Rotorua (May 29 - 31)

Last weekend, we had a 3-day weekend due to the Queen's Birthday (one advantage of not fighting for independence from the Brits I guess) so a few of us decided to go to Rotorua. If you recall, I went there for a day or two over Christmas Break as mentioned in a previous post. Rotorua is a city about 3 hours south of Auckland where there is a lot of geothermal activity. James and Paula organised this trip as they had an Irish friend, Liam and his girlfriend Katarina visiting. Paul, Fiona, Alex and me joined them. We headed down on Saturday afternoon, but unfortunately, it was raining and pretty cold when we arrived on Saturday. Also, since we got a late start, it was already getting dark (it gets dark here now at around 5:30). We stayed at a backpacker place called Treks which is in a convenient location in town. The place was pretty good with a nice communal kitchen / lounge where we spent the first evening playing Cranium, having some drinks, and catching up. I must say that the others were terrible at guessing my humdingers (songs you have to hum and your team guesses what they are). They did get a kick out of trying to make me whistle though.

Paul and James cleaning up the mess after dinner at the hostel

Paula, James and Alex hanging out before an intense game of Cranium

Liam, Katarina, Fiona, Paul

The following day, we were up early and headed out to Wai-O-Tapu thermal park which is one of the well-known geothermal places in New Zealand. It's a bit of a tourist trap but also some beautiful thermal pools and formations. There is a geyser there that goes off every morning at 10:30 which was cool to see but a little bit of cheating takes place as a guy drops some soap in the geyser to make it erupt. Apparently, the geyser was discovered about 100 years ago when some people were washing their clothes in the hot pool and the soap they were using caused the geyser to go off...that would have been a bit of a surprise, eh?

Me with the Lady Knox Geyser in the background

Video of the geyser going off

The Champagne Pool at Wai-O-Tapu

Me in front of the champagne pool

Look at all the steam!

This lake was really cool as it was all green!

After the thermal park, we headed back for a good lunch then relaxed a bit before heading to one of the local Maori villages called Mitai to enjoy a traditional Maori feast called a Hangi where the food is cooked underground using heated rocks and to see some traditional song/dance performances. This was a great evening. The Maori experience was really cool as the guide led us into the woods where the Maori paddled past us through the fresh water spring river in their canoe then led us up to the village for a traditional performance. We even had a "chief" within our group who had to approach the Maori tribe in the traditional way where they approach with their weapons and lay a flower or tree branch/fern down as a sign of peace. It was a good time.

After dinner we went next door to a place called Rainbow Springs where we saw the fresh water springs full of huge trout. We also got to see some Kiwi birds! This was the first time that I had ever seen these things. They were bigger than I expected. They were in an enclosure but it was pretty open for us to see them. They were scurrying around in the pens but we were not allowed to take flash photos as it could apparently kill them.

After the show and the Rainbow Springs tour, it was time to head back to the hostel. We were all pretty exhausted so went to bed shortly after getting back then had to drive home the next morning. It was a good weekend once again.

The Maori performers coming in on the canoe

Another view of them on the canoe

Video of the Haka dance

Another video of one of the songs

Samoa Round 2 (12 May - 22 May)

I just returned from my second trip to Samoa. As you'll recall, I went back in March for work and returned for the final audit in May. As I was working, it wasn't much of a vacation, but I still had a good time and had a chance to go see some things over the weekend. I took a cab around the Island on Sunday for the day which cost about 200 Tala (65 USD) for the entire day. The cab driver took me and Kyle (the guy I was working with) to a beach called Vavau which was really pretty - it would be a great place to go if you wanted some seclusion and to get away from it all. It was a bit rainy when we went, but it stopped raining after a while and we were able to hang out at the beach. The beach Fales (huts) here were about 180 Tala (60 USD) per night. Next, our cab driver took us to a more popular resort beach called Senalei (or something like that). This beach was really nice and the weather turned much better here. We had some of the local Vailima beers and relaxed on the beach for a while before heading back to the hotel. This was a more developed resort but the accommodation started at somewhere around 300 USD per night. Some pictures of the beaches are below.

Lagoon at Vavau

Vavau beach - beautiful and in the middle of nowhere

Some of the Fales (beach huts) to stay in at Vavau

Vavau Beach

Kyle and Fau (our driver)

Sinalei beach

Sinalei

Other Random Happenings

As I haven't posted for a while (there have been a few weeks between the Routeburn Track and Samoa), I figured that now would be a good time to give a few updates and include a few random pictures from over the past several weeks that didn't really fit well in my other posts.

