Escaping reality...: Travelling in a fried out Kombi

So I pottered around Auckland for a bit and got some good views from Mt Eden.

Then my parents Arrived. This started with a race around the New Zealand Maritime Museum, where we found the brigantine Aratapu, a cradle boat and the 1972 VIII that NZ got the gold in, that looked extremely old! W also discovered the good but loud restauranty bit of Ponsonby, extremely slowly as there was a lot of limping to get there...

The NEXT day we went and picked up our VW bus for the week! I had picked up at there was a surprise for me and was terrified that my siblings or someone had decided I ought to jump off a plane. I actually had a nightmare about this. So I was very relieved to fend our orange VW bus was the surprise! We looked very cool but, if you are thinking of hiring one, you should know that they are VERY loud and a little bit more exciting to drive than a VW polo, say. Still, lots of Beach Boys and Men at Work.

Quite a small living space!

Overlooking Taupo

First stop was near Taupo (good view of a very beautiful, large lake) at Tongariro National Park. We did (despite hips, knees and steep assents) manage to do at least the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. I say at least because half of it was closed due to volcanic activity (lots of visible gas, steam etc) so we did the first bit and then turned around. This involves the steepest bit which is not good for going up or down! But it was exceptionally beautiful and, partly as a result of the Taupo hot springs we visited afterwards, none of us were very sore afterwards. Plus we accidentally left it until the last bus and had no option but to complete it in the six hours, which we did! Heroic.

This was followed by a day driving to Wellington via Napier, a rather nice town full of Art Deco. We have since found out that quite a few towns on the northern island have at least bits of Art Deco but it was quite a nice stop. Some spectacular views of the Pacific and a good port with vast amounts of timber to be shipped.

Napier

Wellington was predominantly rowing friends, which we did rather well out of. Firstly, we got a guided tour of 'Zealandia' and saw all sorts of native wildlife that, not only would we have been relying on a guide book for, but we probably wouldn't have noticed. New Zealand's native wildlife is nowhere near as obvious as Australia's. Zealandia is a wildlife park that has been made into an 'Island' that is bio secure so that native wildlife can survive and flourish. Then we had an exceptional lunch, a detailed introduction to Maori culture from me museum Te Papa and my parents were introduced to Vietnamese food (which was very much enjoyed!). To top it off it was a very beautiful day and we got to see the harbour at its best.

In Zealandia

Finally, the last stop in the van was to near Whanganui. Here we had a six hour canoe down the river. We saw some good gorges, pastoral land and got very good at rapids! In fact I feared we were being a bit arrogant but we had lots of time to spare at the end. THEN I realised how little I could move my arms and had dreams about being washed over a rapid in the VW bus. Somewhat stressful.