NZ Weeks 7 & 8

From Raglan we bussed to Rotorua to check out the mud pools. Rotorua proved a bit too touristy but we did camp on thermal soil, our tent was a bit stuffy when we woke up the next morning! From Rotorua we mounted our trusty bicycles and sped off toward Lake Taupo. On the way we bathed in steaming hot Kerosene Creek which was far nicer than any commercial hot pool. We spent New Years wandering around the streets of very touristy Lake Taupo, we had no idea but there turned out to be a night fair with rides and games and pricey food!

From Taupo we cycled to Taurangi a little town close to the Tongariro Crossing. The Tongariro crossing is an 8 hour hike that crosses betweet Mt Tongariro and Mount Ngarahoe. Unfortunately we picked the worst day possible to do the crossing. Later we found out that the Park Ranger closed the track just after we had set out on it! As we climbed up the wind and rain got worse and worse until the wind was fairly knocking us off our feet! We opted to turn back. We may not have succeeded in the crossing but we still had a jolly good time!

Our next destination was Wellington (NZ's capital city) and it took a couple of marathon days of cycling to get there. We cycled 60 km the first day, 133 km the second, and 100 km the third. For the last leg we took the train so that we didn't get bogged down with the Wellington traffic. Wellington is quite a nice city (our favourite NZ city.) We met up with Eileen for coffee and she took us back to her place for lunch. We met Eileen's daughter and they helped to make our stay in Wellington quite lovely. We visited the massive museum and cycled around the city.