After enjoying the "city" life... it had been too long for most of us out in the country. Wellington provided us with the needs only a city can provide. We visited Te Papa, or "yo daddy!" museum (jk), where the highlight was the giant squid on display.
That night, Kimbo and I went to see some standup comedy at the BATS theatre (recommended by the one and only flapjack, as the comedy fest was in town.
After looking at the forecast, we held off any plans we had to do any tramping...
and went up north to some hot springs. Here's Kim on a stump/chair at a DOC site on our way up north.
Lots of Rainbows... a key ingredient... rain...
Here we are at a bus stop eating lunch... the bus came right when I finished.
Oh, I got some nifty socks at a Korean market in Welly. 3$! That's like a 1.5$US... and they're designed after my favorite Korean ramen. I wanted to get some more the next day, but, sadly, they were closed.
Here we are in Taupo at some hot springs in town.
A nice hot waterfall...
Leads to some smaller pools, which connects to a larger, cold river. It was nice being in the hot springs, then swimming in the cold river, then warming up... then cold, hot, cold... and soon our skin was plenty shriveled.
We stopped by Huka falls on our way out of town... where Kevin was tempted to go tubing... until he saw the actual falls... then he decided that'd be a bad idea. Huka falls isn't very high, or especially pretty... but the force of the falls is quite amazing.
With the help of Sally Jackson's guidebook (our DOC hut warden at the other hot springs we visited at Welcome Flat Hut)... we found some amazing spots. There were numerous hot waterfalls, hot beaches, it was difficult figuring out where to go. We decided to go to the hot waterfall first up near Rotorua.
...the water was tepid, probably due to the amount of rain... so we moved a click (km for you americanos) and went to another location called the "bridge".
Which was perfect temp... The bridge is at the confluence of a cool river and a hot creek. So you can find the perfect spot for anyone. These two locals informed us that this area is known to the Maori as Place of Holy Water. I think he was on his 4th or 5th Jack and Coke.
Looking out over all the thermal activity in the area.
After staying 2 nights at Kim's family friend's house in Ohakune... which was amazing... we headed up to the Coromandel. Here's Kimbo cooking brunch on the road.
And the 5 star stop of this section. The Coromandel Oyster Co. Hog Island's got nothing on this place. We bought a bunch of oysters... they're huge btw. And in town (Thames) we bought some fresh fish. Lemon Fish, and some other ones I'd never heard of.
We arrived in Port Jackson, where I saw this awesome braided tree…
And we found the most choice DOC site yet. Electric BBQ, sheltered picnic table, and an amazing beach.
We had some Vodka from Prenzel in Renwick… and Bloody Mary Mix. Booya.
Kimbo manning the grill
Lightly fried mussels in garlic butter.
This trio is content! Grilled oysters
A nice sunset… You can see where it’s raining over the ocean
Kevin & I playing with my long exposure setting at night
Oh, that night as Kevin and Laura were sleeping in the tent under the shelter, a van pulled up right next to them and stayed up all night… Kimbo and I were happy that we got the van that night… Funny looking mushroom… effect? Unknown. We need Bako to try it out.
Next morning… after relaxing... we decided to head to the hot water beach.
OH, this is what the entrance to my house is gonna look like...
The hot water beach is very well publicized… by no means secret… I figure cuz it’s really not worth keeping a secret.
The spring was like Goldilocks’ porridge… your butt was either scalding from the hot water seeping though the beach, or you were cold… on top of this issue, as the tides kept going out, the amount of water in your pool kept going down as well… so you were comfortable for approximately 30 seconds.
Anyway, after the local high school crowd joined us, we figured it was time to go. We had to pry Kevin away from the girls... What’s for dinner? Oh, we stopped back by the Coromandel Oyster Co…
OH… and three of us… I bet you can guess the odd one out… had not seen Lord of the Rings. So we decided early on to try to watch all three movies… AND this mission was completed at a backpacker’s on the Coromandel. Unfortunately Kim fell asleep in the first 30 min… so she’ll have to start over.
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