North Island of New Zealand

From the 5th to the 12nd of January I was traveling around the north island of New Zealand with a crazy friend from Colombia. We rented a car in the last-minute and I drove from Auckland to New Plymouth, Wanganui, Wellington, returning by Napier, Matamata, Lake Taupo, Rotorua and Hamilton. Driving on the left is almost natural now, excepted with only one traffic circle.

In New Plymouth we saw a live music show under TSB Bank Festival of Light that it was really cool and the next day we did one of the Taranaki volcano trekking on a raining day, spending the second night of the trip, at Wanganui. We arrived later in the night and we couldn’t find any hostel so we stopped by a police station to ask for it and a police officer escorted us to one. I knew that she´d not accept some caramelos of dulce de leche, however I offered them to her as a way to say thanks for have escorted us to the hostel what she answered: I´m in service and it is part of my work to make tourist comfortable with my city, thanks anyway… (One day the same is going to happen in Argentina)

On the third day we went to Wellington, NZ capital, which is beautiful. There are people playing music all over a pedestrian street and there is a lot to do futhermore the botanic gardens, Wellington museum and Victoria mt. In the Wellington museum it is the biggest octopus ever found it, almost 8mt, I remember reading the article in La Nacion when they cached it 3 years ago. In Rotorua we did Zorbing what is a recreation of rolling downhill in a plastic and transparent orb (there are some pictures in the gallery)! Finally enjoy the video of 4 kids playing sticky music in Wellington (I didn’t know that my camera didn’t record sounds when you zoom in or out on the video function, Samsung you should work on it)

• I learned that Wanganui is the longest navigable river in New Zealand.
• I learned that in Napier was level by an earthquake on 1931 and it was rebuilt with an art deco style.
• I learned that Taupo Volcano was the largest eruption during the last 20,000 years and Chinese people has created a machine to calculate earthquakes on 132AD, little before 1935 Richter´s magnitude.
• I learned that Mt Taranaki was with the other volcanoes in New Zealand but because Taranaki dared to make advances to Pihanga and was reproach by Tongariro (other volcanos from NZ) a battle ensued between them and because Taranaki lost he had to move to the west cost (Maori legend)
• I learned that Pablo Escobar had his bunker under an artificial lake with crocodiles and hippopotamus and I learned the differences between the paramilitary and the FARC.
• I learned that you need to check the lights are off before you get off the car.

Enjoy the pictures of this trip.

I met Paula, my friend from Colombia, on Melbourne. We studied at the same university and we traveled to Great Ocean Road with Juan and some other Colombians. During this 2nd trip together she was in charge of make the car a mess and to try to read the maps. She also asked me the most random questions that someone ever asked me, such as: If you have to create a super hero what powers would you give him?

Little notes:

First note: Paula was number 7 at the ICEFS, what is an exam from the Colombian government to test all the students in the superior educational system in Colombia.

Second note: In one moment I asked her the number of the road that we were on and she told me 70….. it was a speed warning sign. It was the first time that I thought the ICEFS was not well measurable.

Third and final note: After all the journey she said, in clear Spanish and not even drank, Tengo otitis en un ojo, what in English I suppose is: I have an ear infections in one eye…. so I called the educational ministry of Colombia that something was seriously wrong.

Even all of those little notes I know that Paula is brilliant and the trip was lot of fun, now I´m looking forward to see the south island, probably by march.