So I got back from the Routeburn track on 19 April. The weather in Auckland has been getting a bit cooler lately so there has not been as much in the way of outdoor activities to do. Unfortunately, it also gets dark here now at around 6:00 so I'm looking forward to September/October to roll around again soon. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely much nicer winters than it was back home. It gets cool here, but I doubt that there are any days when a winter jacket would be required. It also rains a bit more in the winter time, but usually for relatively short spurts.

Since the Routeburn track, we did have one very nice day and it just so happened to be on a day that a group of us planned a golf outing. This was only my third time golfing here which is a shame as they have a bunch of very nice courses. I really need to try to get out a bit more often in the coming year. We went to Formosa Golf Course to play a round for one of my friends - Phil's - birthday. In my group, we had me, Paul, James and Steve. We were all a bit rusty and shot over 100 but it was a great time, a beautiful course overlooking the ocean with views of Rangitoto Island, and a perfect day.

On another weekend, one of my friends and manager, Chris and his new fiance, Samantha, had everyone over for an engagement party. Chris spent some time in the U.S. in the San Francisco office and met Samantha while over there. He's my manager on several jobs and a great guy. It was a nice relaxing evening spent with friends (and even a few Kiwis this time). That same weekend, Steve and I caught a morning showing of the new Wolverine movie. I thought it was great and was glad that Steve was willing to get up early to go see it with me. My other friends said it was weird to go that early in the morning (10 am show) and asked if we brought candy for all the little kids and called us pedophiles. I'll have them know that there were not little kids in the theater that day. Steve and I got some lunch at a delicious place called Nando's then I bought the Wolverine PS3 game to play the rest of the day.

A couple of weeks ago, we had new secondee join us from France named Alex. He is a great guy and will be a welcome addition to the expat community over here. I helped him move to his new flat and took him shopping as he doesn't have a car yet, then he joined me, Paul, James, and Ben (an American secondee working at E&Y who I just met in my apt. building) for a mens' night out. We had a great time bar-hopping (Sky City, Occidental, Danny Doulan's, Cowboy & Indian, etc.) until the very early hours of the morning before calling it a night. We had planned a movie marathon the following day but nobody felt up to it after waking up to some pretty bad hangovers.

Another thing that's been big in the news here lately is the whole Swine Flu outbreak. New Zealand is one of the countries that had some people infected (there were 10 people infected who came over on a flight from Australia). One of the people on the flight was a guy who sits right in my section of the office. He didn't realise he was on that flight until several days later so was in the office that whole time. Luckily he didn't have it or else a bunch of people in our office probably would have come down with it. I don't know all the details but it seems like the media is blowing this thing out of proportion at the moment. Hopefully it goes away soon as I'm tired of hearing about it.

I think that pretty much fills in the previous few weeks between 20 April and 11 May when I headed to Samoa. See a few random pictures below.

Also, if you haven't checked in a while, I have been gradually updating my list of The Good, The Bad, and The Unusual observations I've made about New Zealand. Might be a good time to check this out again if you haven't in a while.

Me and Steve golfing at Formosa

A rainbow over Auckland. We've been getting a good bit of rain lately and it seems like there are always rainbows here - probably because the rain is usually short-lasting then the sun comes up.

Here's another view of the city from the harbor. My office building is the white one on the right there.

While Leslie was here, I had a client in Tauranga for a couple of days. We stayed in a place called Mount Maunganui ("the Mount"). This is a really nice beach town with a lot to do and just a couple hours drive from Auckland. Unfortunately I had to work but Leslie checked out the sites. I'll definitely come back here sometime next summer for a weekend to better check the place out. The photo above is one that Leslie took from the top of the Mount.

On the way home from Tauranga, we drove through a town called Paeroa. This is a small town that is where the famous New Zealand pop called L&P was invented. L&P is OK, but not one of my favorites. We still had to stop and get a picture with the giant L&P bottle though.

101 Must-Do Attractions in NZ (Work in Progress)

I've borrowed this list from the AA Travel website. I figured that it will be a good way to keep track of some of the things that I've done while I'm here and as a list so I have some ideas of what to do next. It's a work in progress at the moment as I don't feel like copying all of the links right now. I will link each destination to its description page on the AA website and for those that I have visited, I'll write a quick blurb with a reference to where I've talked about it in my Blog.

