On our way from Auckland to Rotorua, we found one black sand beach south of Auckland that was open, Kariotahi Beach, and it WAS A DREAM COME TRUE. The road literally ends at the ocean.
See those cows up there? You'll see them again.
We remembered reading that there were waterfalls tucked into the cliffs along the beach, so we set off to explore what was back in this little crevice...
And look who we found up at the top- our cow friend!
HG was a monster. She wouldn't quit climbing and giving me a heart attack
We stopped for lunch at Castaways which was just up the hill from the beach. They were DELIGHTFUL and made a plain cheese pizza just for the girls. We never wanted to leave.
Some big metal 'furry' friends in Tirau on the way to Rotorua brought us some road trip entertainment. There is a public restroom in one!
We stayed at the Novatel Lakeside in Rotorua and found a really cool open-air restaurant area called Eat Streat, literally just steps away.
While HG was researching NZ, she found Zorb and wanted to try it. I thought that seemed tame compared to walking around the top of a skyscraper, so Cressey and I agreed. WELL. We were MISTAKEN. HG is in the ball on the right. Cressey and I are in the ball on the right. Cress and I claimed we'd never do it again.
Afterward, HG did it one more time on her own, and then she hit me with the guilt that I had ridden with Cressey and not her. So I did it one more time with her. Thankfully, you can't hear it in this picture, but I had lots of words after that experience. That was my last ride! In the parking lot, I was struggling to get my seatbelt on before GD started driving, and he laughs that I told him, "If I didn't die on that hill, I won't die in this parking lot!"
Time for some Maori culture!
Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, HG wasn't a fan of the smell
Time for Skyline!
Got to take a gondola up the hill to get to all the fun
The big draw was the luges. There are several different courses with varying curves, degree of steepness, etc. We took the most scenic one first.
At the end of the course, you have to put your luge in a line and then hop in line for the chairlift. The workers attach two luges to the underside of chairlifts to get them back up the hill.
We recruited GD to ride so that HG could take one of the faster courses. (I was happy with the scenic one.)
HG had so much fun that she talked Cressey into trying one of the other ones. She was smiles...
And then got a little nervous as she started to follow her sister downhill. No turning back at that point, so off she went. I was a NERVOUS WRECK!
But then we saw these faces come back up the chairlift!
And then there was no stopping them! They tried them ALL!
So happy!
Directly across the street from the hotel was one of the best playgrounds! Cressey asked for several daily trips to explore.
Back to the airport to head home...
Apple juice for sis, wine for mama
We spent the night in LA again, this time at the Beach House in Hermosa Beach. Once again, we found only rain in LA. We braved the raindrops for a few trips to the beach to find some more shells.
See HG up on our second story balcony??
They convinced me to order late night cake from Buddy's
As we boarded our flight from Salt Lake City to Memphis, snow started falling, and while they tried to de-ice the plane, our window kept getting covered up with snow.
Home Sweet Home
DADDY!!
He had all of our favorites waiting on us after a very long travel journey!
Sunny on her pillow- all is right in the world
No comments:
Post a Comment