Guest blogger Girl writes from Lake Taupo.
The weather has been crazy in New Zealand. Heard through the traveler's grapevine that there was snow on our Church just a couple of days ago! And those same couple of days ago we found a beautiful Department of Conservation campsite in a forest park. Thinking we were settling in for a nice quiet night, the air quickly picked up a ferocious steam and started blasting our van and tent canopy with a veagence, lashing it with rain and wind. We thought we were going to tip over! The next day continued to be windy and rainy as we drove up to Napier, which is supposed to be one of those sun-drenched coastal cities. Nah-uh! But that didn't dampen our spirits as we awed in the art deco architecture that dominates the city. Boy wants to be back one February when they hold their annual Art Deco Celebration in true Gatsby fashion.
Today we're in Lake Taupo - won't be fishing for trout though - and indulged in a heavenly soak at the Taupo Hot Springs last night. For only $6 each we had our choice of 12 private baths with water temperatures ranging from 38 to 42 degrees. We might check out a free hot springs up the highway towards Rotorua called Butcher's Pool - not the most appealing name but the word 'free' can overcome that!
Tomorrow we'll be tackling the dark cave waters of Waitomo as we plunge and crawl and tube our ways through the glowworm light underworld. Overall the North Island still has much to be discovered, but both of us have already developed a longing for the slower, scenic ways of the South Island. The three hour ride on the Interislander is literally like the BC Ferries experience done back-to-back. Don't let the promotional photos on their brochures deceive you! Plus they don't let you return to the vehicle once they start sailing, which means we had to entertain ourselves for three hours up on the ship. The day was too overcast and cold to stand outside (though we quickly braved the temperatures to snap a photo of the Statendam cruise ship that was docked in at Picton) so we thought about having a Speight's at the bar. But we had slightly mealy meat pies in the cafeteria and watched an episode of Smallville in the lounge. We both thought the show was rather violent, with decapitations and the like. Great, now we're already sounding prudish and we don't even have kids.
Speaking of which, Ribsy has got one helluva souvenir when we get back. We visited an Opossum museum in Napier yesterday - possums are the greatest imported annoyance in the country, even more so than tourists in big campervans - and bought him a nice, furry possum tail to play with. Oh yeah. And in one of the secondhand shops in Napier, we bought a elegant art deco statuette of a greyhound. And apparently there is greyhound racing in Auckland - that's what we heard anyway from the nice shop ladies, whom Boy was talking to mainly about the going-on's on Coronation Street. They love it down here too.
Onwards we go - it's sunny today. Yay! Hope all of you are enjoying the winter wonders back home.








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