By Waldo
July 6 2005

Following his experiences in Christchurch and airports of the world, Waldo brings us the next instalment of his Lions Trip with stories of the week between Christchurch and Wellington.

Well that was the first test done and dusted so it was back to the holidaying! We went across to Weiheke Island, a 35 minute ferry crossing from Auckland. Weiheke is a small island with a few thousand inhabitants, but it has gained popularity since the fast ferry service started and is now actually commuter belt. It does, however, remain an intimate place. It is also the home of many wineries! So on a winery tour we went!

It was pretty relaxed with only 5 of us actually doing the tour and our own personal guide. We had 3 vinyards on our intinerary with tastings arranged at each (wahey!). After the secound, our guide asked what we had been doing so far on our trip and, when I mentioned that we had been to the Lion brewery, he told us there was actually a brewery on the island and asked me if we would like to visit it! He made a quick phone call and a few minutes later we were there! It was also a winery, so there were also a selection of fruit-based drinks for the ladies. It was all good. After a fantastic meal at another vinyard, it was back to Auckland. I would highly recommend a trip to Weiheke, it was a fantastic day.

The next day saw us at leisure in Auckland. A stroll around the city and then a visit to the "Barmy Army HQ". Now, personally, I'm not quite sure of the term "Barmy Army" for rugby as I associate it with cricket but, like it or not, the New Zealanders have labelled the Lions supporters with that title, even the adverts on TV portray us as that. The "Barmy Army" HQ is located on the Quayside in what was the boatyard and workshop of the NZ Americas Cup team - a large area! It consists of several large bars with TV screens and stages for live bands, its own travel agency for organising activities, a shop and an activity centre, which is basically a creche for adults! It was fairly quiet to be honest as there are only a few hundred Lions supporters in Auckland at the moment but it was gearing up for the large influx of several thousand for the 3rd Test. The evening saw us having a meal in "Orbit", the revolving restaurant of the Sky Tower, "the tallest communications tower in the southern hemisphere". An Auckland must do. The view of the city as you slowly revolve at one revolution per hour whilst enjoying a good meal is fantastic.

Tuesday saw us again in Auckland visiting "Kelly Tarlton's Antartic Adventure" which, as the name implies, is a reconstruction of the Antartic complete with real live penguins, bizarrely built within the old sewage treatment works! That evening, our tour gathered together to watch the Manwatu game and what a breath of fresh air it was! The point piling on was certainly an antidote to the 1st Test.

The next day we set off to Rotorua. A strange place. It's a thermal town. Very thermal! Steam seems to escape from various orifices in the earth's crust in this locality, bringing with it a faint stench of rotten eggs. Sulphur! It hangs in the air over the whole town! The attraction of the town is indeed its thermal properties. There are molten mud pools, thermal springs, geysers, strange rock formations, in fact everything you would expect from a town surrounded by geothermal activity, including a spa! Did we take advantage of this? No! We went Zorbing instead! A strange sport, Zorbing involves being put inside a large inflatable sphere along with several buckets of water and then being rolled down a steep hill! Madness, but fun! That evening we went to a Maori village to sample some local culture.

The next day we went to Lake Taupo, NZ's largest lake and the town that was its namesake. A visit to the Tourist Office offered a myriad of things to do, jet boating, helicopter trips etc....what they failed to tell you was that, as it is winter, most of them are closed! Not something that was a problem the next day when we trekked Northwards along the North Island. We initially visited Warkworth, where we did some tree hugging then, on route to the Bay of Islands, stopping off to visit NZ's most famous public toilet - not in the George Michael sense, but because they were built by an Austrian artist in a most eccentric manner! Gaudi on acid!

Once arriving in the Bay, we went to Waitangi, where the treaty was signed by the Maori Chiefs to make NZ part of the Commonwealth (even more culture) and then on a cruise around the Islands for the obligatory "dolphins swimming alongside boat" experience. A truly stunning part of the country, we had to leave the Bay of Islands and head back to Auckland, for rest before the morning departure to Wellington and the 2nd Test.

To be continued......