Day One of tour and everyone arrived today. After my wine tour on Waiheke Island, Sunday evening I met with my tour group. We met up and had dinner at a French restaurant on Queen Street in Auckland.
Day Two – Auckland to Hahei
Here is our vehicle for the next 2 weeks. People in the can, luggage in the trailing trailer. The van holds about 20 and luckily we only had 13 total so there was so extra space to spread out. Originally I got in the van early so that I could get a seat not in the way back (didn't want to get car sick). After we all climbed in, Marie commented that no one was sitting in front with her. No one moved. So, I took the opportunity and moved to co-pilot seat. It was a good decision I think. I got great views of the landscapes and pictures along the way. I got to learn a lot by sitting with Marie. The only negative is I didn't nap as much as others did on the drives since I kept Marie company. Small price to pay.
Our tour guide and CEO (Chief Experience Officer) is Marie. She is a NZ native in her early 30s. She is amazing. She is super fun and knowledgeable making the trip just the best for us. She was our driver and our tour guide. She taught us about NZ, the culture, the people and also kept us entertained during long drives with trivia games.
This backpacking woman is ready to go...
Monday we got up nice and early for breakfast and a journey south east to the Coromandel Peninsula and the little town of Hahei that would be our home for the night. En route we stopped at Tairua for some coffee and then headed through to Hot Water Beach to join the masses digging hot tubs in the sand covering geothermal hot spots.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I hear people were digging their own hot pools on the beach. This is definitely not what we expected. Since we got there later in the day, we didn't do any digging but climbed in pools with others who had already dug them. You can dig the hot pools 2 hours on either side of low tide.
We of course got in one of the hot pools. It was so cool how hot water kept coming up from the ground.
As we were sitting in the hot pools, the tide was coming in and ruining the pools that had been dug. Here is my expression as a cold wave hits my back while sitting in a hot pool.
The view of the beach from our lunch restaurant.
This afternoon we took a walk to Cathedral Cove. We took about a 1 hour hike each way to the cove. It was a really beautiful walk with gorgeous views.
Arriving at Cathedral Cove/Beach.
We had to do jumping photos.
Just chilling in a rock formation.
So peaceful.
Late afternoon I took a short nap on Hahei Beach.
This was a picture I took sitting on the porch of our cottages where we were staying for the night.
We had dinner at a local restaurant together as a group.
Day Three – Hahei to Rotorua
This day we traveled south to Rotorua, stopping at the kitsch little town of Paeroa, where stands the giant L&P bottle paying homage to New Zealand’s famous local soft drink, and enough antique shops to please even the most discerning collector!
On arrival into Rotorua I decided to take in the town and walk around to explore the pools, lake and town.
Sarah and I walked around to see the geo-thermal hot pools of water and mud that steam and bubble all around the town.
We then walked down to the lake and saw black swans!
We spent the night at the Tamaki Maori Village. We got to see and participate in the traditional Maori life. We participated in a welcoming ceremony where we sang a song and where we learned a song teaching us the Maori vowel sounds. We then enjoyed a formal welcoming ceremony, had an educational tour of the village and musical performance before our delicious dinner, called a Hangi. After dinner we sat around the bonfire toasting marshmallows before retiring.
So for this night, all 12 of us stayed in a traditional Maori house. It was like summer camp. I am glad it was only one night. We didn't get much sleep with people going to bed at different hours and lots of snoring.
Leeda was the best host. Her husband is the chief of this Maori village. She taught of songs and took care of us during our visit.
The face tattoos are a representative of spiritual, mental and religious status. Tattoos on the body represent an expertise in a skill or trade.
Wondering what my mom would say if I brought one of them home!
As a side note, most of the face tattoos on these guys is fake. They are acrylic paint/stencils. Only a few tribal members have actual face tattoos.
This is video of the Haka, a traditional Maori war dance.
A traditional Hangi meal is cooked over coals in a ground oven. Here you can see them raising the food out of the deep oven.
It was like Thanksgiving. Chicken, lamb, stuffing, carrots, cranberry sauce, potato, sweet potato and a random mussel thrown in there. It was a delicious meal. I had Pavlova for dessert which may be my new favorite.
