A couple of days ago, Tegan and I got the
sniffles. We decided with the snow on
the mountains and the weather forecast being a little debatable and our immune
systems fighting some cold bug that we would not be doing the Tongariro
Crossing at this time. We may have
another crack at it towards the end of journey however.
So today we needed to go see Orakei Korako –
The Hidden Valley. This is a described
as a geothermal wonderland and I agree it is quite nice and the tour of the
area is self-administrated with signage describing the surroundings a bit, but
I think they could offer a little more in the way of guidance The diamond geyser didn’t activate while we
were there, so we didn’t get to experience the display it produces. I think they should have made a theatre room
so you could get educated on the area and the types of formations you would see
prior to viewing them on your own. A
guided tour would be the next best thing.
Other than that, it had many spectacular scenes to take in. The short ferry boat ride was interesting as
well.
A bite to eat and off to the Huka Falls! I really had no idea what to expect, but this
is a stop that is sure to impress. It is
almost scary thinking of the energy behind the water that flows down the rock
chute to drop over the falls into an ice blue cauldron of water and
bubbles. I took a few photos here and
off we went into town for a walk around Taupo, grab a bite to eat and then
treat my little lady to a gelato for desert.
Now off to Napier, but a stop to get some gas prior to leaving had me panicking
as I could not find my credit card. I
was looking everywhere, ripped apart my passport pouch and still nothing. I put $35 cash towards the gas and we moved
on towards Napier calculating my thoughts of where I may have used my credit
card last and if I had left it there.
The last place I could think of was the gas station in Opotiki, so I
pulled over on the highway prior to going much further and put in a call to Vodafone
to help me locate the number the Shell station.
Got the number, but no luck finding the card! Panic mode.
I then started looking under the seats with a flashlight and then I
checked the garbage bag where I threw the papers from the passport pouch and
wait, the papers are stiffer than they should have been. Voila, the credit card was stuck in the fold
of the papers…it was in the garbage!
Man, what a scare!
Ok, back on to a more relaxing drive on New
Zealand roads. We arrived in Hawke’s Bay
and grabbed a spot down the road from the place we stayed last time here. Brushed our teeth and went to bed.
