We have now spent 5 nights in lovely WaKa! She has treated us pretty well! Space is obviously tight but we are getting used to it. Gradually, we are finding the right home for everything and have both realized that staying organized will be the key to our sanity!
Lately, we have been on the move which has been a wonderful change of pace for us! From Auckland we first went north to Snells Beach, and my what a gorgeous city!! We met up with a MN native who we did not know but "knew of" her in a round-about way. Her family was gracious enough to have us over and were incredibly welcoming and treated us to a few lovely meals and many great conversations. They showed us the best look-outs and beaches in their city. We had a wonderful time learning about New Zealand and conversing about our forever home in Minnesota.
From Snells Beach we started our trek south. We want to get to the South Island sooner rather than later because summer is ending and fall/winter is coming. We are hoping to explore as much of the South island as we can before winter sets in and it becomes too cold. Our first destination was Rotorua, a city known for its hot springs (wonderful smells), natural spas, and a large redwood forest.
On our way we made a stop in Albany, NZ!! Who knew we would find an Albany all the way on this side of the world! This Albany is a suburb of Auckland and is definitely much larger and more upscale than the Albany we know.
About 4 hours of winding roads up and down and left and right and eventually we found ourselves in Rotorua! A very spectacular city indeed!
The last few days we have been exploring everything Rotorua has to offer. First, we had our first experience cooking in a campground kitchen. This is very interesting, so many people using one space and cooking such unique foods. Many of the dishes looked and smelled delicious! Dan and I were just happy to have running hot water again that we did not have to manually pump or boil it :) We did manage to de-stress from our drive with a natural, very hot mineral bath.The next day we explored the outskirts of the city and walked along the active geothermal trail. Phew did it smell bad but was very fun to see gas bubbling from beneath the earths surface and the different colors and features it can create.
We also spent a day hiking the redwood forest! It reminded me so much of Sequoia National park! There is nothing like being surrounded by massive, gorgeous trees! Today, we found some more Sequoia's and also explored a waterfall. The center of Rotorua is Lake Rotorua which is a massive body of water. We drove around the entire thing and explored all of the trails and things to see along the way.
Life in Waka has been very exciting so far! My favorite part is that we have been able to be outdoors nearly all day every day we have been here! We have been able to freedom camp in Rotorua nearly every night so far which has helped the budget and is an experience on it's own! Essentially, towns will designate a certain spot for self-contained campers (meaning you have a toilet and fresh water) to park for free. There are limited or no amenities but it is a place to legally stay overnight. In Rotorua, we are in a parking lot that fits about 10 other camper vans. Talking with our neighbors is very fun! I love hearing what other people are doing, where they are from, and what they plan for the future! It is an awesome little community here and crazy how many people do it! It does get tricky though because there are limited spots available and if it is full you have to move on to another town or go to a paid campground. When the need for a shower becomes a serious problem then we will break down and pay for camping again. Until then, we will let the sulfur of the city cover up any of our odors and keep on exploring ;)
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