After Barry and I watched the last race of the Louis Vuitton Cup, we wanted to go around and see some of the North Island. We initially thought that the bus would be the best way, but after trying to catch one from Auckland down to Waitomo it became obvious that we needed more flexibility. Several phone calls later, we had hired (aka rented) a car. I had really been wanting to try driving on the left, so this made me happy. Barry agreed to pay for the car itself and I said I’d cover the petrol (aka gas), as he has a job to go back to and I don’t. Before I go any further, I need to publicly tell everyone that Barry is a great cook. Over the past couple of weeks, he showed a lot of creativity and inspiration under sometimes adverse circumstances (many hostels do not have well-equipped kitchens). If you get a chance, eat Barry’s food.

So, off we went south to Waitomo. We stayed a couple of nights in a Top Ten Holiday Park, where we got a very small “cabin”. The next day was quite busy. Waitomo is famous for three things: angora rabbits, caves, and glowworms. We started off with looking for a publicly owned cave which we had trouble finding. So, we decided to spend some money and go on a tourist trap excursion. This started with a walk through some caves along with a guide who explained how the caves were made. They were nice, but not like Howe Caverns or anything. The second half of the excursion was on a boat. The guide stood up in the bow and pulled the boat along a rope which had been installed in the cave. This part was much more interesting, as there were no lights and the ceiling of the cave was covered in glowworms. For those not in the know, a glowworm is the larval stage of life for this insect. The glowworm uses a similar strategy to spiders: it spins a dozen or so strands of feeding lines which hang vertically from the ceiling. The glowworm is bio-luminescent, so it glows with a dim greenish light. Insects are drawn to the light and caught in the feeding lines. When the glowworm is hungry it reels in a feeding line and has lunch. After the cave tour and boat-ride we went over to the shearing shed and learned about angora rabbits. Barry bought some yarn for Bridget since she loves to knit. After the rabbits we had lunch (no, we didn’t eat any rabbits). After lunch we did the highlight adventure of the day: Tumu Tumu Toobing, which is run by Waitomo Adventures. This is a cross between spelunking and inner tubing. They give you a wet suit, wellington gumboots, and a helmet with a light. Then you go through this cave system which has a small river running through it. Barry and I were the only people who showed up that day, so we had the whole place to ourselves. At first I didn’t enjoy it, but it grew on me and now looking back I’m really glad I did it. After dinner Barry passed out. I still had some energy left so I drove out to the publicly accessible cave and did a more extensive exploration. It was late and I had taken my LED headlamp. I eventually found the cave, which was underwhelming, but what was really cool was that I found lots of glowworms along the trail on the way to the cave. It was neat seeing them all over the place because during the day their are totally invisible.

Next on the agenda was some outdoors hiking, so we drove down to New Plymouth in the Taranaki district. I bought a pair of hiking boots, and Barry and I went shopping for hiking food (I insisted we mix up our own gorp). The next day was the big hike on Mt Taranaki. First thing in the morning, we drove up to the visitor center to check the weather and sign in (if you don’t sign out by the end of the day they come looking for you). We went up on the Puffer track, which was actually a road originally intended for maintenance of the TV antennas up there. We stopped for a bite to eat at a privately owned hut which we couldn’t go into because we weren’t members, though they had a small emergency shelter which anyone could use. Then we proceeded up the Summit trail. This was tough going. There was a section with a lot of steps, and we were up high enough that I felt tired from the altitude. There was another section of very slippery small volcanic rocks like ball bearings. Higher still the footing was better, but the wind really piped up, making it hard to keep my balance. I had wanted to get up to the snow-line, but it became clear we weren’t going to make it. We stopped about 100 yards short of the snow-line to enjoy the view, took some pictures, and rested for light snack before heading back down. Once we got back to the hut we rested again before going down the Razorback trail. I definitely needed the boots and I was surprised that I only got one serious blister since I had never really broken them in. Back at the YHA we met Rae, a young woman from England. I played some chess with her. Rae joined Barry and me for dinner and then the three of us went out to see “Catch Me If You Can”. When we compared notes, we found out that Rae’s plans were essentially the same as ours: up to the Bay of Islands via the Coromandel. Since she didn’t have any transport, we invited her along. At 8pm the YHA has a tradition of serving a complimentary chocolate cake in the shape of the mountain. If anyone makes the summit they get their country’s flag on top of the cake. There weren’t any flags that day, but I felt I had earned my slice of cake.

On the way up to Coromandel we stopped in Rotorua. Barry did a wet zorb, and then Barry and Rae took a soak in the Polynesian spas while I went to check out the Orchid Gardens. The gardens were under heavy reconstruction as they had recently been transfered to new management. I saw all of two orchids, but I did spend some time chatting with the Maori owner of the cafe in the gardens. He was a great guy, and as I was about to leave to catch up with Rae and Barry, he gave me a hanga, which is the Maori nose-touching greetings and parting ritual. I was deeply touched with his kindness and hospitality. The three of us piled into the car and continued on to Tauranga, where I got my first look at the Around Alone boats, and indeed got my picture taken with the one, the only, Brad Van Liew. Very cool. After spending the night in Katikati, we continued on to the Coromandel, checking in to the Opoutere YHA in late morning. This YHA has free kayaks, so we grabbed three and went out into the estuary for a couple of hours. We did get rained on, but it wasn’t that bad. We beached the kayaks and played around in the Pacific for a few minutes before heading back to the YHA. I joined an impromptu soccer game being played between a couple of families traveling together. After dinner I found a 175gram frisbee, and met a guy from Seattle who was cycling around NZ with his girlfriend. He and I played frisbee-keepaway from the kids. The next day we drove to the other side of the Coromandel peninsula to Coromandel Town itself. We made mussels in garlic and white wine sauce over pasta for dinner, green-lipped mussels being a local delicacy. Coromandel is a tremendously beautiful place to relax - not much to do, but that’s ok.

Well, I still need to cover the Bay of Islands, but I’m out of time. I need to go catch a bus down to Tauranga. I’ll try to bring things up to date from there if I can find a good internet cafe.