New Zealand Diary 23 June 2002
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We drove south to Waitomo, famous for its glow worm caves. Some of the guys went tubing but a few, myself included, went for a couple of walks instead. On the way back to the tubing centre from town is a little shop that sells angora wool items. They sell items made from wool taken from rabbits kept in their farm. The lady that owns the place is incredibly friendly and not only let us watch a rabbit get shorn, but we also got to play with another fluffy bunny. I also got to hear all about her children, their jobs, where they were living and what their plans were! I'd highly recommend popping in for a few minutes if you're heading through the area.

From Waitomo, we drove on to over to the Coromdandel. The caravan park that we crashed over at was in Hahei on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. The Hot Water Beach is just a few kilometres down the road. This is a thermally active area where a hot water spring literally seeps up through the sand of the beach itself. At low tide you can dig down into the sand and make your very own private hot water spa pool! Of the eleven of us on the bus, only three (Maria, our driver, Alex and myself) were brave enough to go and check out the beach that night - low tide was eleven o'clock. I have to say that this was one of the most bizarre experiences I have ever had! The whole evening took on a slightly surreal note when it started raining - it was cold for the bits out of the water, in the rain and boiling hot for the bits in the water..

At one stage, we were contemplating having to sleep in the bus. Somehow, the bus door got jammed shut on the way back to the camp ground. It took me about ten minutes of brute force and ignorance; sorry, skilled application of measured pressure to break out of the van!

To tomorrow

Created by Dan Leigh 23/06/02