29th of July BYE BYE SOUTH AND SUNSHINE, HELLO FRENCH ROADTRIP & CUBAN AMBASSY

3,5 hours on the Bluebridge Ferry (there are 2 Ferries, Bluebridge is cheaper most of the time and drops you off in the middle of the centre of Wellington). A cold time outside on the deck and meeting Anja and Carolin (Germany), more Spaceship travelers. Wellington, where is the sun?! Wellington was wet and no sunshine. The hostel was a good walk uphill. The city can be discovered in 2 hours by foot, loads of nice bars and restaurants in the Cuban District. I went to a place for French crepes and asked for a Cuba Libre. Why? I need to arrange my Cuba Tourist Card today and need to arrange a roadtrip with the 2 French teachers. And go to the Te Papa Museum, lots of exhibitions about nature, wildlife, Maori and more history about NZ. The Cuba Visa couldn't be arranged today so I have no more passport from now on. I met the Frenchies again and decided to start the road trip on the Eastcoast tomorrow...YEAH! After some French humor and futuristic games it was bedtime. Don't forget the wine and the Kiwi Grass (it's legal) that they sell here.

30th of July EAST AS ... DAMN GOOD ROADTRIP, SPENDING THE NIGHT IN PRISON

Thanks Wellington for giving me what I asked for. Good day, Dutch breakie at Rosemere and 10AM Hit the road! Spaceship has arrived. Cecile and Sandy where the 2 French aliens in the spaceship and my job for this roadtrip? Be their slave...whahahaa, we see what happens. After a long drive through small towns with all the same shops on a main street, we finally hit the coast. First jump off, Ocean Beach (under Kidnappers Cave). After a delicious muffin meal (I arranged 4 huge muffins for only 1 NZD at New World, thanks to the mistakes the self scanner makes) it was game time. Beat those girls with all the beach games was my mission and that was not a problem. It was getting dark so drive on to Napier, an Art-Deco style small town on the Eastcoast. The girls decided to sleep in their ship 'Amidala' and they met their Canadian friend. Maybe I have to learn more French, because drinking in an Irish Pub with 'Je blablabla...' isn't that easy. Well, I'm hungry and I'm going to find out how good the Napier Cuisine is (haha, a French word). I found 1 place that was absolutely packed, Kilim Turkish Restaurant. Only locals and they were really friendly to a guy with muddy shoes and a ski jacket :-) The food was amazing, like good Turkish food should taste. And if you like hot, they make it hot. The girls from the restaurant even gave me a bag of Turkish cookies because they said I was waiting too long. Tonight it's Friday and time to get drunk in this sleeping town. This night ended in spending the night in prison! No I was not arrested, but there is an old prison where you can sleep (almost everything is still in the same condition). I was the only guest but the crew was very cool. Mark, Mark and the redhead German chick. So my fellow inmates and I went out for a drink. Pak 'n' Save is open till midnight and the big bottles of cider are quite nasty :-) At the counter they looked a little bit scared when we told them we came just out of prison. Back to jail for a long evening and night of games. M&M went to bed at some point. The German story turned into an interesting deep conversation about everything. These are the people you just have to meet now and then. At 3AM it was time for a scary night in my cellblock. Well that's what I expected after hearing all these ghost stories and scary backpackers that tell you the place is haunted. My cell was next to a graveyard and I couldn't lock the door from the inside. Keep the lights on (cause there is no light switch inside the room). It was a funny interesting night in Napier. Oh and thanks to all the drunken youth in their cars that made us feel the most popular people on the Eastcoast, yelling and screaming at us all the time :-) Nothing better to do on a Friday night I guess...

31st of July RELEASED AND ENDING ON A GARBAGE DUMP

After a steaming hot (no choice of temperature, the only choice is steaming hot. And don't drop your soap!) shower at the prison I was released. A 1 hour city walk, see the interesting buildings, monsters and other stuff at Napier. It's a nice place to stop for a day. On the road, no plans. But we drove for hours and hours without stopping at maybe some interesting places. We stopped at some black beaches near Mahia and they looked different and cool. The weather today was sooo good. I wanted to do some walks but besides a few lunch, pee and smoke stops it was just driving. We wanted to stay at Tokomaru Bay (the Beach of the Rising Sun) at Brian's Place. It looked like an amazing place to me, a few guests and the owner hanging around, cozy little room under the roof with beds in the floor. But because there was no dryer the girls wanted to leave...hahaaa, it are girls for sure! It was a nice place for a big campfire on the beach and seeing the sunrise as the first people in the world. So drive on to TikiTiki, Eastenders Backpackers. This was a journey in the dark on a long dirtroad. The place is well known for the horse treks, walks and also the sunrise on the most Eastern part of the world. A warm welcome, cool Kiwi dude that wanted to help us with everything. But no, girls talk again...no laundry and supermarket. I said it was no problem for me to stay at the beach with my tent and they could sleep in the car. They thought it was too dangerous. Hahaaaa, I'm used to danger, come on :-) More driving in the dark looking for a place you're not gonna find in No-Mens-Land. Ending near .a small village called Te Araora (17km from Eastcape). Instead of sleeping at the Eastcape we started cooking our pasta here and Rosan, I used your tent! ;-) Cold in the night, but with 5 degrees above zero it was acceptable for me.

