New Zealand Roadtrip - Part 2

To conclude our blog post on our New Zealand trip here is the second part. We arrived into Queenstown which is the adventure capital of the country and filled by thrill seekers. We involved ourselves by taking the cable car to the top of the nearby mountain for spectacular views of the area. I made use of the lunge track and Nancy prepared herself for paragliding (one of her things to do on her 36 things list). It took Nancy a little while to convince herself to complete the tandem paraglide, but once onboard she enjoyed the relative (compared to skydiving) gentle ride down to the ground. It also turned out the instructor was from Canada and worked at Grouse Mountain. Sam and I were very proud and impressed that Nancy completed the paragliding.

After all the excitement of Queenstown, we took a flight up to the North Island and landed into Rotorua for a days visit. The city is known for its geothermal activity, and features geysers - notably the Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa and hot mud pools. This thermal activity provides Rotorua with a distinct sulphur smell, not the most endearing thing we experienced in New Zealand. We visited a local Maori village which provided a guided tour of the thermal activity and did the traditional war dance of the Haka. This was certainly a highlight of the trip for Sam who was transfixed by the dancing and singing performance.

Next and final destination on our trip was Auckland, which is the largest populated city in New Zealand. We did have our worst experience with hotel accommodation (Kiwi International Hotel) in Auckland, but that aside we did journey up the Skycity Tower. At 328 metres, it is the tallest man-made structure in New Zealand and offers breathtaking views for up to 80 KMs in every direction. At the observation deck of the tower, Sam took the opportunity to sit on the glass floor in the observation deck and we watched people complete the Tower sky jump (another mad activity for thrill seekers). We ended our holiday by meeting up with some friends from Vancouver for a few drinks and Sam meet up with his buddy Lucas. All that remained was our long flight home (3 hours from Auckland to Sydney and 14 hours from Sydney
to Vancouver), although Sam certainly enjoyed his business class seat.