Dave & Margs' Travels

We didn't really look around Rotorua, just ate out at a new restaurant - very nice and left the next morning on 'Sunny' a different pass which goes to East Cape or East Anglia as I like to refer to it. A minibus of just 9 of us, it was a long days travelling in nice sunshine to Hicks Bay, via a traditional Maori meeting place and church in Rotorua, and a beach stop for lunch where Dave chatted to a gut with a motor that took his fishing lines 1.5 km out to sea.

At Mel's place the accommodation we were staying at, the Maori guy there held a hungi (meeting in our honour) and Dave was one of the two Chiefs amoungst us to speak and say hello. Dave and I had another caravan, this one with a view of the sea and rocks from the foot of our bed. We had bought food for a shared bbq and after a few of us played Trivial Pursuit - not a good idea at the best of times but when it is the New Zealand version it is even harder. My advise if ever you play is that when in doubt in the Uk version you would guess Paris, guess Rotorua.

We hoped to go fishing the next morning but it was too windy and suprisingly it was also too windy for s0me of the others to go horse riding - we weren't having cyclones! We went for a walk and tried to chill out but the weather wasn't that good and the Maori host didn't make us feel very welcome - he had lectured Richard (the other chief) on lack of respect as we had left the bottles and cans out (tidily) after our game waiting to find the recycling. Eeverything seemed to revolve around 'lack of respect'. The driver took us for a drive to an Oil (tree oil) shop and a nearby wharf. After a nap we were then given a talk on traditional Maori tatoos before we finally had time to ourselves and Dave cooked Venison Sausage Stirfry. Superb.

Ah the dunny... nearly forgot to mention it too faced the sea too and had a gap cut out and glass put in so you could 'sit and do and look at the view'. Nice view but not very relaxing after the first time I saw one of the guys peering in at me trying to see if it was occupied!

We left Joes and headed for Rere and headed for FUN! Leo and Dean at the accommodation were very laid back so no tight rules.

Dave and I spent our first night in a dorm. So competition - this one only open till Dec 22nd - how many nights will we spend in dorms in our trip?

We went rock gliding which is one of the top 101 things a Kiwi should do. I was very nervous but after a couple of goes with Leo helping me (!) I went down twice on my boogie board with Dave next to me and I cut him up both times. I laughed so much the second time I couldn't get out the pool at the bottom. Next to some other thermalish pools and lastly a waterfall that you could walk behind. All good fun ad a great drive through scenic wine country and hooting the car horn at sheep to make them jump. We had a bbq and sat round the fire, watching shooting stars.

So did I mention we were right on the east coast? The sea was at the foot of the bed and so was sunrise.

Q What time was sun rise? It was lovely.

Then I dozed for a bit before we went to feed the Sting Rays. They do lots of eco tour type things form there and Sting Ray feeding was one. We went out to a ledge in the reef in our waders and waited for the sting rays to come round. They nuzzle up your leg looking for food, quite wacky. We also saw one Eagle Ray which has a flatter head and more pointer fins than the Sting Rays.

Q Quess the nick name of the Eagle Ray that Dave and I felt?

As Leo fed him we had our hand next to his to feel it. Great. An excellent few hours on the East Cape, we left with a smile on our face and headed back to Rotorua - a place smelling of bad eggs (ie sulphur) and one of the places in the world where the earth's crust is at its thinnest.

(written part in Rotorua - just a backpackers & also in Taupo. I think they should have more licenced internet cafes (keep pubs as pubs, licence the cafes!)