My first NZ pickup line, from really drunk guy walking outside of our hostel in Tauranga: “Hey, if you want a real Kiwi experience, follow us!”

Yeah….

On the 24th we left Coromanel and headed southeast toward Tauranga. About 45 minutes later we realized we were heading northeast up the peninsula. Whoops. Bad, bad navigator. Poor exhausted driver had to drive an extra hour and a half after getting no sleep….

We stopped in Whitianga to look at the bone carving studio. The guy did amazing work but didn’thave many pieces there, so I got the name of store he sells to in Auckland.

After Whitianga we drive to Hot Water Beach, where you’re supposed to be able to dig to find hot spots under the sand. It was the wrong tide but we tried digging anyway, no luck though. The beach was gorgeous nonetheless.

We stayed overnight at Loft 109 in Tauranga. The hostel was nice but the city was huge and there wasn’t any parking — we had to park in a paid lot way down the street. We ate overpriced pizza for dinner and went to an internet cafe where I blogged from the last time.

Of note, while driving I’ve nearly hit a sheep and had to dodge loose cows, goats, horses, sheep, pukeko…. there are obstacles here!!

We left Tauranga early at 8:30am and headed to Rotorua via a small country road rather than the main highway, which was actually faster. We drove around the north end of lake Rotorua and finally saw some ducks! (Up to then, only 1 species). We tried to drive around the other lakes (Rotoriti, etc.) but wound up on a country road that eventually headed north to the Bay of Plenty and had little scenery other than sheep. So we turned around and found the i-site in ROtorua (i-sites ROCK) and got directions to the lake to the southeast of the city. We checked in with our hostel, Funky Green Voyager, and headed outto the other lakes. There was mostly more of the same species of birds out there and not much hiking, so we went back to Rotorua. Went to the grocery store, post office, etc. We also bought notebooks so we can RP by hand when we’re bored (we’re sad and pathetic life forms, aren’t we?).

On the 26th we left Rotorua early after sleeping really well. We drove southeast towards Te Urewera NP. The road through the park was unsealed for about 90 km, that was exciting. THe rental car is very dirty now. THere were lots of cows and horses loose on the road, and once we actually had to stop to move rocks out of the road from a landslide so our tiny no-clearance car could pass.

Lake Waikaremoana was really pretty! It’s in Te Urewera, and we spent the night there. It had calm blue-green water and was quite large. We stopped at the visitor center on the way in and asked about a hike we could do for the afternoon. Then we checked in at the office, we stayed in a little 4-person bunkhouse/hut thing that had 4 beds, a table, and cabinets for food (that was IT). It was ok, it looked out onto the lake and we could see boats and duckies. The bathroom was close and actually pretty nice, and there was a kitchen but we didn’t use it.

We drove back to the trailhead and hiked to Lake Waikareiti. We walked for about an hor through native forest - and on the way we saw a cuckoo and a rifleman. The cockoo was pretty, they’re shining green on the top, and the rifleman was a really really cute tiny bird that I just wanted to stick in my pocket and bring home. We saw kaka (native NZ parrot) on the bay back - at least 3 of them. They’re very vocal and are really pretty, with bright red underparts and grey on the top.

Last night at the lake was cold, I did ok with my down sleeping bag but Vanessa didn’t sleep well. We could see stars for the first time though - I found the Southern Cross for Vanessa and we could see the Milky Way. There was a huge meteor, too. In the morning we headed for Napier. The road was long and windy with lots of rocks and cliffs.

Napier is a cute little port city. We’re staying at Stables Lodge which is awesome and has horsies all over the walls. We went to the DOC and the i-site and decided to walkt to Cape Kidnappers tomorrow to see the gannets instead of taking a tour (it’s 10 km each way, but we figure we need the exercise before the great walks). We had Mongolian BBQ for a late lunch and have been RPing and using the free internet this evening.

Are the only people who read this mom, Freesh, Char, and Melissa? Leave more comments so I know I’m loved and well-read!