It was a really great morning, including a pint in The Green Dragon, followed up in the afternoon by going to the cinema to watch the final 'Hobbit' movie.
On the 17th we drove across to Waitomo to the glow-worm caves. You weren't allowed to take pictures, though I doubt they would've come out anyway. The caves were incredible and the guide was great, we had about half an hour walking through, before getting on a boat and floating down the remainder of the caves in complete silence, with thousands of glow-worms hanging above us. The caves were amazing, though we decided glow-worm was definitely a better name for them than what they actually are, which is the lava stage of a fungus gnat.
On the 7th of January we went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where a controversial treaty was signed in 1840 between the British and the Maori. We had a guided tour of the grounds where we learnt all the history, before going into the Maori meeting house (right) for a cultural performance. This included native songs and dances, including the Haka.
On the 8th we went across the water to Russell for the day. The hostel in Paihia had 3 people who were doing regular circus performances at the beach. On the way to catch the ferry to Russell we found we were slightly early, (yes it does happen!) so we sat down to watch them for a bit. Just my luck they spotted me and roped me in to a crowd participation bit. It ended up with me throwing flaming torches up to one of them on a massive unicycle! As much fun as this was..., it also meant we completely missed the ferry and had to catch one an hour later! I walked over to Long Beach which was beautiful, but lost track of time and had to run all the way back to jump on the ferry just as it was about to leave! I like to think I'm efficient.
Whangerai falls is a couple of km from the hostel we were staying at. It was a beautiful waterfall that, if you clambered over some slippery rocks you could go all the way behind. We spent a while there before taking a walk through the forest to some huge native Kauri trees, where on-route I found a big rope swing into the river we were following, which was very nice for cooling off! After that we had a nice big booking session and planned our way up to The Bay of Islands!
We arrived in Piahia (in the Bay of Islands) on the 4th of January and straight away booked our activities for the next few days. On the
day we arrived we went para-sailing, which went ridiculously high
(1200ft apparently) so we had a great view of the whole area. Also got some good photos as you can see!
The next day was an early start (yes half 8 is early!) We had booked ourselves onto a dolphin sailing tour and were quick to find a pod of Bottlenose dolphins. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to swim with them as they had 5 or 6 babies which we weren't allowed to disturb. The dolphins stayed with the boat for about half an hour before we moved on to get to our lunchtime stopoff at Roberton Island. A spot of snorkeling got done as well as a short walk to the highest point on the island, before swimming back to the boat for a BBQ. After
lunch we did go in search of some more dolphins to swim with but to no avail, though we did see some penguins and a small shark. It was a really good day and good value for money since every other dolphin cruise was at least as expensive and for half the time.
We drove to Whangerai - half way between The Bay of Islands and Auckland - on New Years Day. On the 2nd, since Holly's attempt to find something else to do proved unsuccessful, I convinced her to go up Mt Manaia. It was only 400m of climbing but it was ridiculously steep. Reviews on the internet said it was worth the struggle, and boy were they right! We spent about half an hour on the top before Holly said she was getting cold, so she headed down and I said I would catch her up. Instead I did the complete opposite and wanted to get to
the very top. So after a bit of fighting through some bushes I came to the second picture where you can see 3 people clambering up where I was about to go. If you hadn't already guessed, that's the reason I sent Holly down first, because there is no way she would have let me go up there! Good job Mum wasn't there either! I scrambled up that bit and then reached the next obstacle, a near sheer 20m ish rock face - that's the third picture on a bit where I didn't need my hands. After a precarious climb up that I got a full
360 degree view, with every direction looking as good as the photo at the top. I spent far too long up there but just couldn't resist. The climb down was a bit worse but I didn't fall to my death so it's all good. After that I ran back down so Holly wasn't waiting too long. It was definitely worth the struggle!
Though Christmas Day was basically the same set-up as at home, boxing day certainly wasn't. We headed to 'Hot water beach', which is essentially a beach with hot springs under the sand. A couple of hours either side of low-tide, you can dig yourself a hot-tub and lay in it! It wasn't the best day but the water certainly made up for it, by the time we left the water in the pools was unbearably hot!
The next day we headed to supposedly one of the top 10 beaches in the world 'New Chum Beach'. It was a 20 minute walk from the car park so that meant it wasn't very busy, we found a nice spot under a blossoming Pohutukawa tree and after a bit of sunbathing went in the sea. It was an amazing beach but I think part of the reason it was rated so highly was because of the surf.
On the 28th we left Matarangi and the Coromandel to head back down to some of Holly's relatives just outside Auckland for New year. Since Karen and Martin (Holly's relatives) were off work over the Christmas period they took us to some of the nicer places around the city. First they took us to Devonport, to the top of Mt Victoria, where we got a view of the whole bay overlooking Auckland. The next day they took us to a remote beach about half an hour down a gravel road that there is no way we would have found by ourselves. Though it was so remote, it was quite busy and the waves were huge, Martin taught me how to body
surf on them, though I did get completely wiped out many a time!
For New years eve/day we drove back up Mt Victoria and watched the Auckland fireworks from afar because we had been told trying to get into the city would be a nightmare. We arrived at the top at 11pm and it was already chaos up there so its a good job we weren't any later! It was a bit chilly but we got a great view of the fireworks, unfortunately no pictures came out very well though.
Matarangi is where we spent Christmas, in the holiday home of some of Holly's relatives. The drive from Coromandel Town to Matarangi was spectacular, steep climbs and descents were lined with palm trees, huge ferns and Pohutukawa trees.
The house was only a two minute walk to the beach so that was the first port of call! I finally got Holly keen for her first swim and afterwards she agreed it wasn't so bad
after all. Again it was more of a surf beach so not the best for swimming.
The next day we headed to Whitianga to see what was about, and after a bit of toing and froing and buying a hat we decided to go on a glass bottom boat tour into the marine reserve and past Cathedral Cove. We saw loads of fish as you might expect and even jumped off the side for a snorkel! Though only me and one other took them up on the offer.
It was really strange knowing it was Christmas time but it being warm. There were people on the beach in santa hats and Christmas trees everywhere while we were walking round in shorts and flip-flops. Though it didn't really feel like a proper Christmas it still came around. I had a walk on the beach on Christmas day but sadly not a swim as it was a bit windy and the sun wasn't out. We spent the afternoon much like a Christmas afternoon at home, eating and drinking! We had freshly caught scallops, along with lamb and pork.
