Racing through the north island.

I made it to Wellington. I dropped off the car a while ago, checked into my room and am out wandering around. So far I can already tell I like Wellington. It's funny how quickly I can usually tell. They call it the windy city. I haven't noticed so far. But just from my quick stroll, the architecture seems more interesting and diverse than it did in Auckland. And the overall vibe feels more comfortable to me. We'll see if it stays that way.

So I've had a great few days. Basically after I left Auckland everything got better. Rotoura was nice. Smelly, but it didn't bother me. I had a great hike around Blue Lake and through the redwood forests. The weather couldn't have been better. I also decided to go to one of the many Maori Hangi dinners. I was a bit worried it would be too touristy, but I quite enjoyed myself. There are a bunch of different groups/tribes that do this. I went to the Maitai hangi. They put on a concert where they explained the traditional dances, songs and fighting rituals. Then we had a huge dinner that was cooked over rocks underground. They serve a bunch of meat, but they had plenty of kumara (sweet potato) and other veggies that filled me up. We also had short nature hike after dinner featuring native trees and glow worms. It was nice.

Rotoura is known for it's geothermal activity. Which is what makes it so smelly. I went to a place called Wai-O-tapu, a geothermal wonderland, with a British med student I met at the hostel. Interesting enough place. It's worth checking out. I've got some okay pictures, but because it was a cold morning, the steam clouded them up. The water in some of these craters was like 78 C which is what? I don't know, but really hot. So it didn't make for very clear photos. Oh well.

So then I headed down to Taupo. I took a little tour of part of the lake. It was a nice afternoon for that. But then it got so cold I could hardly stand it, so I decided to go to the spa to warm up. They have these private mineral pools that are basically like a hot tub, but different. A little bizarre, but nice. I was sure to keep my head above the water because I guess there's a risk of some kind of meningitis, which I'm not totally sure of the details but am quite certain I don't want. The town of Taupo itself isn't very pretty. But the surrounding areas are beautiful. And the place I stayed had a great view of the lake and snow capped mountain.

The next day I got up early and had an amazing drive to Napier. Green mountains peppered with sheep. And because it's spring time here, there are tons of baby sheep everywhere. They're pretty adorable.

Napier is a place I'd like to spend more time. It's a very small city. I think the population is something like 50,000. But it's right on the water. And from what I could tell, it's got a nice energy to it. I spent an afternoon touring the local wineries. Which, I've just discovered is something I really enjoy. There are a bunch of vineyards in the Marlborough region on the south island. I think I'll check those out when I get there.

So. So far I've seen a lot of great stuff, but I feel like I'm racing. So I think I'll slow down a bit when I head south and focus just on the very northern points of the south island. It's clear I'll have to come back to NZ. Probably several times. When I tell people I'm here for a little over two weeks everyone always laughs. Almost like it's so little time why bother? Maybe it's the places I'm staying, or the people I'm staying with, but three months of travel is nothing to them. Most people I meet are in NZ for three months or more. I haven't met any other Americans yet - besides the two living in Auckland. Maybe that's the difference. The British get a standard of 4 or 5 weeks vacation, and the Europeans even more. In general I don't think Americans take enough time off work. I know there's a million reasons why, but it's too bad. It's funny though. My trip seems long to my American friends and way too short to everyone else I meet. Right now, it seems just right to me.

Okay well I'm going to go explore Wellington. I'll check in again when I can.