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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 10: (Fox Glacier->Springfield)
So today we had to make our way back to Springfield (which is close to Christchurch). But first we decided to take a helicopter trip up on to the mountain! It was NZ$300, which was quite steep so Danie and Marra decided to look after Waldo while Stefan, Marina and I went up:
It was about a 10min flight up, and then we could get out and play in the snow!
When we landed I decide to "jump" out of the helicopter:facepalm: and broke a bone in my hand (and did even realized it was broken). Waldo was still alive (or should I say Danie and Marra was still alive?) so we continued back north up the west coast. We stopped at Lake Mapourika to take some photos and throw some rocks in the lake:
And then we decided to make some breakfast. Good thing about having a camper van is you can just stop anywhere and the kitchen is right there - which is helpful if you are not allowed to make a fire:bangdesk: (By now my hand was started to hurt
)
After the awesome breakfast :drool: we hit the road again on our way to Arthur's pass. Just before Arthur's pass we stopped at a small little town as someone:fencelook: had to use the bathroom. But this was the type of place were you film a movie like Texas Chainsaw Massacre so we quickly got out of there (if not having to wait to take photos of a passing train). As we were halfway into the pass we just had to stop to enjoy the view:
But at the parking spot were some smart "Kea" birds (a type of parrot), so while we were taking photos one of the bliksems proceeds to unscrew the aerial of our camper van with his beak:nonono: So Marra had to climb on top of the camper van (and Danie) to screw it back in:
Marra was saying "Gaan nog vorentoe" and Danie said "Ek f#$%# kan nie!" :biglol:
We thought the camper van people were not gonna believe our excuse of we lost the aerial because "the kea unscrewed our aerial"
But eventually we proceeded on our way to Springfield (no not the one from the Simpsons). Again there were some beautiful scenery:
They even decided it was time for Waldo to play in the snow:
(and Danie wanted to test whether peeing in the snow turns it yellow:fencelook
Since Springfield was such a small little village (literally like 50 houses or less) there was no holiday park, he stayed at someones home which rents the back out as a parking place (and it had free WIFI)
We still had some meat left and wanted to braai it but we had nothing to make with it. We looked for a super market but the only two business in town was a filling station (which didn't sell anything to eat or to make with) and a hotel. So we headed to the hotel (had a few beers) and bought some take away chips:thumbs: After a nice braai and chips back home we decided it was time to head back to the hotel for more beers and watch some rugby.
I must say Springfield was one of the nicest towns that we visited in NZ, it was an amazing little hotel pub / bar where everyone in town comes to have a beer after work!
So today we had to make our way back to Springfield (which is close to Christchurch). But first we decided to take a helicopter trip up on to the mountain! It was NZ$300, which was quite steep so Danie and Marra decided to look after Waldo while Stefan, Marina and I went up:
It was about a 10min flight up, and then we could get out and play in the snow!
When we landed I decide to "jump" out of the helicopter:facepalm: and broke a bone in my hand (and did even realized it was broken). Waldo was still alive (or should I say Danie and Marra was still alive?) so we continued back north up the west coast. We stopped at Lake Mapourika to take some photos and throw some rocks in the lake:
And then we decided to make some breakfast. Good thing about having a camper van is you can just stop anywhere and the kitchen is right there - which is helpful if you are not allowed to make a fire:bangdesk: (By now my hand was started to hurt
)
After the awesome breakfast :drool: we hit the road again on our way to Arthur's pass. Just before Arthur's pass we stopped at a small little town as someone:fencelook: had to use the bathroom. But this was the type of place were you film a movie like Texas Chainsaw Massacre so we quickly got out of there (if not having to wait to take photos of a passing train). As we were halfway into the pass we just had to stop to enjoy the view:
But at the parking spot were some smart "Kea" birds (a type of parrot), so while we were taking photos one of the bliksems proceeds to unscrew the aerial of our camper van with his beak:nonono: So Marra had to climb on top of the camper van (and Danie) to screw it back in:
Marra was saying "Gaan nog vorentoe" and Danie said "Ek f#$%# kan nie!" :biglol:
We thought the camper van people were not gonna believe our excuse of we lost the aerial because "the kea unscrewed our aerial"
But eventually we proceeded on our way to Springfield (no not the one from the Simpsons). Again there were some beautiful scenery:
They even decided it was time for Waldo to play in the snow:
(and Danie wanted to test whether peeing in the snow turns it yellow:fencelook
Since Springfield was such a small little village (literally like 50 houses or less) there was no holiday park, he stayed at someones home which rents the back out as a parking place (and it had free WIFI)
We still had some meat left and wanted to braai it but we had nothing to make with it. We looked for a super market but the only two business in town was a filling station (which didn't sell anything to eat or to make with) and a hotel. So we headed to the hotel (had a few beers) and bought some take away chips:thumbs: After a nice braai and chips back home we decided it was time to head back to the hotel for more beers and watch some rugby.
