Taupo to Sydney

Next stop was Taupo: Adventure capital of New Zealand's North Island. Well I didn't find myself jumping out of any planes, but I did get some altitude in a glider. This picture was taken when we were upside down in the middle of a nose-over-tail loop! My stomach didn't much like the g-force and upside down bits, so I may stick to activities without aeronautic acrobatics for a while.

My next adventure came the very next day when I hiked the Tangariro Crossing. Reportedly the best 1-day hike in New Zealand, this path goes between 2 mountains through old volcano craters and such. It is 17km straight up and straight back down the other side. At the summit, one can see from the East Coast to the West Coast of the country on a clear day. This day there wasn't a cloud to be seen and the views were out of this world. Ask me when you see me to show you more pictures - I can't describe it properly without.

In Wellington next I saw a Rugby Union game: a must when visiting NZ. And on my last full day in New Zealand I went on a tour to see some of the locations where filming took place for the Lord Of The Rings..... A prize awaits the first person who can correctly identify what scene was filmed at this location:

Back in Australia, I've been staying North of Sydney near the beach. I went diving one last time in Manly and saw more sharks and a cuttlefish. I spent the weekend in the Blue Mountains for some more fine dining and hiking. Note: Avoid 'Scenic World' at all costs. I've seen many tacky tourist traps since September, but this one takes the cake!

Monday I ventured back into the center of Sydney for one last visit. I met my friend Rachel and we did what we'd been planning to do since over a year ago when we realized we'd both be in Sydney in May 2007: We saw Spiderman III at the theatre! I know what you're thinking - "How can she stand the excitement?" Well I've had a year to prepare myself.

Kia Ora!

NZ: Update the Third

After Tekapo I had 24 hours in Aoraki (Mt Cook) village from where I did 3 separate hikes. The weather was perfectly clear and there were spectacular views of Aoraki and the valley. Next stop: Dunedin, where I saw a theater production and a movie, had a tour of a chocolate factory and a brewery, and got up close to wild NZ fur seals, sea lions, albatross, and yellow-eyed penguins. My last stop on the South Island was Queenstown. Did quite a bit of hiking and spent some time at high altitudes:
I flew to the North Island (in an airplane) and it was back to negative altitudes for a day around the Poor Knights Islands. Got up close and personal with huge schools of fish and saw lots of sting rays. I just love to watch them move.
I've just now come from Rotorua where there is a large amount of geothermic activity. I went to a reserve to see pools of boiling mud, geysers, and bubbling sulphuric lakes of all sorts of colours. All over the town you see fenced-off areas with bubbling water or mud inside or steam randomly spewing up from someone's backyard or natural hot spring pools where you can sit and bathe your feet on the main street. A truly unique place.