It is our last night in New Zealand and we have had a lovely time here.
Our very first day, after a little nap, we took the ferry to Davenport to meet up with Jeff and his friends for some drinks. Jeff is an old friend of Kari's and we had a great evening in a beer-garden with him and his mates. The next morning we wandered around central Auckland, just getting a feel for the city and basking in the sun.
Next, it was tourist time. We went on a 13 hour bus tour. I was pretty good. We went to Rotorua and saw a geothermal Maori village and were treated to some Maori dancing, singing and food. This time, I was not invited to join the performers on stage which is just as well since my singing is not nearly as fantabulous as my moves. After lunch and a little sightseeing in Rotorua, we went to the Hill of Zorb! And we went Zorbing while the grown-ups on our tour were awestruck by our bravery. It isn't actually scary at all (otherwise, clearly I would not have undertaken it), just a roll down a hill in a massive inflatable ball filled with water and our lovely selves. So much fun!!!! I am now looking into buying a Zorb for the hill at Reynisholar.
After recovering from our Zorb induced gigglefit (and changing out of our wet clothes) we continued on to the kiwi house where we got the opportunity to meet a kiwi named Ewan (bird, not person). He was very cute, extremely funnylooking and much bigger than we expected. I'd quite like to get a kiwi for Reynisholar too, but I don't think he would get on too well with Gusti the cat. Anyway, they're probably much harder to get than a Zorb.
Last stop on the tour was Ruakuri cave at Waitomo. There we saw some groovy stalagmites and stalagtites but the highlights, literally, were the glow worms. There are thousands of tiny bioluminescent worms living on the cave ceiling. They look like the stars in the sky, only closer. We took a dark boat ride under the worms and it was truly magical. Although, to be honest, it would have been magical had our boat not contained some blithering idiots who were more concerned about whether the worms micht fall on them or poop in their open mouths than just enjoying this unique and beatiful phenomenon. Perhaps those concerned about getting glow worm poo in their mouth should just keep said mouth closed? I think it would make the world a more peaceful and magical place. Despite a few annoying fellow tourists, it was a very good day.
Yesterday we went on another outing. We met up with Jeff again and he took us for a ride to the west coast. We checked out the beaches at Piha and Karekare. They are pretty cool. Karekare beach did feel a little familiar, though. Take away the trees and the surfers and it could almost be in Iceland. I had always thought that the New Zealand landscape would be similar to Iceland, but that was really the only time during our stay here that I've seen it. Well, apart from when we were at the geothermal place. And they seem to have far less sheep than we do. Apparently the farmers here are moving away from raising sheep in favour of the dairy industry. So we saw loads of cows, but very few sheep. The ones we did see were in a paddock with some turkeys. And we saw some cows in a field with ostriches. Very strange!
Today was our last day here really, as we leave for Sydney in the morning. We took a walk to Karangahape road (usually known as K-road) to check out the funky shops and funkier people, had a few drinks on Vulcan Lane (tiny lane, full of bars and cafes) and packed. Hulda did not end up throwing herself off the Sky Tower as she was feeling a bit poorly today. We both have mysterious colds. Now we are in an internet cafe, blogging for the benefit of you fine folks.
So now you are completely up to date with all our adventures on the other side!
My darling non-Icelandic speakers, please feel free to comment on the blog. Hulda gets loads of comments on her Icelandic posts and I haven't gotten any on my last English one. Otherwise I may start to think nobody is reading mine and will just use my internet time to read the latest gossip and play geo challenge on Facebook.
Sunshine and kisses from NZ!
Pictures:
1 Hulda on the ferry to Davenport
2 Asta coveting a yacht in Viaduct Harbour
3 Hulda by the sign to the geothermal Maori village. Quite a name, isn't it?
4 Hulda in the Maori village.
5 Asta by the geothermal mud pools.
6 Zorbing, woohoo!
7 Zorbing over, boo!
8 Loving the Zorb!
9 By the kiwihouse
10 The view over Piha Beach
11 On Karekare beach
12 Asta and Jeff on Karekare
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Hey, það er eitthvað ekki í lagi - ég setti inn komment hérna um daginn en það var farið í dag! Ég sagði sko ekkert dónalegt eða ljótt, sagði bara að ég læsi bæði bloggin og kommentaði svo við það sem væri neðar, sem er oftast Huldu, þannig að þú (Ásta)mættir alveg líta á það sem komment við þitt blogg líka. Jamm.
Ég les alltaf bæði bloggin líka, ég kíki reglulega á Huldulandið og ímynda mér að ég sé með ykkur. Djöfull hefðii ég hent mér niður brekkuna í Zorbinu, ég held að þetta sé það svalasta sem ég hef séð!
Ég hlakka til að lesa næstu færslu, ég verð reyndar á Íslandi þá, við Pétur Thomas ætlum að skella okkur að því að Toby er loksins að fara til New York.
Bless í bili elsku frænkurnar mínar. xx
Ljótt af manni að kvitta bara hjá annarri ykkar, héðan í frá mun ég kvitta hjá ykkur báðum, byrja alltaf að lesa hjá Huldu og svo hjá þér. Var að moka snjó af pallinum hjá mér og af grillinu en það var ca 50 cm af snjó ofan á því. Kveðja frá okkur Helgu og Júlla. Gunna
I read them ... I read them all! Keep up the good posting! Sydney's next, then where to after that?
I believe a Zorb ball would be ideal
And I whole heartedly agree with you - more people should keep their mouths shut, more often - seriously, you're a cave with a million-billion glow worms, and all they can think of is worms pooing. Why go in the first place?! They weren't American, per chance?!
Þetta gengur ekki! Meira blogg! Vakna spennt á hverjum morgni og kíki hér inn, en vonbrigði vonbrigði, engar myndir, ekkert blogg. Koma svo!
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