Software dev, tech, mind hacks and the occasional personal bit

New Zealand Holiday ’09

Soosun and I had a lovely week in New Zealand, and great weather. We visited the North Island, landing in Auckland. We drove straight to Rotorua, arriving in time for dinner. The next day, we visited White Island, the most volcanic area in the Southern Hemisphere. Pretty amazing, had to wear gas masks. Steam, acid, sulphur and bubbling pools everywhere!

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Then on to the Tongariro Crossing, probably the best bushwalk I have ever done – 19kms of amazing scenery, steep climbs, volcanic craters, lakes and the “Mount Doom” volcano from the Lord of the Rings. Although it took all day, it was not a walk that ever left you bored – so much variety, ending finally with rainforest.

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We went adventure caving in Waitomo (the Black Abyss), which started with tight abseil down a chimney, swimming and sloshing through wet caves in a wetsuit and floating on tires, some tight squeezes and we finally got back to the surface climbing up another chimney. Great fun!

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More New Zealand photos here.

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4 Comments

  1. This is so beautiful.
    Thanks for sharing this with us 🙂

  2. Fantastic photos James. Some of them look a bit like a trip to Mars!

  3. Thanks, good article.

  4. Wow! What can I say.. the photos were astonishing! Must be a wonderful experience!

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