1.Mitre Peak and Milford Sound


2.Doubtful Sound


3.Bay of Islands


4.Fiordland National Park - Partially complete. This is where the Routeburn Track is. I'll definitely have to go back to see more of it.


5.Abel Tasman National Park - Done - This is where Dan and I kayaked over Christmas 2008


6.Aoraki Mt Cook


7.Coastal Kaikoura


8.Hanmer Springs


9.Camping - Done this many times and love the camping here.


10.Tutukaka/The Poor Knights


11.Marlborough Sounds


12.Fox and Franz Josef glaciers - Dan and I hiked the Franz Josef glacier when we were in New Zealand in 2005. See picture below:




















13.Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro - Done. These were the three Mountains at the Tongariro Crossing. Ngauruhoe was Mt. Doom that I climbed to the top of.


14.Waitomo Caves - Done. These were awesome and definitely deserve this spot if not a higher one.


15.Travelling the Southern Scenic Route


16.Otago Rail Experience


17.White Island (marine volcano)


18.Stewart Island


19.Arthurs Pass National Park


20.Tongariro Crossing


21.The Blue Pools of Haast Pass


22.South Westland


23.Waipoua Forest


24.Mt Taranaki


25.Lake Tekapo Observatory and Church of the Good Shepherd


26. Ulva Island (Stewart Is bird sanctuary)


27. Otago Peninsula


28. Canterbury Plains


29. Punakaiki (Pancake rocks)


30. Cape Reinga


31. Auckland Gulf Islands - Waiheke, Great Barrier, Rangitoto and Tiritiri Matangi


32. Kicking the autumn leaves (walking Outlet Track along the Clutha River, Wanaka)


33. Akaroa and Banks Peninsula


34. Glenorchy and Dart River


35. Farewell Spit


36. Queenstown (adventures)


37. Hokianga (Northland’s west coast)


38. Whanganui National Park


39. Cape Kidnappers


40. Lake Waikaremoana, Te Urewera National Park


41. Fine wines and fabulous foods


42. The Queen Charlotte Track


43. Lake Matheson (Fox Glacier)


44. Arrowtown


45. Orakei Korako (geothermal attraction, near Taupo)


46. TSS Earnslaw (vintage steamship)


47. Rotorua


48. Night skiing and riding at Coronet Peak


49. Dunedin City (architecture)


50. Mt Maunganui


51. Karangahake Gorge


52. Eastland SH35 (scenic coastal road journey)


53. Getting up close and personal with marine and wildlife


54. Hollyford Valley (and the Hollyford Track, Fiordland)


55. Hot Water Beach


56. Auckland’s west coast


57. Rotorua Luge, Skyrides, Skyswing


58. Kapiti Island


59. Marlborough wine trail


60. New Chums Beach, Coromandel


61. Christchurch City


62. Mt Tarawera


63. Te Papa Tongarewa museum


64. The Bridge to Nowhere (Whanganui National Park)


65. Coromandel Township


66. Lake Taupo’s water attractions and Tongariro River


67. The Pinnacles


68. Te Mata Peak (Hawkes Bay)


69. Rotorua rafting


70. The Forgotten World Highway (between Taumarunui and Stratford)


71. Lake Wanaka maze


72. Moeraki Boulders


73. New Plymouth’s coastal walkway


74. Seafood City (Auckland)


75. Castlepoint (old seaside town)


76. Wainui Beach (Gisborne)


77. Ahipara and Shipwreck Bay


78. Buller Gorge


79. Taranaki Gardens


80. Cape Palliser (southernmost tip of the North Island)


81. Auckland War Memorial Museum


82. Raglan


83. Takaka Hill: Rameka Track Mountain (Abel Tasman National Park)


84. Whakarewarewa traditional Maori village, Rotorua


85. Waitangi Treaty Grounds


86. Rere Rock Slide, Gisborne


87. Spa and well-being (Nelson)


88. Auckland’s Sky Tower and Skyjump


89. Devonport and North Head


90. The Interislander


91. Auckland volcanoes


92. Central Otago


93. Port Waikato


94. Golf in an Alpine Amphitheatre (Queenstown Golf Club)


95. Hundertwasser toilet (Far North)


96. Wellington Writers’ Walk


97. Cross-country skiing (Lake Wanaka)


98. Stonehenge Aotearoa (marking the winter solstice Downunder)


99. Rugby Museum (Palmerston North)


100. Beehive and Parliament buildings


101=. Attend a Must-Do Event, North Island


101=. Attend a Must-Do Event, South Island