The "ugly" island

The north island of New Zealand is largely regarded as being the lesser of the islands. It is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen (and I tend to get out a bit). Rolling hills, stunning mountains, crystal clear lakes and streams, glow worms (yes, they exist) and sheep that outnumber the locals are just the beginning of the magic of the north island.
I bought a bus ticket that allows me to hop on and off as I go around the country and is somewhat a guided tour. We started in Auckland and headed east for a little place called Hahei. Hahei has a beautiful coastline with both sheer cliffs and nice beaches. That night we went a bit south to Hot Water Beach. If you dig a hole in the sand during low tide you get a hot tub. Finding the right spot is hard though, as some of the water is boiling, being heated by the liquid hot magma further down. Then as we sat in our spa, the dolphins came and started surfing in the waves. I had to get closer so me and a couple other crazy people swam out to them and they were all around us. SOOOO COOOL!!
Our next stop was Waitomo, famous for it’s caves and glow worms. I went repelling down waterfalls and climbing up rock faces all underground. It was cool except for the stupid wetsuit we had to wear inhibited my movement, I hate that.
The next seriously cool place was Rotorua. This is both the geothermal center and cultural center of NZ. 70% of the population is Maori, the native people which came over from Polynesia so a lot of their language sounds Hawaiian. I went on a horseback ride through what would amount to “the Shire” and later that day went to a “Hangi” which is a traditional Maori dinner. They put on a show that was spectacular! I stayed an extra night there and got a new bus driver. On our way out of Rotorua we stopped at a place where a hot spring met a cold creek and hung out there. The locals showed us where to get good mud to put on our faces. It really worked! And we looked good and ridiculous in the process.
We were unable to do the next activity due to bad weather so we were going to spend some time at a natural spa, but that was broken so he took us to his great Auntie Mora’s house b/c she has a naturally heated hot tub in her garage, which was a lot smaller than he remembered, not having been there since he was a kid. So I just had tea and a chat w/ Auntie Mora!
Going down the island we passed “Mount Doom” I went up it and chucked the one ring in. Frodo was stupid, he should have taken the bus. After a night in a national park staring at Mt. Doom it was time to move to the south island. Oh yeah, did I mention that I went in a big bubble and rolled down a hill?