We left Taupo and drove to Tauranga. On the way we stopped of at Wai-O-Tapu, the other geothermal area we'd missed (due to bad weather) on the way south. It was really good - the colours of the rocks were amazing. Looking at steaming ground loses its novelty after a while, but there was enough here to keep our interest up. (Expensive though!)
At 10.15am we were told we had to drive on to see a geyser. We dutifully did and found that we were to sit around it on benches with everyone else. It was like a Butlins event. At 10.15 on the dot a man came with a microphone to tell us about the geyser, and to put soap in the geyser hole. This does something to the surface tension and sets the geyser off. This intervention made the process seem not-very-natural. The geyser was a bit impressive, and after a minute or two, people started to rush back to their cars. (Minutes earlier these people had been desperate to secure the best place to park their bums.)
Tauranga was nothing special. We spent a lot of the time there at the doctors and the pharmacist. A few days ago a pharmacist sold me some anti-histamine for an allergic reaction, but it turned out I was even more allergic to the anti-histamine and came out in bright red hives all over my body - sexy! You'll all be pleased to hear that that's getting better now. If only the sun would come out I could show off my newly-not-red body to the ladies on the beach.
On Tuesday we drove up to Coramandel Town, a pleasant little place on the Coromandel Penninsula (near Auckland). We lazed around in a lovely homely hostel there. This morning I went to the orchard and picked oranges and lemons. We then used a squeezer to make fresh juice. Yum!
Hell is other people (or, Goodwill to all men)
Today, Christmas Eve, we arrived in Whitianga. We arrived laden with Xmas fare, which we'd bought at a supermarket on the way to Coramandel Town on Tuesday. Again, Yum.
We have a luxurious (for us) self-contained cabin. We intend to enjoy Christmas using our bellies. When we arrived, the friendly hosts loaded us with our Christmas mail! We were so excited, though Anne has said we have to wait until Christmas Day to open it all. One more sleep to go.
(Incidentally - Kerry, in New Zealand the custom of sending an empty envelope half-way around the world has yet to catch on, so I'm unsure what effect you were intending to go for. Thanks anyway. It is a nice envelope.)
Despite us being loaded up with food, we still needed a few more bits and bobs (not least salmon for our egg and salmon breakfast!) I went to the supermarket today, in the rain, whilst Anne did some bone-carving (arty Anne - she'll tell you about that later). It was Christmas Supermarket Hell. People were stressed, rushing around and a bit angry. I managed to stay calm and laugh at the angry monkeys.
When I got out of the supermarket the rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to break through. Yay!
Merry Christmas everyone!