Here is a family photo of our tour group in front of our housing.
Day Two – Auckland to Hahei
Here is our vehicle for the next 2 weeks. People in the can, luggage in the trailing trailer. The van holds about 20 and luckily we only had 13 total so there was so extra space to spread out. Originally I got in the van early so that I could get a seat not in the way back (didn't want to get car sick). After we all climbed in, Marie commented that no one was sitting in front with her. No one moved. So, I took the opportunity and moved to co-pilot seat. It was a good decision I think. I got great views of the landscapes and pictures along the way. I got to learn a lot by sitting with Marie. The only negative is I didn't nap as much as others did on the drives since I kept Marie company. Small price to pay.
Our tour guide and CEO (Chief Experience Officer) is Marie. She is a NZ native in her early 30s. She is amazing. She is super fun and knowledgeable making the trip just the best for us. She was our driver and our tour guide. She taught us about NZ, the culture, the people and also kept us entertained during long drives with trivia games.
This backpacking woman is ready to go...
Monday we got up nice and early for breakfast and a journey south east to the Coromandel Peninsula and the little town of Hahei that would be our home for the night. En route we stopped at Tairua for some coffee and then headed through to Hot Water Beach to join the masses digging hot tubs in the sand covering geothermal hot spots.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I hear people were digging their own hot pools on the beach. This is definitely not what we expected. Since we got there later in the day, we didn't do any digging but climbed in pools with others who had already dug them. You can dig the hot pools 2 hours on either side of low tide.
We of course got in one of the hot pools. It was so cool how hot water kept coming up from the ground.
As we were sitting in the hot pools, the tide was coming in and ruining the pools that had been dug. Here is my expression as a cold wave hits my back while sitting in a hot pool.
The view of the beach from our lunch restaurant.
This afternoon we took a walk to Cathedral Cove. We took about a 1 hour hike each way to the cove. It was a really beautiful walk with gorgeous views.
Arriving at Cathedral Cove/Beach.
We had to do jumping photos.
Just chilling in a rock formation.
So peaceful.
Late afternoon I took a short nap on Hahei Beach.
This was a picture I took sitting on the porch of our cottages where we were staying for the night.
We had dinner at a local restaurant together as a group.
Day Three – Hahei to Rotorua
This day we traveled south to Rotorua, stopping at the kitsch little town of Paeroa, where stands the giant L&P bottle paying homage to New Zealand’s famous local soft drink, and enough antique shops to please even the most discerning collector!
On arrival into Rotorua I decided to take in the town and walk around to explore the pools, lake and town.
Sarah and I walked around to see the geo-thermal hot pools of water and mud that steam and bubble all around the town.
We then walked down to the lake and saw black swans!
We spent the night at the Tamaki Maori Village. We got to see and participate in the traditional Maori life. We participated in a welcoming ceremony where we sang a song and where we learned a song teaching us the Maori vowel sounds. We then enjoyed a formal welcoming ceremony, had an educational tour of the village and musical performance before our delicious dinner, called a Hangi. After dinner we sat around the bonfire toasting marshmallows before retiring.
So for this night, all 12 of us stayed in a traditional Maori house. It was like summer camp. I am glad it was only one night. We didn't get much sleep with people going to bed at different hours and lots of snoring.
Leeda was the best host. Her husband is the chief of this Maori village. She taught of songs and took care of us during our visit.
The face tattoos are a representative of spiritual, mental and religious status. Tattoos on the body represent an expertise in a skill or trade.
Wondering what my mom would say if I brought one of them home!
As a side note, most of the face tattoos on these guys is fake. They are acrylic paint/stencils. Only a few tribal members have actual face tattoos.
This is video of the Haka, a traditional Maori war dance.
A traditional Hangi meal is cooked over coals in a ground oven. Here you can see them raising the food out of the deep oven.
It was like Thanksgiving. Chicken, lamb, stuffing, carrots, cranberry sauce, potato, sweet potato and a random mussel thrown in there. It was a delicious meal. I had Pavlova for dessert which may be my new favorite.
Here is a family photo of our tour group in front of our housing.
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