1st January to 7th January – Russell to Wellsford to Auckland to Tauranga to Rotorua to Taupo to Rotorua to Tauranga

The Journey Home

On New Years Day we set off on the long trek back to Tauranga. The long trek ended up taking longer than anticipated. My poor car was struggling under the weight of the luggage and passengers and when we reached Wellsford we decided to take a good look at the rear suspension. We had hit the ground on more than one occasion and on inspection I couldn’t even fit my hand between the wheel and arch. 151km out of 439km, we weren’t even halfway!

Wellsford

I wasn’t happy to continue and took a walk through Wellsford to see if I could find any information on busses that might be passing through. Apparently not. The Wellsford population had never heard of a bus. Or at least that was the impression I got from their blank expressions and replies of, “Bus?”.

We phoned Nan to see if she could track down a bus. Unfortunately the last two seats had just been booked. We then phoned the AA to see if they could do anything, it is worth being an AA member out here as you get free maps which would cost you more than the membership if you were to buy them. The AA man turned up and gave the car a sympathetic look. His advice was that if we took it easy we might make it to Auckland.

Auckland to Tauranga

Luckily the roads between Wellsford and Auckland are quite good and we made it there in one piece. Bart, Sara and Myself disembarked and wished Tania a safe journey back to Tauranga. We had a couple of hours to waste before the bus arrived so we found a nice little bar and had a few beers.

The bus seemed to take an age. We went via Hamilton with a couple of stop-offs which probably slowed things up a bit.

We set off at about 10am and the journey would normally take about 6 hours. Bart, Sara and myself arrived in Tauranga at about 9.45pm. Then it was off to Burgerfuel for a BioFuel Burger for supper!

The following day (2nd Jan) we had a barbecue…again.

(Picture courtesy of Sophie: YAB (Yet Another Barbecue)

(Picture: What was she taking a picture of?)

Bart in the meantime was in two minds about the amount of beer that he had consumed over the festive season. End it now or continue?

(Picture: Bart considering the unthinkable)

The following night we went out to Imbibe for a meal before heading back to Cruzaz for a few beers. Sophie was amazed at the upmarket clientele that frequent Cruzaz. She felt the need to leave quite early as she was feeling a little under-dressed for the occasion.

White Island

On the 5th Tania, Sophie, Sara and Bart all went to Whakatane before heading off on a boat to White Island.

White Island is New Zealand’s only active marine volcano, lying 49km off the coast and was used for Sulphur mining briefly around 1913 before a lahar killed all 10 workers at the site. The island remains on an alert level of between 1 and 2 on a scale of 1 to 5.

The Geonet website has a web camera installed to monitor any potential eruptions or changes on the island.

(Picture: Geonet.org.nz webcam)

(Picture courtesy of Tania: “Whoops, pardon me”)

(Picture courtesy of Tania: Remains of the sulphur mining operation)

Taupo

On the 6th Jan we headed to Taupo for a spin. We stopped in Rotorua for a coffee on the way.

(Picture courtesy of Sara: In the tardis that is the ‘Red Car’)

The main reason for heading to Taupo was so Sophie could receive her birthday gift. She was duly blindfolded before we arrived and when the blindfold was removed she was delighted to see that we were parked outside a Prawn Farm. She failed to notice that the Huka Falls Jet was just next door.

Bart, Sara and myself headed up to the top of the falls for a better vantage point.

(Picture: Looking down the Waikato river from the Huka Falls)

Over 220,000 litres of water passes over Huka Falls every second.

(Picture: Ah, there they are, at the front…typical)

(Picture: Everybody wave!)

(Picture: Wheeeeeee)

(Picture: Off they go)

We headed back to pick them up from Huka Falls HQ only to find out that they had booked themselves to go for another spin! This however brought the perfect opportunity for me to scuttle off next door for a beer.

After this we headed into Taupo to find the accommodation that we had booked for the night - Acapulco Motor Inn – Basic but clean enough.

(Picture stolen from web: Our accommodation)

That evening we had a takeaway by the side of Lake Taupo watching the sun go down. I am not sure if it was the noodles that Sophie had eaten or if her brain had moved slightly during the Jet Boat ride but she started exerting stranger than normal behaviour (which is very strange).

(Picture: Sophie photographing a random person’s bottom)

This was soon followed by ‘Do not push the big red button’ syndrome.

(Picture: Sophie thinking that “Dan ger" is Maori for “Do this”)

(Picture courtesy of Sophie: White balance totally off. No way my face is that orange!)

(Picture: Sunset over Lake Taupo)

That night we headed over to Finn MacCuhal’s Irish Pub where Sophie forced us to drink shooters. Seeing as it was Sophie’s birthday trip I thought it only fair that she be treated to an extra shooter. Appropriately named ‘F*ck-Up’ seemed to be a good choice with a wonderful blend of ingredients including Absinthe.

On the 7th of January it was time to bid farewell to Sara & Bart as they set off on a voyage to Wellington en-route to the South Island for the remainder of their trip. We then spent the rest of the day driving around trying to find Sophie something else stupid to do. We went for a look at the Zorb, the Agrodome, the Swoop and the Shweeb as well as a trip to the Honey Hive.

(Picture courtesy of Sophie: Feeling Good Naturally, beehave!)

Then it was time to head back to Tauranga.