WAITOMO - Brosnan King of the North Island

First off, an honourale mention for my arch nemeses LAN Airlines in the Phil's Phworld Travel stories archive. You may remember that these were the swines who have thwarted all my efforts to reach New Zealand before December 23rd, despite a year of pestering them to change my flight. Well, the truth was finally revealed on the 21st when I boarded my flight in Santiago and discovered the truth. It was all a part of their masterscheme to make me feel special. You see, not only did they ensure that I got the December 21st flight but then they double booked my seat for me, meaning that I had to take the only spare seat on the plane which happened to be in business class. Yes: for just a few hours I got to be an exciting business class type of a person.

So what's it like, I hear you ask? Pretty darn nice. You can't (and I mean, can't) touch the seat in front of you from the armchair in which you're sitting. Which is equipped with every type of movement enhancer you'd care to mention. I was able (and I swear this is true) to adjust the position of each of my individual buttocks whilst watching the wonderful Milions and drinking my complimentry champagne. And they give you soft drinks in glasses, not plastic. Oh, and you get all sorts of exciting nicely bagged toothpastes which, of course, I swiped. So huzza for LAN. It took them a while, but they finally came through.

So onto New Zealand where I have spent the past twelve hours (one of which was spent getting through customns where a certain small wooden cross I've been carrying since Britain suddenly gave me some import hassles. Thanks a lot, David G ;) ) and, in the style of Westlife at the height of their careers, its zipped straight into my favourite place in the world chart at number one. Half a day of zipping down from Auckland to Waitomo with my Aussie friend Bronwyn, her brother Chris and our deluxe rental car (ho hum...) which I fondly call Brosnan has given me more awesome views, stunning walks and general 'wanting to find a house here right now' feelings than anywhere else ever.


Chris, Bronwyn and Brosnan awaiting his next shiny adventure. They're eating Vegemite by the way. Ugh.

The main cause of this sudden love affair is Marokopa Road. A little visted stretch of New Zealand which typifies what makes this little collection of rocks so special. It's a winding road through lush countryside and past open harbours, alongside of which are the sort of road markers and asides you see on many a British or American highway. But instead of being cynical tourist traps, these are bonafide pieces of glorious natural attractions. From the Mangapohue Natural Bridge (awesome rock spanning a river canyon) to some impromtue cave exploration at the Piripiri Caves (muddy, muddy, muddy) New Zealand has the most incredible diversions and they're all about nature preserved and presented in the most awesome way possible. Without fuss, and without unnecessary buildup.


Waitomo. The prettiest little tourist trap you'll ever lay eyes upon.

Speaking of tourist traps, though, we must mention Waitomo. Famed throughout the world for its beautiful Glowworm Caves which are apparently unmissable, beautiful and all sorts of other ables and fuls. Well, that'd be all well and good if they weren't (A) Expensive and (B) Prohibiting photography. Both things which we don't like here in the Phworld. This being New Zealand, though, more caves, and free ones at that, were just a short three hour round hike away in the Ruakuri Scenic Reserve. The viewpoint high in one of the natural caverns, which the river churning away somewhere below, is truly eerie. On reflection, long hiking after a fairly sleepless thirteen hour flight in which I lost a day of my life may have not been a great move. I blame Bronwyn, she's two years away from becoming a doctor, she should be looking out for stuff like this. (And thanks to the wonders of business class, sleep was had by me on a plane. This is a first.)


Cavern at Ruakuri. That's a lot of erosion, rock fans.

And so the great New Zealand road trip begins. We have plenty of stops planned for the next week, including Christmas Day on Mount Taranaki, NZ's own Mount Fiji lookalike. And then Boxing Day on the slopes of Mount Ngauruhoe, the setting for Mordor in The Lord of the Rings. (Line-o-map to appear in due course when I can find a nice one. The selection on Google is prety poor) It's a strange feeling not being at home with Christmas rapidly approaching, but I wouln't trade in for all the business class buttock massages in the world.


How green is my valley? THIS green. That's how green.