Welcoming 2004

Trip Start Nov 01, 2003

Trip End Oct 2003

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Flag of New Zealand KeriKeri, New Zealand
Saturday, January 10, 2004

We believe we left you at the end of our Coromandel experience. After that, we had another WWOOF experience, this time a very positive one. We stayed with Ian the Herb Man who grows every herb imaginable, edible flowers, and lettuces, and sells them to restaurants in the area. He taught us how to make pesto and we also learned a lot about growing herbs. (Did you know you aren't supposed to water basil at all??) He lives on 22 acres of land and there is not another house in sight. He creates all of his own power from wind and the river that runs through his property. He built his house and greenhouses himself. And he's a really nice person to boot!
He threw this party while we were there (we made the pesto!!) and basically all of the guests were amateur or professional musicians, and the evening was one long jam session. Too bad his piano is kept upstairs and very out of tune :(
Our second to last day (we were there a week), Ian took us sailing on Lake Rotoiti /row-toe-eat-ee/ What an experience that was

Hells Gate- boiling mud

! It was not what we expected at all- quite a thrill ride, actually. He's got an 18 foor catamaran and we went in 2s across the lake and back, getting up quite a lot of speed and using ALL (and we mean ALL) of our bodyweight to balance out the boat. The way it works is the boat leans out of the water one way and we lean off the boat the other way so it doesn't tip over, like you see in sailboat racing (Nana and Pop and Karen- we wore lifejackets and wetsuits so no worries!) Anyway, we were literally hanging on by our toes and had a great time.

There was another WWOOFER at Ian's, Brad from the US, and we went with him to his friends place for Xmas. We had a lovely time and ate our hearts out. We also enjoyed some great company.

Next, to Rotorua, Thermal Activity Central. Also the STINKIEST damn city in the world (you can smell sulphur for miles- err, kilometres.) We got our fill of hot pools and geysers and all that at Hells Gate (see pictures!). We also went Zorbing, which is this hysterical activity where you climb into a HUGE plastic ball, which is inside another, bigger plastic ball, get doused with cold water and rolled down a hill. It's kind of like being in a washing machine. We also went mountain biking for a day and rode some great trails

Hells Gate- Brian

.
We also met a girl at the hjoliday park there who was on vacation with her family. She lives 45 minutes from the nearest town and 2 hours from school. Her school has 14 students and 2 rooms, and the 2 teachers also serve as principal and vice principal.

The next thing we did was the best thing we have done so far in NZ. (For those afraid of heights, the dark, and small spaces, proceed with caution). We visited the Waitomo Caves, which is an area with tons of caves that have these funny insects inside that glow (glowworms). We did a guided tour of one cave with the Black Water Rafting Company. Here's a rundown of what we did with them: Suited up in full wetsuits, helmets with lights, harnesses, booties, etc. Descended into the cave via a 35 metre hole in the ground--it's called abesailing and it's the same idea as repelling. We then did a zip line in complete darkness, jumped into an underground river with inner tubes, floated up and down the water and checked out the glowworms. Later, we swam in the river and really enjoyed that because our wetsuits made us float. Then we crawled through some low and windy sections, and finally climbed up 3 waterfalls to find daylight again. It was SWEET AS.

Then we drove back up to Northland to rejoin our buddies from Kerikeri for New Years

Hells Gate- Hot Waterfall

. We got a sweet hotel room with a deck, our own bathroom, and a kitchenette for the 31st and 1st so we could have a bit of fun in a town called Paihia /pie-hee-uh/ which is on the water. 9 people came and crashed with us on New Years. We made a yummy meal and..well, you can imagine the rest. At midnight we saw some fireworks over the water and then caught the last few songs of a live band at a pub. The rest of the evening was spent at the hotel meeting other travellers and having a festive time.
The next morning everyone went back to Kerikeri and we went to the hospital because Naomi's breakfast gave her food poisoning! No biggie, though, 2 IVs and we were outta there.

Now we're back in Kerikeri working hard thinning mandarin trees. We'll be here for another few weeks and will hopefully be able to put some money in the bank for future travels. The work is hard and it's pretty hot out these days. Burn times are now around 6 minutes! But we're managing to keep our skin healthy.

Glad to hear from so many of you. PLease keep us posted on what you're up to.
Love, bnn

Kerikeri hotels Slideshow