I must say Springfield was one of the nicest towns that we visited in NZ, it was an amazing little hotel pub / bar where everyone in town comes to have a beer after work!
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 11: (Springfield->Dunedin)
It was our last full day on the South Island. We initially planned to fly from Dunedin to Auckland, to give us time to visit Queenstown after Fox Glacier, but the Camper van company changed it's policy and now we had to give the camper van back in Christchurch......:argh:
So we drove from Springfield to Christchurch and handed back the camper van and hired a kombi just for the day to drive to Dunedin. Stefan was happy because now he could do 120km/h with the kombi:fishwack:
So we made the trip all the way from Christchurch to Dudedin (about 400km south) down the east coast of the South Island. We had some nice pizza for lunch at Pizza Hut:drool:
By now some of us were getting a bit tired of driving and since there was not alot to see in Timaru and Oamaru we played lots of 30 seconds and guessing the songs on Danie's iPod.
Finally we reached the student / university city of Dunedin and we were staying in a proper guesthouse for a change:
So after booking in we decided it was time to explore the city. It had a very student vibe. Across from the guesthouse were open field where lots of students were playing touch rugby. It must have been about 10degrees outside but most of them were playing without shirts.....Stefan and Danie decided that if they could play without shirts, that this might be a good time to go for a swim, so we drove to the beach:
However it was much too windy and way too cold, so we just continued on our drive and took some nice photos:
Its obviously windy in Dunedin very often, so much so that some trees are permanently sideways.......
On the way back we drove past the new Dunedin Stadium:
and by the university - it's looks like a beautiful place to study:
We then decided it was time for a night on the town and some dinner, we went to the "Octagon" - kinda like church square in Pretoria: This was the place where students hang out at night:
The previous night in Springfield we figures out this trick - we saw everyone were ordering "bottles" of beer; you then get a 750ml beer for about NZ$7 instead of one glas for NZ$6. So at this restaurant in we ordered a bottle for NZ$10 each, but it was 330ml not 750ml
Still Export 33 was one of the best beers I had in NZ. I decided NZ$10 was too expensive for a beer (about R70) so I order some of the local brew instead and it was not too bad, it was NZ$6 for 500ml (Monteith's Golden Lager):
After a rather uneventful yet lekker dinner we went to bed as tomorrow it was time to fly....
It was our last full day on the South Island. We initially planned to fly from Dunedin to Auckland, to give us time to visit Queenstown after Fox Glacier, but the Camper van company changed it's policy and now we had to give the camper van back in Christchurch......:argh:
So we drove from Springfield to Christchurch and handed back the camper van and hired a kombi just for the day to drive to Dunedin. Stefan was happy because now he could do 120km/h with the kombi:fishwack:
So we made the trip all the way from Christchurch to Dudedin (about 400km south) down the east coast of the South Island. We had some nice pizza for lunch at Pizza Hut:drool:
By now some of us were getting a bit tired of driving and since there was not alot to see in Timaru and Oamaru we played lots of 30 seconds and guessing the songs on Danie's iPod.
Finally we reached the student / university city of Dunedin and we were staying in a proper guesthouse for a change:
So after booking in we decided it was time to explore the city. It had a very student vibe. Across from the guesthouse were open field where lots of students were playing touch rugby. It must have been about 10degrees outside but most of them were playing without shirts.....Stefan and Danie decided that if they could play without shirts, that this might be a good time to go for a swim, so we drove to the beach:
However it was much too windy and way too cold, so we just continued on our drive and took some nice photos:
Its obviously windy in Dunedin very often, so much so that some trees are permanently sideways.......
