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The moment of truth ... in Rotorua

Geothermal Pool This is just one of many beautiful geothermal pools in the village of Whakarewarewa.	Prince of Wales Feathers Geyser This is one of the geysers in the village that erupts around 10 - 15 times a day. The amusing nickname is given due to the clouds resembling feathers in the prince's uniform.	Geothermal Some of the water in the village is safe enough to boil food in. Apparently, if carrots are dipped into the pool around seven times they will be cooked. A healthier version of "fast food".
Mud Pools There are lots of these around the village. They made me want a cup of hot chocolate.	Lady Knox Geyser	Steam
Devil's Bath At the end of the walk around the Wai-O-Tapu 'Geothermal Wonderland' we were rewarded with this awesome sight: 'the Devil's Bath', a large crater filled with bright greeny yellow water. The colour is the result of excess water from the champagne pool mixing with sulphur and ferrous salts.	Artist's Palette This lake is simply out of this world, and makes the whole visit completely worth it.	Champagne Pool The name is derived from the abundant efflux of carbon dioxide, similar to a glass of bubbling champagne. This crater was formed some 900 years ago.
Bag End, Hobbiton And here you can see the famous 'Fake Oak Tree' that was chopped down from a neighbouring village and reassembled here. You can read more about how this tree was made in the post: 'The Moment of Truth... in Rotorua'.	Hobbit Hole
	Hobitton	The Green Dragon At the end of the tour we were given a free mug of cider in the Green Dragon, middle earth's fictional pub.

Swings and roundabouts ... in Coromandel

Hot Springs Within a couple of hours of the low tide, you can dig up your own hot spa pool at the Hot Water Beach. Spades can be hired for 7 dollars, although we just used our hands...	Hot Water Beach	Te Hoho This enormous rock now looks like a ship sailing into the water. One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever had the pleasure of being on.
Cathedral Cove This natural archway is found at the end of a bush walk that takes around 45 minutes.	Te Hoho This large pinnacle of pumice breccia rock is known as 'Te Hoho'. Over centuries this has been sculpted by wind and water.

Being Wonder Woman ... in Tongariro

Easy Peasy The first 45 minutes of the track is pretty easy and still offers beautiful scenery.	Iron is what gives part of the track this burnt orange colour.	Devil's Staircase At this point walkers are urged to turn around if they're not 100% sure they can cope. I personally don't think signs like this help.
Path to Red Crater	Which Way This is the point where you can turn back if you haven't arranged transport to take you back from the other end.	Red Crater A shocking red within the brown landscape.
Mount Ngauruhoe	Red Crater & Mt Ngauruhoe	Emerald and Blue Lakes The 'pay off' when you get to the highest point of the crossing. It makes the whole walk worth while.
Down Sliding down the ashy descent is fun if you know how.	Explosion Craters ...filled with water. Stunning.	Cloud Factory
Blue

Another point of view ... in Aoraki / Mount Cook

Mushrooms We saw these near the Moeraki Boulders, an attraction we visited on the way to Mount Cook from Dunedin.	Moeraki Boulders These are the Moeraki Boulders that lie along a stretch of Koekohe Beach on the wave-cut Otago coast of New Zealand between Moeraki and Hampden. They are formed by coastal erosion and although they are not exclusive to this area, such a high concentration of huge, strikingly spherical boulders in one area is quite a sight.	Moeraki Boulders
The Cloud Piercer Aoraki, the Maori name given to the mountain, was formerly believed to mean "The Cloud Piercer".	Aoraki / Mount Cook	Lake Tekapo This crystal clear, torquoise lake is a 104km north of the mountain and should definitely be visited.
Aoraki / Mount Cook The mountain stands proudly above the other peaks, reaching over 12,000 feet.	Beautiful scenery ...spoiled by an ugly van. I looked it up and apparently the characters are from an animated NZ TV series called "bro' Town". I'm sure it was a good show, but considering there were vans painted with references to rock bands I feel we drew the short straw. I guess it’s what’s on the inside that counts though… it didn’t let us down in the whole three weeks.	'You're', not 'your'... Seriously. Wouldn’t you check the spelling and grammar before spraying a message on a car? Just in case?
Old is Gold

St Clair Beach This is the gorgeous beach described in the post - the most transparent water I have ever seen, and perhaps the coldest I've ever swam in.	Ute For those of you that used to watch Home & Away and / or Neighbours (or those who are actually Australian or Kiwi), you'll be familiar with the word used for this kind of car. A beautiful souped up Ute in Invercargill. The city's famous landmark, the Watertower, can be seen in the background.	TomTom This is the road our fantastic GPRS took us down to get to the South...
Lake Another transparent lake seen on the low road going to the north of Dunedin	Apaca Scenery down south...	Riverton Down South, near Colac Bay, where we stayed for a night.
Monkey Island Enthusiasts of the now retro computer game, the name of this island was our main reason for visiting! #geeks	Yellow-Eyed Penguin	Sea-lions We saw a juvenile group... just chilling
Yellow-Eyed Penguins They're currently in the moulting season and therefore just stand still, shedding feathers and looking kinda weird.	Pick up a penguin You shouldn't, actually. They are apparently quite aggressive.	Otago Peninsula Another stunning, still lake on the lowroad on the way to the north of Dunedin.
Taiaroa Head Lighthouse On the Otago peninsula - near the Royal Albatross Centre. We didn't see any, before you ask...	Glenfalloch Greens	Trees I don't know if it's because it's autumn here, but the colours on the trees right now are crazy.

Getting lucky ... in Dunedin

First time for everything ... in the West Coast (NZ)

Blue pools The gorgeous blue pools of Haast Pass.	Blue Pools The colours in the South Island make a lot of places seem unreal.	Butterfly
Pancake Rocks The Pancake Rocks are a heavily eroded limestone area in Punakaiki where the sea bursts through several vertical blowholes during high tides.	Punakaiki On the walk after seeing the Pancake Rocks.	The Milky Way This is what the sky looked like when we were freedom camping in the middle of nowhere.
Los Martes Al Sol Tuesdays Under The Sun	Kumara A pebble beach we came across after escaping the storm on the East Coast.	Franz Josep Glacier
Franz Josef Glacier	Isma	Helicopter
Lake Wanaka	Bicycle I had never ridden a mountain bike before! The idea of gears on a bike baffled me, but Ismael soon helped me to work it out. Another first!	Dew Drops
Tall Trees	Stunning Scenery	Sunrise No wonder Lord of The Rings was filmed here... the colours are spectacular.
Lake Matheson Commonly known as 'Mirror Lake', this was one of our first stops on the way to Milford Sound from Queenstown, and was probably the most beautiful. It was formed by glaciation 14,000 years ago.	Seals There were lots of seals when we went to Milford Sound. On some days you can see dolphins too...	Milford Sound We went on a very rainy day, which is not uncommon in Milford Sound, but they say it's actually prettier when the weather is bad, as there are more waterfalls and the sound adds to the atmosphere.
Waterfalls On the way to Milford Sound from Queensland, we came across this - a point where you are surrounded by what look like cliffs crying... dozens of pouring waterfalls.	About to jump This is when I was certain I wouldn't be backing out!	Fearless
Shout	Scream I have no idea why doing so helps with the feeling that you might die, but it just does.	Spinning
Free Fall The "free fall" lasts around 1 minute and is the most frightening part at first, but also the most exhilerating, obviously!	Like a bird	View
Back to earth

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