Rotorua

From the moment you arrive in Rotorua you know you're somewhere quite different...because it stinks! The smell of sulphur produced by the nearby geothermal hotspots is characteristic of Rotorua.

Despite the smell, Rotorua is a great place - there are spouting geysers, boiling mud pools and warm geothermal springs. And when you get bored of all that there are amazing lakes and lots of green space to enjoy.

As soon as we got to the centre the whiff hit us, it was these mud pools so we had to check them out to see what all the smell was about!

Bowls on the green, how English!

Those little black things are loads of ducks!

Some more geothermal activity

Beautiful lake just down the road from where we were staying

Boadwalk walk views...

We walked around another lake for the lovely views but also for the chance to nosey at all the posh houses on the lake front!

Black swan with her babies, cute!

Lying in this pool was like being in a giant outside bath

All I need are some bubbles!

Hot Water Beach

Hot Water Beach is as good as its name. Hot pools can be dug out of the sand at low tide near the rocks and in places where steam can be seen rising from the sea at high tide.

Loads of people were warming up in the hot pools when we arrived at about 6pm. We got there a little too late to claim a pool so we just dipped our feet into the hot water, it was like a warm bath!

We saw these cows on the way back from Hot Water Beach, have you ever seen cowsv marked like this before?!

The crazy landscape nearby

Coromandel

After a night in Auckland we were on our way to the Coromandel in our hire car.

Stayed at a YHA which was full of local families who come year after year to spend their holidays in the region, after spending just a few hours in the area I could see why you would come back again and again - stunning beaches that are totally unspolit, hardly anyone around even though it's 'high season', beautiful countryside...

Bit of beach time

Amazing view

Cathedral Cove, not sure what I'm doing, think I've had too much sun!

Huge rock and Tim

And another huge rock!

Fish and Chips!!!!

A grand finale to the day was fish 'n' chips in Misson Bay.

A HUGE thank you to Ana and Arch for ferrying us, feeding us and looking after us!

Views over Auckland city

Next stop...Mount Eden


Check out the skytower in the background..... will jump off this next time!


One Tree Hill in the background

A very large crater, with the city in the background

Auckland museum

The following day we drove back to Auckland to see the sights. After a good nights sleep we were feeling a little more human and took on the might of the Auckland museum with its huge displays of all things NZ

The museum is set in beatiful grounds overlooking the city

We were 'welcomed' to NZ and introduced to the story of Aotearoa through traditional song and dance

The Maori version of the town hall

An authentic Maori cultural performance at the museum

Had to be total tourists and take a picture of us with a giant penguin that apparently could be found in NZ many, many years ago

A Kiwi!

Ana and Archies Waipu adventure!

After 6 months we said Adios to South America and hello to New Zeland. As soon as we landed the first thing we noticed was we could actually understand people and be understood, being able to speak English again was bliss, although the occasional 'gracias' kept slipping through at first!!

Now i know i have been neglecting the sandwich part of this blog, but that's because there hasnt really been much to write about in South America, how many times can you describe cheese and ham?! But within a few minutes of being in NZ I could tell it was going to be another story...cheese and chutney, chicken and apricot, bacon and egg, ham, cheese and pineapple and so many different breads and wraps and pitas. Oooh the excitement! But the pinnacle was the scotch egg!

Arch and Ana met us at the airport and took us under their wing to give us a great welcome to NZ. First stop was brekkie, I was totally impressed with the HP sauce and Englishness of everything on the menu, some serious eating was going to be taking place over the next few weeks! Much coffee later and after a tour of Auckland's finest streets we headed for Waipu, a small town with a Scottish heritage in the Northland region of NZ, home to Ana before London and the place that Ana and Arch would be calling home until they get their own pad. The drive was through beautiful scenery on deserted roads, we hardly saw another car! Ana is a font of local knowledge so we got a superb intro to NZ history and geology on the way.

Waipu is a very small and cute place with some great beaches just a short drive away from Anna's mum's 'shack'. We spent a couple of hours on the sand and then the sun gave way to clouds and soon a storm was brewing (we since found out from the local paper that the lightening was so intense in some areas that the local services got calls from people who thought that WWIII was starting!) so we decided to sample the local beers and get the barbie on the go...we went to sleep with full and happy bellies!

View of Waipu


Beach just round the corner from Ana and Arch

The barbie

Early morning, lots of coffee

Breakfast time

Beautiful beaches...

Santa Carolina Wine Cellars

Having loved the Santa Carolina wines so much whilst in Chile we thought we'd visit the wine cellars which were in Santiago.

Chilean wine is definitely a (or maybe THE) reason to come back to Chile!

This is the boardroom, which is still used today!


Above the cellar is used for weddings and other shindigs

The cellar below... yum!

The big BBQ bash

Rodrigo (the guy we met on the bus when we first arrived in Chile) was on holiday whilst we were in Santiago so we hooked up for an Asado on Saturday. Anna, Ruth's friend had just arrived in Chile so it was a good excuse for a celebration (as if we neded any!)

Rodrigo, Memo and Claudia put on a huge spread for us, Chilean hospitality is amazing! Rodrigo proudly claimed that the Chile meat was better than Argentina and after eating chicken, beef, pork and sausage I think I agree! The party went on for 12 hours with more and more people popping in for a drink or a dance or just a chat. It was totally brillant, the best finale to our South American adventure we could have asked for.

Tim earning his keep by cooking the meat, it was a big responsibility but he did a grand job!

Salud!

The Tour Bus guys - Memo and Rodrigo have worked together for years at Tour Bus

Down in the cellar

Rodrigo getting the party started

My first salsa lesson

Tim having fun picking up and chucking about Memo's bother's sons

I think Tim and Rodrgio were forcing Memo to drink more after he had got his mate wasted by making him down Ron (rum)

Yep, they've had a few too many beers

It's all a bit of a blur...