Around the World I

Day 22 - Fri 2 May 2003

Up for 7am, a shower and checked out of the backpackers - then down to the bus station to find my bus. So it looks like I'm on my way to Rotorua, I was chatting to a Scottish lady at the bus stop, she was very interested in how I travel.

Our driver does seem to be obsessed with keeping to time, we have to be back on the bus 'ASAP' after our comfort break at Hamilton - an NO food or drink on the bus.

We're driving through some verdant countryside now, with rolling hills, patches of trees and agriculture. A blind runner has just joined the bus and met a friend on-board, they compare race times. I have no idea what created this landscape - it's a wealth of rolling hills - could it be glacial?

Just passed through a place called Huntly - death central, two huge cemeteries. One on the way into town, and another on a hillside on the way out of town.

We're late - the bus driver is going to do his nut. People are NOT on the bus, in their seats waiting to depart... We left 2 minutes late. We're heading for some big hills now, the tops are in the cloud, and the weather looks like it's closing in. I wonder if Rotorua is in the hills? This place reminds me of rural Ireland - they kindly advertise what crops they are growing.

Another graveyard - I've seem more of them in this 80km trip, than the rest of my whole journey.

Arrived in Rotorua, and found my accommodation, it's a B&B run by a couple from Yorkshire! Then headed out to see Whakarewarewn, the thermal park 2km south of the town. NZ$20 to get in, but it was worth it, lots of thermal pools, and a geyser going off full pelt. It's started to rain very heavily - I gave up waiting for a bus, and shared a taxi back into town.

Spent an hour or two chatting to a Welsh girl who is over in New Zealand visiting relatives - she said that she couldn't get over the size of Auckland - downtown Tokyo would have blown her mind! Later met up with an Irishman, who worked in the offshore gas industry. He's been around the world with his job. Spent about 3hrs talking to him about his adventures.

NextView my route around the world here