APRIL 2016

New Zealand is hot...

As planned we departed Tauranga to explore more of the North Island by the beginning of March. All major maintenance jobs were successfully terminated and now came the time to relax and to discover before resuming our coastal cruising of the east coast and it's islands. Thermally active Rotorua and it's steaming surroundings was our first stop. With it's hydrogen sulfide rotten egg smell following us around, we were amazed while walking through the Maori village of Ohinemutu that the locals are not worried to live on top of this thermal area. Pipes are sticking out of their house foundations belching steam away from the buildings, steaming holes, sounds of boiling water are everywhere. Next to this village on the side of the same crystal clear lake lies Rotorua, a typical tourist NZ town with typical tourist shops and many restaurants and spas with healing mineral pools. Further south we spend a good part of the next day in Wai-O-Tapu thermal area which is considered to be New Zealand’s most colourful and diverse geothermal sightseeing attraction. Mother nature gave us a stunning show of fuming lakes, boiling lakes, sulphur deposits, bubbling mud pools. The intensity of the colours in some of the pools has to be seen! Our next adventure took us on a cave expedition to finally see the famous glow worms we heard so much about. “Glowing Adventure” in Waitomo region is an three hour eco tour on a private land with untouched limestone cave system. Once the tour started we understood why they provided us with all the clothing, gumboots, helmets and head lamps (as well as shower afterwards) as we waded through streams and mud, crawled under and climbed over boulders. Surrounded by untouched stalactites we experienced a stunning spectacle where millions of bioluminescent insect larvae beamed bright blue lights around us. What a great first experience of caving! Next. Is Wellington really the world's wind capital? We were going to find out. Situated at the bottom of North Island this was our next stop. This town often experiences gale to storm force winds, but we were fortunate to be there in a calm and settled weather, which made walking around most enjoyable. If we had to live in NZ, this would be the place. The city is a vibrant culture-driven hot spot tucked around a picturesque harbour with lots of cafes, restaurants, museums, walking streets only and full of shops. What a difference from the rest of NZ towns, where one has a hard time to find an open cafe after 5 o'clock! This week went by too fast, but was a great change from our normal mariner's outings. This was a great vacation in a normal vacation-life! Back to Tauranga. We strongly recommend this port to any cruiser. The range of services around the city is excellent, the marine industries vibrant with lots of knowledgeable service contractors and at very reasonable price. As the Kiwis often say “No worry mate.”