Walk on the Wild Side

Having just journeyed to this remote corner of the World as part of a potentially life-altering two-month sojourn, I admit to being taken aback by the mix of landscapes and cultures that were at once familiar and yet quirkily different.

The rolling hills and the deep blue lakes collude with the easy-going locals to disarm and delight. As with many long journeys, setting out a week ago was simultaneously exhilarating and unsettling. Fortunately, the time spent with dear friends in Rotorua set me up properly for the journey ahead... 

Yet what adventures we have already had!

Some days we scampered to the base of the spectacular 153m-high Wairere Falls (the highest on the North Island) and climbed the hulking Mount Maunganui which punctuates the sandy peninsula near Tauranga.

Other days we tramped along the Tarawera Trail to the natural geothermal area of Hot Water Beach and rafted our way down the Grade V Kaituna River, passing through beautiful native rainforest with a startling 7m drop at Okere Falls (the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the World).

Bookending each adventure were some of the rich indigenous cultural and natural wonders of Rotorua. Here my friends go about their daily business of life among steaming hot springs, explosive geysers, bubbling mud pools and the billows of sulphurous gas responsible for the town's eggy pong.

All of the above has been fuelled by an awesome "mumble jumble" of Kumara and litres of Croucher Brewing Co's assortment of craft ales.

So New Zealand, I am now ready for you. Let's see what you got...