On the way back we drove past the new Dunedin Stadium:
and by the university - it's looks like a beautiful place to study:
We then decided it was time for a night on the town and some dinner, we went to the "Octagon" - kinda like church square in Pretoria: This was the place where students hang out at night:
The previous night in Springfield we figures out this trick - we saw everyone were ordering "bottles" of beer; you then get a 750ml beer for about NZ$7 instead of one glas for NZ$6. So at this restaurant in we ordered a bottle for NZ$10 each, but it was 330ml not 750ml
Still Export 33 was one of the best beers I had in NZ. I decided NZ$10 was too expensive for a beer (about R70) so I order some of the local brew instead and it was not too bad, it was NZ$6 for 500ml (Monteith's Golden Lager):
After a rather uneventful yet lekker dinner we went to bed as tomorrow it was time to fly....
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 12: (Dunedin->Auckland)
It was time to say goodbye to the South Island and head to the North Island. Dunedin airport is a very small airport, we had a quick brekkie and checked out an extinct NZ animals exhibition at the airport:
So after a pretty boring (no inflight entertainment) flight of about 2h30 to Auckland, we were ready to collect our new camper van:
We were staying in Red beach, Orewa, Auckland (just about 20km north of the City). This would be the 1st of 3 night we stayed here but none of them where consecutive.....
We had to get ready as this was the day of watching the second game: SA v Namibia at North Harbour Stadium. A friend of mine in Auckland agreed to take us to the stadium, on our way walking to the entrance of the holiday park we noticed a camper van with some french guys just arrived. They wished us luck in watching the game.
So at least it was a good game for South Africa and we had some fun:
As you can see my motto is not to shave while on holiday...:idea:
When we got back after the game the french guys were still up. They congratulated us on the win and invited us for a drink. Never to say no to a free drink we decided to join them:drink:
Now let me tell you there were 6 of them. I think only two of them could speak any english (and very broken english) at that. So it was quite fun trying to communicate. So they would ask what we wanted to drink, and without us really answering we were each handed a glass of Jack Daniels neat (and I mean a full glass). We proceeded to talk kak with them the best we could using a combination of sign language, english and sommer some afrikaans.
They ended up telling us of this new snack they discovered at the airport (today was their first day in NZ) and gave us some to taste: they called it beef sticks:facepalm: So it was actually biltong...
We tried to explain that biltong is actually a south african thing, but it was difficult to properly communicate this. The best explanation Stefan could come up with that it is a male cow's tongue:facepalm:
After a couple of those drinks (they said they bough enough alcohol to last them 3 weeks) and lots of biltong we went to bed to get ready to continue our travels the next day...
It was time to say goodbye to the South Island and head to the North Island. Dunedin airport is a very small airport, we had a quick brekkie and checked out an extinct NZ animals exhibition at the airport:
So after a pretty boring (no inflight entertainment) flight of about 2h30 to Auckland, we were ready to collect our new camper van:
We were staying in Red beach, Orewa, Auckland (just about 20km north of the City). This would be the 1st of 3 night we stayed here but none of them where consecutive.....
We had to get ready as this was the day of watching the second game: SA v Namibia at North Harbour Stadium. A friend of mine in Auckland agreed to take us to the stadium, on our way walking to the entrance of the holiday park we noticed a camper van with some french guys just arrived. They wished us luck in watching the game.
So at least it was a good game for South Africa and we had some fun:
As you can see my motto is not to shave while on holiday...:idea:
When we got back after the game the french guys were still up. They congratulated us on the win and invited us for a drink. Never to say no to a free drink we decided to join them:drink:
Now let me tell you there were 6 of them. I think only two of them could speak any english (and very broken english) at that. So it was quite fun trying to communicate. So they would ask what we wanted to drink, and without us really answering we were each handed a glass of Jack Daniels neat (and I mean a full glass). We proceeded to talk kak with them the best we could using a combination of sign language, english and sommer some afrikaans.
They ended up telling us of this new snack they discovered at the airport (today was their first day in NZ) and gave us some to taste: they called it beef sticks:facepalm: So it was actually biltong...
We tried to explain that biltong is actually a south african thing, but it was difficult to properly communicate this. The best explanation Stefan could come up with that it is a male cow's tongue:facepalm:
After a couple of those drinks (they said they bough enough alcohol to last them 3 weeks) and lots of biltong we went to bed to get ready to continue our travels the next day...
