Our morning was a breakfast of shiny sunshine and icy wind, bodies all squashed into the side of the van like Alaskan Malamutes. After we had brekky we went and washed our plates in the common room. Not surprisingly those stupid idiots were still there staring. Weird. (I used much harder terms in my diary, so you have to be nice to me if you want to read it). Funnily enough - as I write this - I realise that in my previous post I wrote "While I was cooking two people..." HA HA HA! I was cooking them - no wonder they were staring...Ahem.
Well.
Anyway, they were there again being weird in their inbred-ness. After another quick wander through town to soak in some more significant, stunning, synopses of striking structures we drove on up to the bluff above town. What is it with Kiwis cramming their houses onto cliffs? I have never seen such a wonderful, winding world of wonderous dWellings. Except for maybe in Wellington. Ok I'll stop now. Each street was tiny and curvy and each house was packed onto the next. I reckon if Tolkien went to New Zealand there would have been another race - the Wedgelings of Windycliff. They would have been responsible for thwarting the sadly misled evil doings of the Howhards of Drylandmoresun.
After our little drive through the claustrophobic heights of Napier we headed off towards Lake 'bloody windy' Taupo. Driving there was a task as little GPS was a bit like a kite in the wind. As we are slowly drawing closer to the end of the journey I must comment on the patience, friendliness, and overall politeness of New Zealand's drivers. Australians, in particular, Canberrans, are the most obnoxious, aggressive and pathetically stupid drivers on the planet. Where is the sense in driving faster when it rains? Where is the sense in driving massively overpowered, overpriced machines around in a country where A is so far from B that it cries in loneliness and there are more ungraded, dodgey pock marked curves than Britney's backside?
Speaking of backsides, we made it to Rotorua after a quick stop at Lake Taupo (it was quick because the wind was decidedly unpleasant). Rather than going straight in to the van park we drove to the famous thermal springs. They were smelly and rather excellent. Much like Roquefort cheese, or a beer and pizza burp.There is something about the sheer power and beauty of New Zealand. You feel like you are walking on Gaia's tickly bits - any wrong move and she will snap, bringing a fury of fire, crushing earth and death. On the left you can see one of Gaia's tickly bits.
As we walked around we kept on bumping into a lovely Pommy couple, and although their camera battery was running out they were still very happy. Good on them.
After the walk, and a number of happy, steamy snaps we drove off to one of the mud pits. It was like dinosaurs and cavemen with bubbling hot, sticky mud. I was waiting for Sam Neill to come out of nowhere. We ran into the Pommy couple again and they had managed to find a spare camera battery in their car. Good on them.
We drove onto the little van park after a brief wander around tourist town. I had a beer and we wandered down to the lake. It was steamy.
We finished our big day by doing one of those things you 'have to do' when in a tourist mecca like Rotorua; pay a fortune for an evening of entertainment and food. We both had a good time, although it was a bit quiet a tourist bus full of people failed to make it. Stupid bus. I wish I could kick its arse.
I managed to do the Haka and look like an idiot. Something I do most mornings. You will not see the video Stacey took.
This isn't me.
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