Paihia pictures

To Paihia

I'm now in Paihia in the Bay of Islands. It's very lovely, as such a name suggests. It's all sunny and starting to feel like summer. It's going to be a shock when I come home to the onset of winter! There are jettys going out into the sea, and lots of islands easily visible from here. Some are near, but there are some larger ones quite far out. It's all very sheltered so doesn't often get wavey. I went on a boat cruise today which is called a dolphin cruise, although we didn't see any! A large splash was spotted ahead, and the driver thought it might be a whale judging by its size, but we didn't see it again sadly. It was a nice scenic cruise none the less, and I do have the option of going again, on the basis of the lack of Dolphins. I might see what other options I have though, as there are other things I'd like to see around here too, and it would be a shame to go out again and not see the Dolphins again! The Trip took us past some lovely looking beaches, I felt it was a shame not to have time to disembark and have a splash around. But it was nice to see them, as there's no other way of getting out there without your own boat! 

I really like the hostel I'm in tonight, as it has a large kitchen and dining room which overlooks the bay, with a whole wall of large windows. There were some buskers outside earlier, which almost sounded very nice, but were just a little on the flat side. But it did add to the atmosphere if you didn't listen too carefully! There's also a piano outside which is just waiting for anyone to play. Perhaps I won't inflict that on people, especially after my criticism of the performance of others.

Waitomo lambs

My hostel in waitomo had an excellent selection of animals...these two lambs were roaming free, and there was also a friendly deer and goat, and two baby cows. Awww! I might have stayed another night, except there was very little to do, even walking wise, aside from the caves which I'd already seen! Here is also a slightly contrasting pictures from the back yard of tonight's hostel!

Another cave and on to Auckland

I visited the waitomo glow worm caves today...this is probably the busiest and most established of caves in the waitomo area, hence the name I suppose! It is very accessible, and has the best collection of glow worms. The guides show around large groups pretty much none stop one after another. It was a spectacular trip beneath the ground. We were lead through a sequence of caves down to a lake, where we boarded a boat. We were all asked to be quiet, so I was wondering how they were planning to quietly move a boat full of about thirty people, without asking us to row (which probably wouldn't have been all that quiet anyway!). The solution was that our guide stayed standing, and pulled us along on a network of ropes webbed across the ceiling. Very clever I thought, though I do wonder if any guide has ever fallen in ( I wish I'd thought of this question soon enough to ask!) it was very peaceful down there, and was nice that everyone was quiet to take in the many thousands of lights glowing above us. It could feel a little stressful to be rammed into a cave with so many other people, but that bit was very calm and relaxing.

Like many of these attractions, they take photos of you to try and sell at the end. Mine was awful, my eyes were closed. So I didn't fork out for that one! Hehe. I met a couple of nice Australian ladies on the way out of the caves who were in New Zealand for a felting craft week, so I told them about my WOW adventures in return and we had a nice chat :-)

Then onto the coach from outside the caves, and on to Auckland. I'm only staying here one night, then going further north. But I will be back here after my travels to further places! This is where I fly home from, in less than a week! How time flies! So I've done a little exploring this evening along the harbour, where I had fish and chips. Nice, but not like Yorkshire ones. There was a random crazy golf course inside some disused silo chimneys on the dock (very peculiar!) which I had a nosey at, and was most interested to see inside. Didn't play though, thought perhaps the novelty would wear off if playing an 18 hole course solo, haha! 

I've arranged a hostel for my return to Auckland, as it's very busy here, and for the first time on my travels there was almost no room at the inn! It's getting near summer, it's the school holidays and apparently there's a band playing tonight (maroon 5) which has brought the crowds to town. This is quite a hilly city, with lots of tall buildings. I'd say it easily feels as big as Wellington, the capital, but I could be mistaken. There are lots of nearby islands to explore though, which I shall do when I'm back!

Caves

2nd October, caves!

Today has featured many caves. I got the bus from rotorua this morning in the rain. I felt this could go one of two ways.... The good way is that a rainy day is the perfect day to be inside...the bad way is that too much rain means flooded caves! As it turns out it was somewhere in between...the trip I meant to be doing was cancelled due to flooding. This should have involved abseiling in, and floating around on an inflatable ring (or tube as they call it here), jumping in and out of the water, and sliding down waterfalls. The good news was that another option was available, which took a higher route through the caves, and involved more climbing and zip wires. This was good fun, so all in all the day was a success! And most importantly, the glow worms were out and sparkling in the ceiling. We got to see some close up. The bit that glows is a dot at the end of their tail, and they glow in order to attract flies who are looking for a way out of the cave. The flies get trapped in sticky web like strings that the worms trail from the ceiling. Glow worms are actually maggots, eventually bceoming flies themselves to lay more eggs. Pretty from afar though!

Because this wasn't the trip I should have had, I also get to do a tour of another cave in the morning before getting my bus, which is a walking and boat tour of a particularly glow worm filled cave. Hurray!

After the caves today I went for a walk in some countryside that was doing a very good impression of Yorkshire, especially in the rain! There was green grass, cows, undulating hills, muddy paths and a full muddy river. It took me to some excellent bonus caves that you could look inside, which were very impressive, and worth getting soggy for!

1st October (!) Hobbiton and Maoris!

Such an exciting day it has been!

I was up early in the morning to catch the coach to the Hobbition film set. It was truly delightful! all sunny and springtimeish, it's as it should be! The drive was about an hour, and once there we were met by a guide who took us round in a group, talking through a few film locations, and sharing a bit about the history of the set- how the original Lord of the Rings one should have been instantly taken down after filming, but due to bad weather it was postponed after the props were removed, but the basic buildings still remained. This allowed the first tourists chance to have a look behind the scenesat the skeleton version of the set. When the farm was approached to be a location for the Hobbit films, they accepted on the condition that the set be built with sustainable materials, and be left exactly as it was used for filming. A very wise business venture! They are shipping in coach load after coach load every day! It's amazing how many people go. And even some people in our group who had not seen any of the films or read any of the books! It was a surprisingly extensive area, with something like 42 hobbit-holes...I had expected maybe 5! Unfortunately the lake was at a lower level than it should be as they were extending one of the buildings near it...which was a not so hobbity sight to behold. But there was so much else to see that this was okay! And we got to enjoy a drink in the green dragon :-)

In the evening I went on another adventure to a different world...that of a traditional Maori village. They greet you with a traditional sacred welcome ceremony (in which you were asked not to move, laugh or smile! Fortunately my sister was not present, we do manage to set each other off in serious situations!!!) then they invite you in to relax (phew!), and show you into the village where you move around little houses where they talk to you about (and sometimes get you to join in) different things, such as weaving, games, dancing, body art and of course, the Haka! After this introduction we were shown how they cook food (in this instance our dinner!) in the ground, on hot stones. They unburied our veg and meat (carefully wrapped to avoid dirt), and took it to be served up while we were given a short performance of singing, dancing  and Haka-ing. It was most excellent. And then dinner, too, was very good, with second portions on offer, and some not so traditional puddings also on offer for afters. Our bus driver was very jolly, and talked and made us sing songs all the way home, which was also rather fun!