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 13: (Auckland->Whangarei)
Today we didn't have to drive to far to Whangarei (pronounced by the locals as "vang 'n ry") so we got up a bit later and walked to the beach:
We then had to make a quick turn at the nearest mechanic since the one a/c plug was not working on our camper van (so we couldn't use the GPS). We saw this little baby there while waiting:
By they way, there is hardly any new cars in NZ. Everyone drive fairly old cars. But all cars needs to be checked for roadworthiness every year!
We then hit the road to Whangerei, it was a lovely drive with lots of nice views. You also pass 'n farm with real pink sheep::wub:
We got to the holiday park, which is right next to Whangarei fall so we just had to check that out:
Then we took an afternoon drive up the Tutukaka coast::inlove:
When we reached Sandy bay (seriously, not the one in the Cape:nonono Stefan and Danie decided this was their chance for a swim - even if it was only about 10degrees:
But clearly it was too cold:
Finally we went home and made some lekker pasta:drool: for dinner and watched the rugby with some german tourists
Today we didn't have to drive to far to Whangarei (pronounced by the locals as "vang 'n ry") so we got up a bit later and walked to the beach:
We then had to make a quick turn at the nearest mechanic since the one a/c plug was not working on our camper van (so we couldn't use the GPS). We saw this little baby there while waiting:
By they way, there is hardly any new cars in NZ. Everyone drive fairly old cars. But all cars needs to be checked for roadworthiness every year!
We then hit the road to Whangerei, it was a lovely drive with lots of nice views. You also pass 'n farm with real pink sheep::wub:
We got to the holiday park, which is right next to Whangarei fall so we just had to check that out:
Then we took an afternoon drive up the Tutukaka coast::inlove:
When we reached Sandy bay (seriously, not the one in the Cape:nonono
Stefan and Danie decided this was their chance for a swim - even if it was only about 10degrees:
But clearly it was too cold:
Finally we went home and made some lekker pasta:drool: for dinner and watched the rugby with some german tourists
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 14: (Whangarei->Auckland)
So today was the day we were going to watch our biggest game: France v All Black! We made it back from Whangarei to Auckland and decided this was the day that we were going to explore the city. We took a bus into the city. We arrived at about 13:00 while the game was only starting at 21:00. Now if you've ever been to a springbok game in south africa, you'd understand the buzz that is created at the stadium. If NZ this buzz is twice as big if the All Blacks are playing....
We started off at Queen's Wharf and walked all the way to the stadium (about 5km):
At least we made lots of pit stops along the way. At the one place we saw Kobus Wiese walking down the street. We also randomly saw our french buddies from the previous night.
I went as a neutral but Marra and Danie supported the ABs and Stefan the french. Marina and Waldo stayed home.
It was a good plan to support the french as many a young lady started chatting Stefan up, thinking he was a real frenchman.:tease:
We finally made it to the stadium - Eden Park, but it was still early:
but when it eventually filled up it was packed!
Lots of french support:
But the ABs won easily:
It was Richie's 100th game - quite the occasion to be at:
So today was the day we were going to watch our biggest game: France v All Black! We made it back from Whangarei to Auckland and decided this was the day that we were going to explore the city. We took a bus into the city. We arrived at about 13:00 while the game was only starting at 21:00. Now if you've ever been to a springbok game in south africa, you'd understand the buzz that is created at the stadium. If NZ this buzz is twice as big if the All Blacks are playing....
We started off at Queen's Wharf and walked all the way to the stadium (about 5km):
At least we made lots of pit stops along the way. At the one place we saw Kobus Wiese walking down the street. We also randomly saw our french buddies from the previous night.
I went as a neutral but Marra and Danie supported the ABs and Stefan the french. Marina and Waldo stayed home.
It was a good plan to support the french as many a young lady started chatting Stefan up, thinking he was a real frenchman.:tease:
We finally made it to the stadium - Eden Park, but it was still early:
but when it eventually filled up it was packed!
