2 - Central North Island

Eye-catching poster in Auckland

Cousin Dan and Cousin Justin in their backyard. They both live and work in London, but were able to come over and visit at the same time.

This is on Mount Eden, just a few minutes walk from Lyn and John's house.

I went to a Maori cultural show and hangi meal, with Brian and Sue, two Londoners also at the B&B, and a German guy staying there too. The show was Maori songs and dances, with a powhiri (welcome) and poi (ball dance), and demonstrations of Maori weapons and sports, and finally, the haka. All this was outdoors in a recreated Maori village, under a dark starry sky. The audience were well wrapped up with coats and blankets, but the performers weren't wearing much. The women wore traditional shawls and dresses, but most of the men just wore loin-cloths. Some of them, in the late teens, were particularly interesting to watch. Jeez, what a perv I sound like.

The meal was very tasty, but included many non-traditional Western touches - mint sauce for the lamb, stuffing, garlic bread. Dessert was chocolate log and/or mixed fruits with cream, which I doubt is traditional either.

There was a brief chat/question and answer session and then we all had a guided tour through the bush to see glow worms and a sacred Maori spring. It was very good, and very much a family-run operation. Mitai. That's the name of the show and the name of the family.

Afterwards, Brian and Sue and I stayed up at the B&B. They gave me a glass of wine and we shared stories of our cats. Once Brian had been surprised when peeing by his cat jumping between his legs from behind. He had to give the cat a more conventional shower afterwards.

Back at the grotty Planet Nomad backpackers, I met Fabian, a Belgian guy who, like me, was just about to go zorbing. There are a few zorbing options, all of which involve being inside a transparent plastic bubble as it rolls down a hill.

First, there's 'dry', where you're strapped to a harness fixed inside the ball. Alternatively, you can go 'wet' - without straps, but there's a bucketful of warm water to slip about in as you roll down. Finally there's 'double wet' - wet, with a friend. Fabian and I did double-wet, which was funny considering I'd only just met the guy, and here I was sliding through the ball's plastic sphincter after him, wearing just swimshorts. As I climbed in, the assistant-person said, 'I hope you guys know each other well!'

It was strange, and fun. I tried to get up, to stand up as we rolled down, but always slipped and rolled, and Fabian and I rolled all over each other.

I cycled up to the Redwood Forest and did a relaxing one-hour walk. Some beautiful scenes of sun-dappled forest, and these redwood growing fantastically straight and tall all around. Apparently they grow three times quicker here than in their native US.

I cycled on up the road to the Blue Lake. It certainly looked blue. And the hillsides around it looked very green. And the childrens' slide erected in the shallows looked very yellow. A lot of colour. It wasn't hot though. I walked around with my fleece and anorak on, and watched some Maoris my age or younger briefly have a dip in what looked like freezing water. I wondered how come there was a sandy beach there, and whether I should look at the other lakes.

There's several scary holes, pits, pools and other formations like this. Elsewhere there's the devil's inkpots and bath, as well as hell's cauldrons. Sounds like the early Christian settlers were rather fearful, and I'm not surprised - it's an unearthly place.

The colouring is from mineral deposits.

I was very lucky with the light. A combination of dark, brooding clouds with some bright sunshine made the steam look particularly dramatic.

I'm told this huge lake (600 sq.km) was created by a massive volcanic eruption about 1,800 years ago. There hasn't been a more violent eruption since. The Romans and the Chinese both recorded the sky darkening around this time.

Now it's a sports haven, with wind-surfing, water-skiing, sailing, fishing, golf (yes, really), and of course sky-diving.

They may look like the remains of a 1,000 year old Maori village, but these rock carvings were created in the late 70s by some local artists. Still amazing to look at, especially as they're only accessible by boat.

Actually, the boat nearly crashed into them.

Yes it was a bit nippy on the boat.

Six colourful houses on Marine Parade, Napier

There's several good examples of Art Deco architecture in Napier. The town was flattened by an earthquake in the 1930s, and everything was rebuilt in the style of the time.