wandering around nz

Today is my 5th day in New Zealand and it's such an incredible country - amazing natural sights and all crammed into such a small place!

I have seen amazing rainforest and my first full day was a 6 hour hike to the Pinnacles on the Coromandel Pennisula.. then fell asleep (like the dead!) camping next to a rushing stream. I drove up the coast, it's all rocky, so I headed west to the Bay of Plenty and have visited 3 incredible beaches and 3 waterfalls in the last couple of days :D

I have been around Tauranga for two nights, hoping to go swimming with dolphins today, but the weather is too rough.. :( ..hopefully I will have another chance up north.

Yesterday I went to Rotorua and did some hiking there, around the "buried village". This was one of the first Maori/European villages preserved from the 1860s by a massive eruption. Followed by a walk down the waterfall and a cappuccino at the tea room :)

Today I'm off to a volcanic park called Hell's Gate!