Blane and I have been busy the past couple of days and are now back on the west coast of the north island. In Mt. Maunganui we got up with the sunrise and jogged up The Mount, it was probably about 2 miles long and straight up. The views were great and we could see up and down the coast line.
We met our campervan neighbors who were from California and they came to NZ just to surf so Blane was lucky enough to borrow the guy's surfboard and wetsuit for a couple hours. The waves were pretty big from a beginners standpoint but think he had fun. The sun is still shining for us every day but a cold front has come in straight from Antartica and it has been really crisp during the day and down to freezing at night.
From Mt. Maunganui we headed east out along the coast just a little bit farther to Te Puke where Kiwi360 is, a total tourist trap where you can take a trolley through the kiwifruit fields and eat kiwi icecream. We decided to give ourselves a small self guided tour climb the giant kiwifruit that you can see from the freeway and continue on our way - we did get some kiwifruit icecream as well. We then headed inland towards Rotorua which smells like sulfur because of all the geothermal activity. We got into town around 3pm booked our seats at one of the Maori evening shows and visited the local museum. The Maori show was pretty fun, you get to see an official welcome including the nose to nose greeting.
They perform some of their traditional poi (female dancing) and haka (male warrior) dancing and signing all including the tounge and eye bulging. From there we had the hangi where they cook the food in the hot pool underground and off to see a gyser (who was not performing for us when we went by). The next day we went to the hot pools nearby along lake rotorua and soaked. You see steam rising
all around the city, the lake, little pools in parks and storm drains all from the hotsprings underground. We then went to Skyline park where you do luge rides down the hillside. They are like oneway go kart tracks that you ride on these little plastic karts and you can get going pretty fast. Knowing me I rode the brakes pretty good for the first couple runs then let it fly on the last. No crashes so that was good.
We decided we were getting a little short on time so we decided to skip Lake Taupo and bungy jumping - next time. We headed west to Waitomo Caves and it was a long 2hr drive. We made it around 6pm after a stop at the grocery store to stock up on food. We went to the local pub for hamburgers and to watch the local rugby game. We had no idea what was going on, but was fun to be part of it all. Go Chiefs! Today we go underground for some caving, then will drive north to Hamilton for the night then fly to Nelson tomorrow on the south island. Cheers!
Blane and I have been busy the past couple of days and are now back on the west coast of the north island. In Mt. Maunganui we got up with the sunrise and jogged up The Mount, it was probably about 2 miles long and straight up. The views were great and we could see up and down the coast line. 
We met our campervan neighbors who were from California and they came to NZ just to surf so Blane was lucky enough to borrow the guy's surfboard and wetsuit for a couple hours. The waves were pretty big from a beginners standpoint but think he had fun. The sun is still shining for us every day but a cold front has come in straight from Antartica and it has been really crisp during the day and down to freezing at night. 
From Mt. Maunganui we headed east out along the coast just a little bit farther to Te Puke where Kiwi360 is, a total tourist trap where you can take a trolley through the kiwifruit fields and eat kiwi icecream. We decided to give ourselves a small self guided tour climb the giant kiwifruit that you can see from the freeway and continue on our way - we did get some kiwifruit icecream as well. We then headed inland towards Rotorua which smells like sulfur because of all the geothermal activity. We got into town around 3pm booked our seats at one of the Maori evening shows and visited the local museum. The Maori show was pretty fun, you get to see an official welcome including the nose to nose greeting. 
They perform some of their traditional poi (female dancing) and haka (male warrior) dancing and signing all including the tounge and eye bulging. From there we had the hangi where they cook the food in the hot pool underground and off to see a gyser (who was not performing for us when we went by). The next day we went to the hot pools nearby along lake rotorua and soaked. You see steam rising 
all around the city, the lake, little pools in parks and storm drains all from the hotsprings underground. We then went to Skyline park where you do luge rides down the hillside. They are like oneway go kart tracks that you ride on these little plastic karts and you can get going pretty fast. Knowing me I rode the brakes pretty good for the first couple runs then let it fly on the last. No crashes so that was good. 
We decided we were getting a little short on time so we decided to skip Lake Taupo and bungy jumping - next time. We headed west to Waitomo Caves and it was a long 2hr drive. We made it around 6pm after a stop at the grocery store to stock up on food. We went to the local pub for hamburgers and to watch the local rugby game. We had no idea what was going on, but was fun to be part of it all. Go Chiefs! Today we go underground for some caving, then will drive north to Hamilton for the night then fly to Nelson tomorrow on the south island. Cheers!
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