Gerbie on tour 29
Feb. 25th, 2001 02:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gerbieNew Zealand part 3, North island again
After the beautiful soouth island I returned to the North island. My planning could have been a bit better, as I arrived in Wellington on the day a major rugby tournament was being played, which meant sleeping outside the trainstation for one night, buy hey, if you travel, you've got to be prepared for everything.
The weather didn't really cooperate, during the last couple of weeks. It was cold in Wellington, it rained in Palmerston North (a little student town, where without the students there it seemed that nothing is happening) and in Woodville, where I gave up hitchhiking and ended on the bus to avoid getting soaked. Hastings on the east coast wasn't much better, it wasn't much at all, but being there in the rain didn't help I guess.
After that things improved a lot though. Napier is a lovely little coastal city, as Hastings suffering from a major earthquake in 1931, after which they rebuilt the place in the style then very popular: Art Decco. The whole inner town is still very famous for that particular style, nice to walk around in. It was also there that I climbed a little hill on the edge of the town, with a great overview, on a bike. A push bike that is, and I found out soon enough that the polkadot sweater in the Tour de France will never ever be mine. I didn't have to get off it, but standing on the summit (which was less than a 150 metres I guess) I couldn't even walk straight forward anymore.
The pacific highway from Napier to Giborne was beautiful, very quiet actually, but a not so very young anymore couple showed me all the good sights on the road and also dropped me exactly at the place I intented staying that night. While hitchhiking one learns more sometimes than by just looking into the travel guides. The next day went brilliant as well. There was three of us at the side of the road (german, canadian and myself) and we ended up in the car of a nurse, who had been travelling the world herself, while working abroad. In most places we took the scenic route, not only for us, but also because she hadn't been for so long in places like Opotiki, Whakateke and Tauranga.
Rotorua is known for two things. The earth being very active arounf there, but also for it's Maori culture. The town ends up being fairly touristic. But it is unique to be guided around their village by a Maori guide, who shows the place where they cook, a hot water well, whereas at the side of the village the geysers burst out every few minutes. It all adds up to an unforgettable experience. This included obviously the show they give every day for the tourists which consists of Maori sing and dance, but also a real haka, very nice to see. For those of you who don't know what a haka is; it is a sort of ritual dance done by Maori fighters before a battle starts, to frighten the opposition. Beautifully done and definitely frightening. The All Blacks, the famous Rugby national team of New Zealand do one before their matches, though obviously the Maori's consider this one to be 'with lots of room for improvement'.
The next day while hitchhiking once more I ended up in a different place than the one I was aiming for, but I couldn't mis out on the opportunity to go to the Coramandel peninsula before leaving here. Even though the rain kept following me around for another day, the coastal road on the peninsula was worth the detour on its own.
Eventually I returned back to Auckland, seven weeks ago the starting point of my journey through this beautiful country. One tree hill, a hill in one of the big parks, with a brilliant view over the huge city was one of the last things on my itinerary, then again the locals have renamed the place No tree hill, as a maori protester hacked down the tree a couple of years back. Plenty of room for political discussions now. Firstly about the intercultural relations in the country, but nowadays mostly about which tree will be planted there now on top of the hill.
And as always, there is an end to every story, also about me travelling in this country. Given the fact that I would love to travel quite a few other countries still, I doubt it if I will ever return here, as the country is not really around the corner. Therefore I am happy I took my time, 3-4 weeks would have been pushing it for me. Though I realise as well that I have missed out several things, I even met people who been here for three months who could give a list of things they would have to do when coming back. I can recommend the country to anyone, be it as a backpacker, or just for a holiday. I'm sure you won't regret it.
I'm going back to Australia, where I hope I will be reading all your mail about work and studies, about football and school, about your travels and holidays, about the gossip and the news, in short about everything I am missing out on while I am on the other side of the globe.
'til next time,
Gerben
After the beautiful soouth island I returned to the North island. My planning could have been a bit better, as I arrived in Wellington on the day a major rugby tournament was being played, which meant sleeping outside the trainstation for one night, buy hey, if you travel, you've got to be prepared for everything.
The weather didn't really cooperate, during the last couple of weeks. It was cold in Wellington, it rained in Palmerston North (a little student town, where without the students there it seemed that nothing is happening) and in Woodville, where I gave up hitchhiking and ended on the bus to avoid getting soaked. Hastings on the east coast wasn't much better, it wasn't much at all, but being there in the rain didn't help I guess.
After that things improved a lot though. Napier is a lovely little coastal city, as Hastings suffering from a major earthquake in 1931, after which they rebuilt the place in the style then very popular: Art Decco. The whole inner town is still very famous for that particular style, nice to walk around in. It was also there that I climbed a little hill on the edge of the town, with a great overview, on a bike. A push bike that is, and I found out soon enough that the polkadot sweater in the Tour de France will never ever be mine. I didn't have to get off it, but standing on the summit (which was less than a 150 metres I guess) I couldn't even walk straight forward anymore.
The pacific highway from Napier to Giborne was beautiful, very quiet actually, but a not so very young anymore couple showed me all the good sights on the road and also dropped me exactly at the place I intented staying that night. While hitchhiking one learns more sometimes than by just looking into the travel guides. The next day went brilliant as well. There was three of us at the side of the road (german, canadian and myself) and we ended up in the car of a nurse, who had been travelling the world herself, while working abroad. In most places we took the scenic route, not only for us, but also because she hadn't been for so long in places like Opotiki, Whakateke and Tauranga.
Rotorua is known for two things. The earth being very active arounf there, but also for it's Maori culture. The town ends up being fairly touristic. But it is unique to be guided around their village by a Maori guide, who shows the place where they cook, a hot water well, whereas at the side of the village the geysers burst out every few minutes. It all adds up to an unforgettable experience. This included obviously the show they give every day for the tourists which consists of Maori sing and dance, but also a real haka, very nice to see. For those of you who don't know what a haka is; it is a sort of ritual dance done by Maori fighters before a battle starts, to frighten the opposition. Beautifully done and definitely frightening. The All Blacks, the famous Rugby national team of New Zealand do one before their matches, though obviously the Maori's consider this one to be 'with lots of room for improvement'.
The next day while hitchhiking once more I ended up in a different place than the one I was aiming for, but I couldn't mis out on the opportunity to go to the Coramandel peninsula before leaving here. Even though the rain kept following me around for another day, the coastal road on the peninsula was worth the detour on its own.
Eventually I returned back to Auckland, seven weeks ago the starting point of my journey through this beautiful country. One tree hill, a hill in one of the big parks, with a brilliant view over the huge city was one of the last things on my itinerary, then again the locals have renamed the place No tree hill, as a maori protester hacked down the tree a couple of years back. Plenty of room for political discussions now. Firstly about the intercultural relations in the country, but nowadays mostly about which tree will be planted there now on top of the hill.
And as always, there is an end to every story, also about me travelling in this country. Given the fact that I would love to travel quite a few other countries still, I doubt it if I will ever return here, as the country is not really around the corner. Therefore I am happy I took my time, 3-4 weeks would have been pushing it for me. Though I realise as well that I have missed out several things, I even met people who been here for three months who could give a list of things they would have to do when coming back. I can recommend the country to anyone, be it as a backpacker, or just for a holiday. I'm sure you won't regret it.
I'm going back to Australia, where I hope I will be reading all your mail about work and studies, about football and school, about your travels and holidays, about the gossip and the news, in short about everything I am missing out on while I am on the other side of the globe.
'til next time,
Gerben
