Christchurch - Auckland - Bangkok - days 66 to 78

As you may have noticed, the updates haven't been posted as regularly as we would have liked to, so due to lack of time and internet access, we will sum it all up in one post.

When we left Christchurch, we got to Kaikoura, a small town on the coast known for its whale watching; so that is what we did. We saw a bunch of sperm whales, a seal, lots of birds and some amazing Dusky dolphins that were having a lot of fun just jumping around. After spending the night in Kaikoura, we went on to Picton where we took the ferry back to Wellington. We stayed in Wellington for the night and then took the Magicbus to Napier. On the way we stopped at Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre where we saw some kiwis (the birds) and some tuataras (dinosaur-like lizards)! Napier is known as the art deco capital of New Zealand and you can definitely tell by the style of their buildings! After spending the night in Napier, we moved on to Taupo. Although we had stopped here on the way down, we hadn't done the Tongariro Crossing (supposedly the world's best one-day trek!) due to the bad weather. In the afternoon we went on a sailing boat to see the Maori rock carvings on Lake Taupo, it was fantastic and very relaxing! The next morning we got up at 5h45 and took the shuttle bus to the departure point of the Tongariro Crossing. We walked for a long time over rather flat paths and then got to the steep part of the walk; it was exhausting!! When we got to the top, the view was incredible! There was still a lot of snow on the volcanoes; the walk took us around Mount Doom (a.k.a. Mount Nguroaroe) and Mount Tongariro and Mount Ruapehu. We saw the Red Crater (definitely deserves its name) and the Emerald Lakes. We had lunch by the Blue Lake and enjoyed the scenery. From there we walked down through some forest paths. In total the walk took us 7 hours... but it was definitely worth it cause the weather was amazing! From Taupo we took the bus to Rotorua, where we decided to stop to do some more activities. In the afternoon we went up the hill to do some luge, which was great fun!! At night we went to the Tamaki Maori Culture Show. It was impressive and taught us a lot about Maori culture, but there were so many tourists that it kind of felt like a tourist trap... (comparable to Chez Ali for those who have been there!). At the end of the show we got a traditional dinner that was cooked/steamed in a hole in the ground. The taste is interesting, but after about two or three bites you just wish that not every single thing had that smoky rotten egg taste! The next morning we went rafting on the Kaitiaki river. It included the world's highest commercially raftable waterfall (7 meters!!) and was really great!! From there we went to Mount Maunganui (surfing paradise of New Zealand) and spent the afternoon on the beach. The next morning we took the bus to Auckland and visited the city in the afternoon. It was rather disappointing; a big city like any other, without any special interest (apart from volcano craters sticking out everywhere). The next day we took the bus to the Bay of Islands; we stayed in a nice hostel in Paihia for three days during which we went on a day trip to Cape Reinga (most northerly point of New Zealand), drove over 90-mile beach and enjoyed sandboarding down an 85 meter high sand dune. It was awesome!! The last day we went for a swim with some wild dolphins, also a great experience! (although the water was very very cold and resulted in Pierre getting sick...) From Paihia we took the bus back to Auckland, passing through Opononi and the Waipoua Forest where we saw Tane Mahuta, the Lord of the Forest, a 2000 year old massive Kauri tree! We spent the night in Auckland and didn't do much. The next morning we took the airport shuttle at 6 a.m. and got to the aiport in time for our Qantas flight to Sydney. The descent and landing were very rough... Now we are stuck in the airport until our next flight (to Bangkok) departs at 17h30 (local time). Once we get to Bangkok, the time difference will only be 6 hours (instead of 12!!).

Weather: we've had everything over the last few days from rain to sunshine and from freezing cold to bloody hot...