I was pondering for so long. Maybe I should have explored more of Japan during the spring vacation, but NZ had something else that I wanted to see, somebody that is. That person is Alexis, and her boyfriend, Wallace. Alexis, those of you who don't know, is my great friend from Uni and we lived together throughout our time in Hull.
The flight to New Zealand was long, 16 hours with a stopover in Taiwan. I had 10 days in NZ. Auckland of course, then we drove to Tauranga. We camped by the beach. The beach was very long, pretty much empty. I had a little swim in the sea, while further down the coast there were surfers. Didnt get a chance to try though! To mark the end of the beach was Mt. Maunganui, which we hiked up, taking about 40mins to the top.
After Tauranga, we headed to Rotorua. The air smelt like rotten eggs. There's quite a bit of volcanic activity deep beaneath this town. It's famous for geysers and hot springs. Okay, it's not really rotten eggs, the smell is sulphur.
One of the hot lakes there was a seamy 74 degress C. 
I spent the last few days back in Auckland. Alix had to visit the dentist. She was traumatised, bless her. She had a filling, which almost filled that tooth to the roots. She was there for 3 hours. During which I spent the time catching up on my reading in Borders bookshote. I picked a few magazines off the shelf, and a lonely planet book for the Trans-Siberian, took them to the cafe upstairs, got a coffee, and read them til Alix came. I didnt just sit there all that time!! I left the shop for a while to get some fresh air. I sat on a park bench and people watched. Some really intesting people walk by you know, I tried to guess where they're from, but when I heard them speaking Korean, I was totally wrong. On some accounts, I was correct!
I loved the BOOST JUICE bars, http://www.boostjuice.com.au/ they squeeze and blend while you wait... all the goodness in one cup! Gonna have to get myself a blender. Its fruit season soon in Japan, hmmm watermelons!!! Do they have one of these juice bars in England?
For more pictures, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/ritamangan
You like my new hair?
