Around the the world – step by step
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5 mile bay
Today I said goodbye to my travel companion and went for the other walk Taupo had to offer. The great lake walkway. This one passes 2 mile bay, 3 mile bay, 4 mile bay and – 5 mile bay road and leads to 5 mile bay. The footpath is almost always next to the lake…
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Aratiatia dam
Today was the day we wanted to do the Tongariro Crossing. Due to bad weather conditions on the mountain this got cancelled. For Isabelle this was unfortunate as her timetable did not allow for too many extra days and she had to move on. For me it just meant that I extended my stay for…
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Evening cruise on Lake Taupo
One of the less expensive things you can do in the Taupo area is an evening cruise up to some Maori rock carvings. A little bit disappointing was the choice of the vessel as we went out on a motor boat and not the sailing ship right next to it. But there was pizza included.…
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Redwood forest and Huka Falls
Pickup time was 9:30 and the next destination was just around the corner. So we got to walk around a little bit more today. First stop was a redwood forest just outside of Rotorua. They planted it when the loggers realized that the big Kauri trees they where cutting down actually where thousands of years…
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Wai-O-Tapu and Rainbow Mountain
The trip that was pushed so I could join went first to some pools whith boiling mud and then to Lady Knox Geysir. IT has a natural eruption cycle of 18 to 72 hours. But they help nature to a more tourist friendly timetable with an erruption at a quarter past 10 every day by…
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Rotorua
Isabelle wonderful person that she is moved her booked trip to a geysir and a thermal park back a day. That way I could join her. So after I reached Roturua and booked into the hostel we met up and went along Lake Rotorua past a living Maori village to Kuriau Park which is full…
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A night with the Maori
Tonight be had the chance to sleep on a reconstructed Maori village (with a few addons) and eat some hangi (dish cooked in the earth). After a more informal greeting by our hosts we got the chance to try our hand at a few stick games and some flax production. Of course only after we…
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A visit to Hobbiton
After we had a cider in the local pub and a good nights sleep in a nice lodge the next planned stop was Hobbiton. Or at least the place where the Hobbiton scenes of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit where filmed. The first contract stated that the film crews had to revert…
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Down down into the hole we go
Today was a pay or get bored kind of day. The place we went to was in the middle of nowhere and the reason we went there are some caves that are inhabited by glowworms. Those cannibalistic maggots have silk strings hanging from them and produce bioluminescence as a byproduct of their digestion. The light…
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Cathedral cove
After hotwater beach we had an appointment with cathedral cove. Which in the end is another hole in the rock. The kayaking tour had been cancelled because of forecast thunderstorms. So whoever wanted to go there (the whole bus) had to walk Nice views all the way. Just somewhat cloudy. And then it started to…