This week's edition of my Seven Day Story travel blog comes a little later, mainly because I am now officially on the other side of the world and the timezone difference has been difficult to navigate. I hope you have enjoyed these little insights into what we have been up to each week but I have to apologise in advance that this one is shorter in length than usual - mainly because we technically 'lost' a full day whilst travelling across the date line from America to New Zealand.
Weekly Round-Up
Our time in America was over as quickly as it had began and this week we headed for an extended stay across the two main islands of New Zealand. This Oceanic country was one that was high on our list of desirable places to visit when we started planning this trip and so we were super excited when we touched down at the international airport in Auckland (and a bit tired following a thirteen hour economy flight). Our plan was to hire a car and drive around the east coast of the North island before crossing by ferry and exploring the South island a bit more thoroughly.
Travel
Having landed in Auckland we quickly picked up our hire car and headed to our first stop, where this travel blog will focus on, Rotorua. This town is famous for its geothermal activity as well as its Maori history and is often the first stop for travellers arriving into Auckland. We quickly realised that the town had absolutely loads of things to do and so we had a tough time choosing exactly what we thought was best whilst keeping to a budget.
We started off by visiting the Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland. Rotorua is a geothermal hotspot and it is easy to see (and smell) smoking sulphur pools all around town but a number of private companies have built reserves that offer guests a closeup look at some of the more spectacular thermal sights of the region. We hard a tough time choosing which one we wanted to visit but we opted for Wai-o-tapu because it had a reasonably cheap ticket price and it allowed guests to embark on a self-guided walk around the reserve. We like to take everything in when we visit these places and sometimes guided walks can pass by a little too quick for our liking.
At the Thermal Wonderland we first watched the Lady Knox geyser erupt. This is a bit of a tourist show in that the geyser has to be induced (through the use of soap) in order to erupt but the story behind its discover and transformation into a tourist attraction was extremely interesting. After that we wandered the grounds, taking in the extensive walking trails. Here we saw a range of geothermal features including mud pools, sulphur springs, collapsed craters and a lake, named the Devil's Bath, that was filled with the strangest coloured water.
After we stopped off at the Whakarewarewa Forest Park, famous for its huge redwood trees. We undertook one of the main walking trails here and were truly amazed by the sheer scale of the trees found within the forest. The Californian redwoods were planted at the beginning of the 20th century as part of a programme to assess the viability of various exotic tree species for commercial forestry in New Zealand. They were used for lumber for a short period of time but nowadays they have become a hugely popular tourist attraction (there is also a paid treetop walkway available as well as mountain biking trails and a high ropes course). We opted for the free walking trails and, whilst some of the individuals here are not quite as big as their Californian counterparts, it was truly mesmerising to walk among the giants
Probably my favourite activity however was the day trip we took to the Hobbiton, the stand-in town that was used as a movie set for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie trilogies. Given that I grew up loving these moves and the universe they were created in, it was totally surreal to wander through the streets of Hobbiton and see everything up close. Whilst this was definitely one of the most touristy things we have done on our travels it was totally worth it. You have to wander through the village with a guide but you are free to hang back a little taking photos and around every corner was something new to look at. We personally loved all the little details, such as themed posters on noticeboards, letterboxes and labels on jars. They have recently opened up two of the Hobbit Holes that guests can have a wander around and it is safe to say, at 6ft6, these were not constructed for me. The tour ends with a free drink in the Green Dragon Inn, the themed pub on the bank of the lake. We ended up watching the first half of The Hobbit movie after visiting here and it was amazing to see it all on the big screen, just as we had seen it during our walk around.
From Rotorua we headed by car to our next destination, the eastern coastal town of Gisborne. The drive was around four hours and we stopped off a few times. One of the best places was the Tauranga Historic Bridge. This historically listed bridge traverses the Waioeka river and it was built in 1922 by the Public Works Department to provide access to sheep farms up the Tauranga Valley. The gorge it crosses is huge but the views of the crystal clear river below and tree-lined gorge edges were breathtaking.
We also stopped off at Wairere Falls in the small town of Whakatane. The falls hold a historical importance within Maori culture as one of a trio of scared features identified by the first Mataatua tribesmen to arrive in the area. Unfortunately one of the others, a cave, was partially destroyed in an earthquake but the falls are still flowing. The falls were only a small flow of water but there were some swimming spots were locals reportedly bathe in the hot weather and it was a fantastic little area for photo taking.
Wildlife
I always like visiting a new country because it means new wildlife. Whilst most of the animals we have seen thus far will not be of much interest to local New Zealanders we have enjoyed seeing some new animals. The best spot in Rotorua for birdlife was down on the lakefront walkway. Here we were greeted by some very curious black swans, a small group of greylag/domestic geese crossbreeds and a very interesting species of gull.
The red-billed gull, also known local as the tarāpunga, is a small species of gull that is native to New Zealand and the surrounding islands. Whilst a small gull might not be of that much interest to most, this bird is currently listed as a declining species by the New Zealand Threat Classification System. It certainly did not seem that way in Rotorua as these gulls were found in plentiful numbers but estimates suggest the entire population has reduced by about 50% in the last 25 years and so they are currently listed as a protected species.
One of our favourite bird encounters thus far has been with the local fantail population. These small birds, with elaborate tail feathers (hence the name), reminded us of our European robins back home due to their curiosity towards humans. These birds would regularly fly down to us, hop along the branches and sometimes follow us for a good distance; all the while making an adorable squeaking noise.
Hopefully as our travels continue we get to see some more of the local fauna and I can get a it more of it captured on camera!