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MA & T in New Zealand: north half of North Island

Fourteen days, 2720 kilometers.

Highlights

Auckland: Botanical Gardens on the first day; a hike through Kauri forest in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park just west of town.

Whangarei: the glow-worm caves at Waiomio; the resting place of Greenpeace's "Rainbow Warrior" off the Cavilli Islands.

Ahipara: Ninety-Mile Beach itself, and seeing the Southern Cross and the Magellanic Clouds

Matakohe: the Kauri Museum gift shop (we didn't get into the museum itself because that was the long drive day), and stars again.

Rotorua: boiling mud pools, geyser, Maori ceremonies and concert, the Victorian spa (mud baths, of course, plus electrification, X-rays, etc), and the story of the 1886 eruption of Mt Tarawera.

Napier: another great hike, Lake Opuahia, slightly mis-planned (we read the one-way distance as two-way); the Art Deco reconstruction of Napier after the 7.9 'quake in '31.

Auckland, Jan 1 - Jan 4, 2006 13 photos, 1.0Mbyte
North East Coast, Jan 4 - Jan 6, 2006 12 photos, 0.9Mbyte
North West Coast, Jan 6 - Jan 7, 2006 11 photos, 0.7Mbyte
"Thermal Zone": Rotorua & Taupo, Jan 8 - 10, 2006 17 photos, 1.2Mbyte
Art Deco: Napier, Jan 10 - Jan 13, 2006 13 photos, 1.1Mbyte
Winding up, Jan 14, 2006 4 photos, 0.4Mbyte