Going to New Zealand part three (leaving Auckland)

Hmm.

Auckland in the evening was very great. Takign the car out to drive as the sun setting in the west was almost romantic (with no one but my folks and brother) and we diecided to explore the outer regions of the city. this included some cliffs and hills across the harbour. we managed to catch the city's skline from the hills. The city's outskirts apparently had a supermarket chai ncalled 'New World'. We stopped to load on supplies such as fruits, bread for breakfast, butter and peanut butter, drinks etc. As you can see, we were fairly low-budget, and such things helped to keep things as cheap but healthy as possible.

The next day, we decided to head for the volcanic city of Rotorua, which we heard, smelled something like an infusion of vomit and dirty, old socks, thanks to the high sulphur content in the air. The journey included travellign through the misty morning past towns such as Manukau city, Pokeno, Huntly, Taupiri, Cambridge (not the one in England, my dear), Tirau, and finally Rotorua.

Rotorua was a very nice, sunny place, if not slightly marred by the gagging sulphuric air that almost caused me to vomit and further cause more bad air. We explored the edge of Lake Rotorua, went for a guided tour of the Whaka Village, a real Maori settlement in the middle of town that allowed visitors and tourists alike to walk about and see the Village houses and meeting house which was very sacred. We also saw a maori dance and song performance and went into a shop to see the many carvings and ornaments significant to Maori Culture. Once again I saw the Cowbone carvings and even ones made of green jade.

soon afterwards, we went to get some lunch (burgerking) and shopping. We discovered a shop which sold all sorts of tourist extravanganza including (surprise!!) cowbone carvings. I bought one for 12 bucks while my brother opted for a fake shark's tooth necklace (why a fake one when the real mccoy was next to it?). My mum bought a cute lamb with those shaking heads that seem oh so cute.

After Rotorua, we decided to head for the Waitomo Caves which were across the Island, and The trip took more than four hours, crossing towns such as Horo Horo, Upper Atiamuri, Whakamaru, Bennydale Puketutu and The City of Te Kuiti.

Te Kuiti was somehow small, and I can't remember taht much about it, except that we pumped more petrol into the car and hoped to get to Waitomo by two o'clock in the afternoon. We did reach there, and We then went into the caves.

the caves were home to some form of glowworm which was the larvae of some form of insect (sorry, I can't remember any details here). The spectacel was amazing: they glowed with an eerie blue, and just sitting in the boat with them hanging above you made me feel as though I was in some dark cathedral. I was absolutely amazed.

We had accomodation for us somewhere near Te Anga, so after a light snack outside the car, we headed in the direction of Te Anga. apparently, the accomodation was some form of farmstay, at the top of the hills which comprised of the area from Waitomo to the sea. Our hostess, a pretty 30-something Caucasian who was the sister of the farmstay's owner, showed us where our Cabin was.

settlign down in the cabin was easy enough: a bunk above the main area consisted of two beds for me and my brother. Our hostess's son, a small boy of twelve and his dog led me into the woods nearby to see more glowworms.

Apparently, a cat was also another of the hostess's pets. i simply loved that cat: It was fluffy and warm: it loved to jump onto my lap and have it's ears scratched although one of it's ears were mauled of by God knows what. It Purred and literally vibrated as I stroked it. I have never felt so emotionally attached to an animal. We went out for dinner as some diner, listening to 'the who' which reverberated from a local's car.

The night passed easy with a slightly dirty movie and light supper comprising of sandwiches. i spent some time outside with the cat in the night, just stroking it and feeling happy and content.

Early morning, i was woken by my dad who told me that there was a magnificent sunrise to photograph. It was indeed: the sun's rays just lightly touching the hilltops, while the rest of the world lay asleep. I just stood there and marvelled. i also took some time to stroke the cat some more.

The morning passed with a light breakfast consisting of bread, butter and cereal. We soon left for the City of Wanganui.

Cheers, stay reading

Crawldaddy