Hello again!

Nick and I have finally got around to doing something more adventurous with our weekends than sampling every restaurant in Auckland, so here I am to tell you all about it.

Two weeks ago we went to Rotorua, AKA the smelliest town in NZ. Not in a Hull kind of way; Rotorua's stench can in fact be blamed on whatever it is under the ground that causes geothermal activity. It's an amazing place, as you go through the town, there's steam coming out of the ground left, right and centre, and hot water just pouring out of public taps!

Nick and I spent both nights (bravely) in the van: the first night was more than a little chilly, with a thick ice coating the entire inside of the vehicle when we woke up, which, although dramatic at the time, was actually more of a problem once it started to warm up a bit and the dripping began! Flooding averted, we made our way to Hell's Gate, where George Bernard Shaw went a few years back and threw a bit of a hissy fit as he said it reminded him too much of what he had been told might await him in the afterlife if he were a naughty boy, and wished he'd never gone (not sure why he got so upset as he was an atheist). Nick and I didn't get so upset about it, and instead were extremely impressed with the lunar-type landscape, the sulphur deposits, bubbling mud and boiling water pools. Didn't jump in, as many of the hot pools there were over 120 degrees C (they can reach that due to the high mineral content). We did however, pay for the privilege of having a hot mud bath and a soak in a mineral pool under more controlled circumstances, which was very luxurious, helped by the fact that the weather was so cold and one felt particularly smug!

We also had a little wander down by the lake, and watched a boat/plane taking off (another of Nick's lifetime desires fulfilled), and then found a lovely little campsite, where we managed to park about 2 metres from the lake shore, and practiced our wildlife photography with a somewhat stroppy family of black swans. The campsite had a hot pool, which was actually too hot to sit in for more than about 30 seconds at a time. So after about half an hour of hopping in and out of said pool, we raced back to the van to retain as much heat as possible, and had a much warmer night!

In the morning we had another lovely hot bath, then followed somewhat disappointingly by a shower as rubbish as the bath was hot. We then went and had the most amusing couple of hours we have had in ages - at 'the Luge'. This is a NZ first: basically, it consists of a concrete track down a hill, that you ride down on a small plastic three-wheeled go-cart, the speed of which is controlled by pushing the handles forward or backward. Pretty tricky to describe adequately, but suffice to say that you can go extremely fast, with your control of the vehicle being most affected by the amount you laugh on the way down! They have ski resort-style chairlift that takes you back up to the top of the run, with clever little hooks underneath that take the carts back up to the top too. Very well run, but more importantly a great giggle.

After a massive lunch to replace all the energy lost from the laughter, we trugged back up to Auckland again, feeling rather pleased to have had such a great weekend.

And then this weekend, we went skiing finally! Having been meaning to do it for weeks, and having had to put it off due to too much snow/no accommodation/being too tired after starting new job etc, we just went for it this weekend (having survived in the van in Rotorua, we decided to brave it at Ruapehu). And we had a great time! It's a pretty long way there from Auckland at van-pace, as in about six hours' drive in total, but definitely worth it. After driving most of the way on Friday night, and an early start on Saturday, we managed to get onto the slopes by 9, and skied right through until 4.30. We were shattered at the end of the day, and are now feeling rather sore, but were really pleased to have gone. The snow was not bad, quite a good amount of powder, but some icy patches. The runs were quite narrow in places, and it was pretty busy, so altogether the NZ skiing scene really doesn't have much on Europe, but to be able to pop to Mordor to ski for a day is something you can't sniff at! So we are hoping to get down there once or twice more before the end of the seasson.

I need to get up off my backside now and go and make some supper. We have another good week ahead of us (apart from weather-wise - we have just seen the forecast and it is for even more heavy rain this week), with a Ladysmith Black Mambazo concert on Wednesday, and then our friend from Palmerston North (7 hours south of here) coming to stay for the weekend. Cocktails at the Hilton are on the agenda I think!

Hope all is well in the UK (and elsewhere) and undoubtedly anyone who is reading this in enjoying better weather than us currently...

Lots of love,

Vic and Nick. xxx