Well it’s been a few days now since our last update. We’re down here in Rotorua for the afternoon. Didn’t get a chance to update earlier because I just wasn’t prepared to pay the high amounts they wanted for internet access. It’s either a bit cheaper here or else I’ve caved somewhat.
So after we left Auckland we headed up to Paihia (sp?) for our dolphin adventure. The drive up to Paihia was amazing! Lots of steep and winding roads, reminded me a lot of driving through the mountains in Mexico actually. Great scenery too.
On our way, we stopped at a cave where there were glow worms. Got a nice tour of the cave by Edward before continuing on to Paihia. Unfortunately my pictures from the cave didn’t turn out at all, so you’re going to have to go and see the worms for yourself. Very cool.
There isn’t much going on in Paihia, it’s really rather a dull place. We got there just before sunset and after checking into our hotel, we went back ‘downtown’ to find something to eat. There wasn’t much choice and we ended up getting some pizza. It was probably the worst pizza I’ve ever had in my life…and that’s saying something.
Another early night for us (I still wasn’t feeling that great and actually am still not even today) and when we awoke the next day…it was pouring! We weren’t sure if the dolphin adventure would still be going but when we got downtown we were told it would. (By the way, $13.50 each for breakfast!)
We weren’t long on the boat before we got a report of dolphin sightings just around the corner. We zipped over there and sure enough there were a bunch of them. Amy and I suited up in wet suits and got ready to go swimming with them. There weren’t a lot of people on the boat to begin with, but it was only a group of 4 Canadians who were brave enough to swim in the ‘cold’ water..I think it was 12 or 13 degrees.
We jumped into the water and immediately looked down to see the dolphins swimming underneath us. We swam around a bit and I think I was pretty close to touching one. One swam right between Amy’s legs! It was pretty amazing, I’d do it again in a second.
After the boat got back to Paihia we jumped into our Echo and started heading south. Back through the windy roads that I loved so much the day before. The further south we got, the nicer the weather got. We arrived here in Rotorua after dark and found a hotel.
This morning we went to the ‘Polynesian Spa’ for a soak in the natural hot mineral waters. This place was voted one of the top 10 natural spas in the world. Amy and I got a private spa for 30 minutes. It was rejuvenating.
Anyways, we’re just going to poke around Rotorua a bit and then head south to some Volcanic spot (Wai-O-Tapu) before continuing on to Wellington (about a 6 hour drive from here). We cross over to the south island tomorrow morning. Note to anyone coming over this way…give yourself WAY more than 4 days for the north island.
Finding a place to stay in Wellington may prove to be a challenge since there is a Rugby tournament that is traveling around the country this month and they happen to be playing in Wellington tomorrow!
I think that’s about it for now.
P.S. To Evan – I’m loving the new camera. If I have time, I’ll try to upload some pics to my gallery.