So this is it….the end. OK, I won’t be too dramatic, but it seems strange that it’s over. There were times during the last 14 weeks that I thought “This trip is lasting forever! I can’t believe we still have 1 month left!” But like all good things, there must be an end and regretfully we have come to that point. The last days of our journey have been memorable, and although I am sad to close this chapter, I am so proud and thankful for every moment of it.
Geothermal stuff & Coromandel Pennisula-
After the wine tour, we were on the hunt to find the famed geothermal sites of the north island. A kiwi couple we met in the pub in Napier discouraged us from staying in Rotorua, in favor of visiting as a day-trip. So that’s what we did. In the end, this was a great idea. Rotorua is a very nice place, but it smells strongly of egg and has many large hotels and tourist strips which make it anything but quaint. We were happy with our day trip. We ended up staying in Taupo and Tarangua instead.
Craters of the Moon geothermal area.
From the geothermal areas, we continued north to the Coromandel Pennisula. After a few rainy days, the weather was finally cooperating and we found ourselves back on the beaches and basking in the sun. This part of the north island is beautiful….and unique. At one beach “Hot water beach”, once a hole is dug in the sand at low tide, the geothermal activity in the area warms the water that springs up and creates personal hot tubs. Very neat. Unfortunately, you have to rent shovels from the surrounding cafes to do this, and of course they charge a premium. We were awed by the Cathedral Cove and wished we could stay 2 extra days, but time was not on our side.
Coromandel Pennisula.
Isn't this the funniest pic? Floating head...
Catherdral Cove
Cave at low-tide.
Mark in the cave.
Hot water beach.
Full circle. Back in Auckland-
Our last days were spent in Auckland. Although we had started the NZ experience in its biggest city, I was happy to be back. Without the pre-root canal pain, Mark was in a much better position to appreciate the city this time around, and I was happy to dine at some places that we missed the first time. I finally got to have the NZ mussels which I been craving since seeing them at the beginning of the trip. These mussels are huge! The shells are the size of a deck of cards and the inside are easily the size of “hot wheels cars”, I tried my best but couldn’t finish the bucket.
Albert Park. It's coming to an end. :(
SkyTower (as seen from Albert Park).
One of the best parts….we finally found some rugby!! After spending so many weeks in two rugby-crazed countries, we hadn’t seen any live rugby at all. We were aware that it was not their rugby season, and cricket is the sport of the summer, but we had our fingers crossed that we could find some anyway. And we did…we went to see a pre-season Super 14 game. Auckland Blues vs. Waikato Cheifs….it was great.
Our last night was capped off with a concert…Them Crooked Vultures. Very good, although my ears were ringing for the following 24hours.After the concert, we concluded our last night in Auckland in the same way we spend our very first night in Auckland… late-night kebabs.
Them Crooked Vultures.
At the concert.
So now we are back in the north hemisphere, and back in beloved Canada. Despite the beard, customs did allow Mark back into the country. Thankfully, we get to ease ourselves back into reality by spending February in BC (did someone say Olympics?!...yup!). Not only does this allow us to acclimatize ourselves to winter weather (8degrees is so much nicer to come back to than -15degrees…especially since it was 26degrees when we left NZ), but we get to delay the return to reality a little longer. The thought of our normal routine seems the farthest thing from normal at the moment…but I guess we can’t live the travelling life forever. Unless of course anyone wants to become our sponsors, we are open to bids! :)
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