Just the two of us...

Again this year, we enrolled our kids at different camps - and had four days on our own. We made sure that we could convert the 6 back seats of our 2001 Nissan Elgrand into a double bed and off we went: after we had dropped our younger kids at the Kaueranga Valley Christian Camp and our older kids at the Rotorua Horse Camp we toured around the cheap way, mostly free-camping and preparing our own food, cold or hot (the latter with a fuel stove). The only payed campsite was the Top 10 Holiday Park in Napier, which we can recommend.

First we visited the Huka Falls at Taupo, then we visited a small holiday village close to Taupo and finally Taupo itself. We felt like in Switzerland, as clean and as neat (and as cold) everything was.

Huka Falls near Taupo

Kinloch, a village near Taupo

Picknick in Taupo

Then we moved on with the marvellous Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It was most amazing when we descended from the desert formed by the huge volcanoes down to the returning vegetation of lichen, then scrubs and little flowers to thickets and bushes of increasing size growing into a rich rain forest with streams and water falls.

Just the two of us... in front of Emerald Lake

On the next day we explored Napier. It seems that the significance as a monument for the Art Deco style, the emphasis on design and probably a kind of Phoenix From the Ashes-effect made this city so bewitchingly beautiful. Many beautiful parks, attractions and locations to go out and spend the evening (yes, evening, which is unusual in NZ).

Schlafplatz

At the end, as a worthwile detour on our way back, we crossed the Te Urewera National Park, which consists mostly of dense rainforest. 











Brief further information: the landscape of the Tongariro NP is of volcanic origin. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing trail leads you up to 1900 m. The colour of the lakes is due to dissolved minerals.
The city of Napier had been totally destroyed by an earthquake in 1931. It was rebuild within the following two years entirely in the then popular Art Deco style. 

My Cousin in NZ

After the Spaniards were gone, we had a great time with my (Matthias') Cousin, who recently emigrated to NSW, Australia and had to leave her new home for a couple of days to receive her Visa. We were happy for that funny requirement that brought her here!

Our Spanish Family on Visit

In the "Thermal Wonderland" in Rotorua

For exactly 12 days we had our Spanish family here in Thames. Despite of the enourmos distance they all traveled to see us and our new environment. We all stayed at our 3.5 bedroom home and had great fun after all, doing some of the typical tourist attractions our region has to offer: The bush railway in Coromandel, http://www.drivingcreekrailway.co.nz, the Thermal Wonderland in Rotorua, http://www.waiotapu.co.nz, we saw Tauranga, Karangahake Gorge, http://karangahakegorge.co.nz, the Auckland Museum, http://www.aucklandmuseum.com, and many other smaller attractions.