Lots of french support:
But the ABs won easily:
It was Richie's 100th game - quite the occasion to be at:
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 15: (Auckland->Tauranga)
It was time to leave Auckland and head for Tauranga. It was a bit of a cloudy day - in fact one of the first ones in NZ:
We wanted to buy some "provisions" at a South African shop but they were closed on Sundays:
Tauranga is on the north coast of the North Island and it was a bit of a drive. By now most of us where getting tired of all the driving and the weather was not very good. The road we took was also a quiet on. We were looking for a place to have lunch but most places were closed on Sundays:
We finally made it to this small town in the middle of nowhere called Paeroa. Our audio travel guide told us that this was a famous town. Apparently they make a special kind of lemonade in this town because of the "special" water they have their and they call it L&P (Lemon & Paeroa). Its a bit of a NZ joke, L&P is world famous in New Zealand:biglol:
After hearing this we actually noticed these kind of NZ humour more and more. Also everywhere there was actually L&P products. For example at MacDonalds they have L&P flavored McFlurries:rollsmile: And by the way L&P doesn't really taste any different from your normal lemonade. When we were on the road again on the way to Tauranga we saw our first "taxi" and you wouldn't believe it but it was almost involved in an accident:thumbdo:
We finally arrived in Tauranga, it was already a bit late so we we just had booked in at our holiday park and watch a bit of rugby at the local pub:drink:
Does this sign seem a bit weird to you?
It was time to leave Auckland and head for Tauranga. It was a bit of a cloudy day - in fact one of the first ones in NZ:
We wanted to buy some "provisions" at a South African shop but they were closed on Sundays:
Tauranga is on the north coast of the North Island and it was a bit of a drive. By now most of us where getting tired of all the driving and the weather was not very good. The road we took was also a quiet on. We were looking for a place to have lunch but most places were closed on Sundays:
We finally made it to this small town in the middle of nowhere called Paeroa. Our audio travel guide told us that this was a famous town. Apparently they make a special kind of lemonade in this town because of the "special" water they have their and they call it L&P (Lemon & Paeroa). Its a bit of a NZ joke, L&P is world famous in New Zealand:biglol:
After hearing this we actually noticed these kind of NZ humour more and more. Also everywhere there was actually L&P products. For example at MacDonalds they have L&P flavored McFlurries:rollsmile: And by the way L&P doesn't really taste any different from your normal lemonade. When we were on the road again on the way to Tauranga we saw our first "taxi" and you wouldn't believe it but it was almost involved in an accident:thumbdo:
We finally arrived in Tauranga, it was already a bit late so we we just had booked in at our holiday park and watch a bit of rugby at the local pub:drink:
Does this sign seem a bit weird to you?
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 16: (Tauranga)
Today was one of those days where we did not really go anywhere. We decided to go for a walk around Mt Maunganui. Now Mt Maunganui is a mountain in Tauranga right next to the ocean, in fact there is ocean about 340 degrees round it, as you can see here:
This I didn't take just stole it from the interweb:fencelook:
We started at Pilot Bay which is on the inland side, it was nice and quiet on a Monday morning:
There were some lovely scenery:
After a late brunch/lunch we took a small trip along the coast - this area is actually called Bay of Plenty. Like I mentioned before New Zealanders like their kinky names:
We also visited the biggest kiwi fruit slice in New Zealand:
And we still haven't seen a real Kiwi yet:
Later everyone decided they felt like some seafood and you would think Tauranga would be the perfect place for it - but you would be wrong!
What is even weirder is that restaurants don't open on Monday evenings in NZ:wtf:
We tried the harbor but no luck:
Then we ended up going to (you guessed it) an Irish pub::fishwack:
At least they had good food and drink as always!:idea:
Today was one of those days where we did not really go anywhere. We decided to go for a walk around Mt Maunganui. Now Mt Maunganui is a mountain in Tauranga right next to the ocean, in fact there is ocean about 340 degrees round it, as you can see here:
This I didn't take just stole it from the interweb:fencelook:
We started at Pilot Bay which is on the inland side, it was nice and quiet on a Monday morning:
There were some lovely scenery:
After a late brunch/lunch we took a small trip along the coast - this area is actually called Bay of Plenty. Like I mentioned before New Zealanders like their kinky names:
We also visited the biggest kiwi fruit slice in New Zealand:
And we still haven't seen a real Kiwi yet:
Later everyone decided they felt like some seafood and you would think Tauranga would be the perfect place for it - but you would be wrong!
