New Zealand

Sheila and Gnapp Take a Trip Down Under

New Zealand caters to many different travelers at various times of the year. Winter is great for skiing and snow boarding. The rest of the year the islands attracts adventurers geared to hike the around the living museum of the South Island with all its waterfalls, rainforests, magnificent beaches and amazing array of flora and fauna. The North Island is where Gnapp and I chose to experience the Kauri forests, Glow worm caves, mud pools, geysers and so much more.

To begin our adventure, we drove up to Corromandel via the West coast of the peninsula, from Auckland, where winding roads took us through breathtaking scenery of rolling meadows with sheep grazing on hillsides. A breathtaking scenery to behold.

The following day we drove back down the peninsula on the East coast where the magnificent views just got better and better. A stop at Whittianga allowed us to savor a pizza heaped with piles of toppings and cheese melted the way it should be. On top. There is only one pizza place in this sleepy town, so you can't miss it. The evening proved to be a little quiet, so we thought we would try the local movie theater. This was an interesting event to say the least. Imagine a gymnasium with stackable chairs lined up in a row and a movie screen on a back wall, with an audio system which doesn't even match up to your 1980 boom box.

Before leaving the Corromandel Peninsula we donned on our walking shoes and found a lot of energy for a walk to Cathedral Cove. A walk is an understatement. Maybe adrenaline pumping walk would better describe this hike to see a beautiful beach with a cove that you can walk through 2 hours either side of low tide. After that, a trip to Haihei to the hot water beach in an amusing experience if you like to dig or to people watch. At low tide, tourists can be found digging 3 to 6 feet ditches in the sand so as to be able to sit in the hot water that can be found below. A lot of energy for very little reward I'd say.

Next day we head to Tauranga where we head out with a company called Seafins, who guarantee that they will find dolphins for you to swim with, or you get a free trip with them an another day. These guys searched the ocean until we found a group of wild dolphins. The water was a little nippy, so thick wet suits were supplied along with snorkeling gear and enough hot water poured into the wet suits to take the chill off when jumping into the deep ocean. We went into the water in a small group of five which included the guide. We had to keep swimming around so that the dolphins would not be scarred away and would become inquisitive by our presence. It was quite an experience to be swimming miles from shore in the deep blue ocean amongst the dolphins. A highly recommended activity.

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