Funky Chicken on Tour day 6 (River Valley)

We started this morning around 9:30 am towards the Tawhai Falls which is in the middle of Hobbit Land :) We basically had the chance to see the area in which Lord of the Rings was set.

Funky Chicken on Tour Day 5 (Taupo)

We had a free day in Taupo which most of the group needed after the last night out. I took today very relaxed and chilled. 
 

After a massive sleep in we went to McDonalds for breakfast and I continued on a shopping spree for a new camera. I just can’t deal with the poor quality of the Casio camera. I didn’t have to search for long and found a great replacement.

I kept wandering around in the city and checked out the Great Lake in Taupo.

Funky Chicken on Tour Day 4 (Taupo)

After sleeping like a stone we continued our day around 9am towards Taupo. Before leaving some of the group had an activity going on while we spend some time wandering around. We made a quick stop at a Honey Shop for tasting and shopping. It tasted great but I didn’t do any shopping.

Funky Chicken Tour day 3 (Rotorua)

We started a little bit later today around 9am towards the Waitomo walk first. The breakfast was a bit unpleasant since other people stole my milk out of the fridge but some others were so nice and sheared theirs with me. And my infection is still there, but I will wait until tomorrow to see if I really want to go to the doctor.

The Waitomo path was a nice speedy walk to get our blood pumping for the day.

Funky Chicken Tour day 2 (Waitomo)

Day 2 started very early (feels like getting up for a job) around 7:30 am and we drove into the direction Waitomo for our next stop. In between we stopped at the Karangahake Gorge Historic Park for a quick walk through the old Gold Mines.

Funky Chicken on Tour Day 1 (Coromandel)

The day of my tour finally arrived and Drew was so kind to drop me off in the city where the Kiwi Experience (KE) bus picked us up. It is quite a large group of 34 people compared to my first tour, everyone around my age, even though I have the feeling that most people are younger than me. Some just finished university and decided to travel for a few months before looking for a job or start university next year. 

Most of them are from the UK and Ireland, some from Denmark/Sweden and just one other German who doesn’t talk to me for some weird reason.

When I took place in the bus (a bit nerdy sitting in the front) another girl took the seat next to me. We talked a bit until we stopped at the KE Office for some paperwork, suddenly when we went for our first stop she was sitting in the back of the bus. I might have had a bad day.

Our first stop of the day was Mount Eden and I was happy that I went the other day already because it had started to rain again and the view was not very nice.

Piha and more relaxing days (Auckland)

My holidays turn out to be very relaxing and I really enjoy my free time. Most of the time is spend in bed and with lazy walks. In my last remaining days  I haven’t done much, but it was great anyway.

On Wednesday I spend the day with a friend and we went to the Stardome (near one tree hill) observatory building and had a look around the information, we visited later that day a show ‘The northern stars’. When the show started I was full of excitement and couldn’t wait. After a while I just thought what a waste of time and the voice of the man that explained the star signs was kind of annoying, good thing I was in great company :)

The Explorer day (Auckland)

The early bird catches the worm hence I got up earlier (and yes I had to use the alarm to wake me up).

Glen was so kind and drove me a round today to a few further places that are difficult to reach with public transport (not impossible though). First stop was the ‘One Tree Hill’ with a fantastic view over Auckland. We checked out as well the Acacia Cottage, where the founder of Auckland lived. His grave is on top of the hill. The animals around as walked free, no fence or anything else, anyone could go up to them, not that I would recommend it.

Kia Ora (Auckland)

After now 2 days in the wonderful city Auckland I start to see the beauty of New Zealand and I bet it will be even better once I am on the road.

Even though the weather is not really nice since I came, it has been raining the whole time, I enjoyed my time. As planned I started out really really lazy and met up with some friends yesterday.

We went for some lunch, which was followed by a visit to the cinema. In between we explored a little bit the city and had a coffee on the way. I really enjoyed the company and wish I could spend some more time in Auckland.

Good bye Australia (for now) and Hello New Zealand

The last couple of weeks were not very exciting and I spend the remaining time on the farm finishing off a few jobs and done some research for New Zealand. Of course the cooking continued and I enjoyed it as much as possible as I know I won’t have the same in New Zealand, and who knows I might even lose the odd pound with the travel diet again.