What is even weirder is that restaurants don't open on Monday evenings in NZ:wtf:
We tried the harbor but no luck:
Then we ended up going to (you guessed it) an Irish pub::fishwack:
At least they had good food and drink as always!:idea:
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 17: (Tauranga->Taupo)
Time to pack up and head to Taupo, which is in the middle of the North Island but not too far from Tauranga. First stop was at Rotorua. Lake Rotorua is amazing to see:
When you get close you see how absolutely clear the water is:
Rotorua is also know for its adventure sports. Stefan and Marina decided to pay NZ$100 to roll down a hill in a plastic ball filled with hot water:
and we saw this crazy Jak:
For lunch I had a lekker tripple "whopper" at Burger King:drool: and then we headed to one of the hot water geysers in Rororua. There is apparently lots of them all over the city - an active volcano underneath the city. You can see steam coming out of most of the storm water drains while driving in town.
Te Piua is one of the biggest geysers there:
There is a maori cultural village and some hot boiling bubbling mud:
This must be one of the longest place names:
We then headed south to our holiday park where we were going to stay for the next two days in Taupo. Now remember all of our accommodation were booked online so we had really no idea what it would look like. We were actually lucky so far as to the great facilities. When he stopped at this place just as Danie got out of the camper van two guys with a knife came charging at him.
He said he seriously though he was gonna get shivved. Bu the two guys were "just playing" and were chasing each other to the kitchen with a bread knife:thumbdo:
Long story short, the ladies didn't like the accomodation so we decided to find another place. The outside didn't look too bad:
Luckily we got a place closer to Taupo. Lake Taupo was also huge!
It was time for another braai on gas with some not so lekker lighting, but by now we where gas braai experts.:idea:
After some more 30 seconds we decided to call it a night.
Time to pack up and head to Taupo, which is in the middle of the North Island but not too far from Tauranga. First stop was at Rotorua. Lake Rotorua is amazing to see:
When you get close you see how absolutely clear the water is:
Rotorua is also know for its adventure sports. Stefan and Marina decided to pay NZ$100 to roll down a hill in a plastic ball filled with hot water:
and we saw this crazy Jak:
For lunch I had a lekker tripple "whopper" at Burger King:drool: and then we headed to one of the hot water geysers in Rororua. There is apparently lots of them all over the city - an active volcano underneath the city. You can see steam coming out of most of the storm water drains while driving in town.
Te Piua is one of the biggest geysers there:
There is a maori cultural village and some hot boiling bubbling mud:
This must be one of the longest place names:
We then headed south to our holiday park where we were going to stay for the next two days in Taupo. Now remember all of our accommodation were booked online so we had really no idea what it would look like. We were actually lucky so far as to the great facilities. When he stopped at this place just as Danie got out of the camper van two guys with a knife came charging at him.
He said he seriously though he was gonna get shivved. Bu the two guys were "just playing" and were chasing each other to the kitchen with a bread knife:thumbdo:
Long story short, the ladies didn't like the accomodation so we decided to find another place. The outside didn't look too bad:
Luckily we got a place closer to Taupo. Lake Taupo was also huge!
It was time for another braai on gas with some not so lekker lighting, but by now we where gas braai experts.:idea:
After some more 30 seconds we decided to call it a night.
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Z3Zack said:
Almost as difficult as yours?:fencelook:
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 18: (Taupo)
It so happens that the springboks were also staying in Taupo this week while training. So we tried to locate the springboks in Taupo during their off day, following their tweets etc. But we did not really have any luck.
So instead we went to see the Huka falls, which is just next to Lake Taupo. At first the river is very quiet:
but then suddenly a powerful waterfal:
Being so narrow there is a lot of water going down:
We then drove right round Lake Taupo (which is like a 3 hour trip) and you can see how big it is:
No, it is not the ocean. It is Lake Taupo. There were also these strange rocks that actually float!!!
After some more springbok hunting with no luck we had a nice quiet evening with lots of 30 seconds.
It so happens that the springboks were also staying in Taupo this week while training. So we tried to locate the springboks in Taupo during their off day, following their tweets etc. But we did not really have any luck.
So instead we went to see the Huka falls, which is just next to Lake Taupo. At first the river is very quiet:
but then suddenly a powerful waterfal:
Being so narrow there is a lot of water going down:
We then drove right round Lake Taupo (which is like a 3 hour trip) and you can see how big it is:
No, it is not the ocean. It is Lake Taupo. There were also these strange rocks that actually float!!!
After some more springbok hunting with no luck we had a nice quiet evening with lots of 30 seconds.
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 19: (Taupo -> Raglan)
A last roadtrip from Taupo to Raglan, which is on the west coast of the North Island and a supposed surfer town.
The road there was an interesting one as we made a detour to the Glow worm caves. Lots of small roads and green in the country side:
Unfortunately no photos where allowed inside of the caves, but it was too dark anyway:
From there we took the scenic route to Raglan:
Raglan itself is a pretty interesting place: quite small and no real beach:
The views were still pretty epic at sunset and we had some of the best beer there:drink: We didn't feel like braaing so just had some take aways:spit:
...the last inside the caves is a boat trip in the dark!
A last roadtrip from Taupo to Raglan, which is on the west coast of the North Island and a supposed surfer town.
The road there was an interesting one as we made a detour to the Glow worm caves. Lots of small roads and green in the country side:
Unfortunately no photos where allowed inside of the caves, but it was too dark anyway:
From there we took the scenic route to Raglan:
Raglan itself is a pretty interesting place: quite small and no real beach:
The views were still pretty epic at sunset and we had some of the best beer there:drink: We didn't feel like braaing so just had some take aways:spit:
...the last inside the caves is a boat trip in the dark!
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 20: (Raglan -> Auckland)
Our last full day in NZ, and also the day watching our last game: SA v Samoa.
I felt "big":
We drove back via Hamilton where we stopped for some breakfast. They had a little "coat hanger":
When we got to Auckland we had a lekker braai:drool: with some friends that live in NZ:
and then it was time to get ready for the game:
It was an intense game with lots of support for Samoa, but at the end SA pulled it through.
Which meant it was our last night in NZ.....:thumbdo:
Our last full day in NZ, and also the day watching our last game: SA v Samoa.
I felt "big":
We drove back via Hamilton where we stopped for some breakfast. They had a little "coat hanger":
When we got to Auckland we had a lekker braai:drool: with some friends that live in NZ:
and then it was time to get ready for the game:
It was an intense game with lots of support for Samoa, but at the end SA pulled it through.
Which meant it was our last night in NZ.....:thumbdo:
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Day 21: (Auckland->Melbourne->Perth->HOME)
It sucked to pack up on the last day and head back home after such an awesome 3 weeks:
At least there was some lekker sweets at the airport:
It was a pretty long flight back home via Melbourne and Perth and since Melboure to Perth was domestic flights we had to go through customs in Auz twice.:thumbdo:
At least we got to go outside in Melbourne!
...but just for a little bit. When we finally got home it was awesome too!
But it was an awesome experience and NZ is just the coolest place to visit. In total it cost me about R38k (luckily I only had to pay for one:fencelook...
It is actually exactly one year since our trip. Time to start planning the next one. World Cup is in 2014....but that might be too long.
We might be planning a Ireland and Scotland trip in March 2013 with the main aim of visiting breweries, distilleries and castles...:fencelook:
So if everyone has been there some tips would be awesome!
It sucked to pack up on the last day and head back home after such an awesome 3 weeks:
At least there was some lekker sweets at the airport:
It was a pretty long flight back home via Melbourne and Perth and since Melboure to Perth was domestic flights we had to go through customs in Auz twice.:thumbdo:
At least we got to go outside in Melbourne!
...but just for a little bit. When we finally got home it was awesome too!
But it was an awesome experience and NZ is just the coolest place to visit. In total it cost me about R38k (luckily I only had to pay for one:fencelook
...It is actually exactly one year since our trip. Time to start planning the next one. World Cup is in 2014....but that might be too long.
We might be planning a Ireland and Scotland trip in March 2013 with the main aim of visiting breweries, distilleries and castles...:fencelook:
So if everyone has been there some tips would be awesome!
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
:joy:
I realised I can use my mod powers to edit my old posts and fixed the links that no longer displayed.
:joy:
I realised I can use my mod powers to edit my old posts and fixed the links that no longer displayed.
:joy:
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