1st of August CALLING A.A. AND THE DRAMA'S ON THE ROAD

Waking up by daylight and crawling out of my tent. What a surprise by daylight! We camped on a garbage dumpsite NO WAY! The plan was wake up at 6AM and drive to Eastcape for a stunning sunrise. The girls slept in... The weather was not that good anymore and they didn't want to go to Eastcape becuase there was only 1/3 of the petrol left. Should be enough for a 17km return and finding a petrol station. But other problems...Amidala is dying. The Spaceship didn't want to start anymore because of an empty battery. Don't use the lights when you're sleeping in a car... Luckily the phone number of AA was free (Yeah I need to call Anonymous Alcoholics but this AA is a road service in NZ) and I had a little bit of battery left. After almost 2 hours the mechanic was there. I won the bet about the time and which directions, where's my prize? It is Sunday but even in a small village there was something open, and the petrol was only a few meters away from our car. No Eastcape anymore and after climbing the oldest and largest Pohutukawa tree of NZ we drove on to Bay of Plenty... Yeah, plenty of rain! So we did the Eastcoast in 2 days and we are already at Bay of Plenty. A few stops at beaches and signs, we even ended up in Hawai! A few runs for me on beaches and rocks at; Wangaparaoa Bay, Oruaiti Beach, Waitianga Bay and Waiotahi Beach it was time for a rainy pitstop in Opotiki. IN the afternoon we stopped in Whakatane, a place with only 2 backpacker hostels. Bad weather so why drive on. Windsor Backpackers is a place with loads of rules and you have to pay for a heather. But Pauline and Ray where friendly hosts and they gave us their DVD's and loads of homemade cake and more then enough blankets. The girls stopped fighting after a grumpy day hahaa. Visiting the active White Island volcano is expensive and not possible today because of the bad weather. So a long day to relax.

2nd of August RAIN RAIN RAIN FOREST WALK, TOURISTY STUFFIN' IN MAORI VILLAGE, AND THE STEAMING CITY OF ROTTEN EGGS

Whohoooo! Shitloads of wind and rain again. Why not going to Rotorua? Rainy trip, nothing to see and of course the smell is getting worse. It were not the girls, they had a shower. It was Rotorua getting closer. Before we stopped for a hike in the rainforest. HINEHOPU, Hongis Track, Lake Rotoehu. 1 hour walking in the jungle and in the rain. Finding some lucky coins and yes it worked, the sunshine came through! A nice bushwalk and some different sort of rainforest. Watch out for falling trees. Girls went shopping, I went hiking around the city. Walking between the hotpools. The ground was getting kind of soft and hot...no wonder why there are warnings everywhere. The platters seems to be just a few cm's thick. Better get on the track again. A few buildings, some bird spotting and last but not least, the spiciest Thai meal in NZ so far...AMAZING Thai Restaurant. A shame that when you speak Thai, the staff doesn't speak Thai... I lost the French girls, but I found a new one, Nolwenn. I joined her on a very touristy Maori Village tour (like everyone here in Rotorua). There are 3 main companies, but this one is in the forest including springs, river, canoes, bushwalk, glow worms etc. Of course there is a Hangi (traditional cooked Maori meal). Unfortunately this is served in a buffet styled area inside a huge heated tent. We enjoyed our meal and local Maori Beer with Daclan and Elaine, an Irish couple. More than a hundred guests and I was the only 1 form HOLLAND(!). Well, they knew after my eating skills where I was from :-) The concert was funny and worth a visit. Around 20 performers and around 10 different acts in a bush environment. The host and some of the performers were joking all the time. A very relaxing evening with interesting local music and more then enough food. I missed the bus back to the city, but no probs to find an alternative to get back. As expected all the bars in Rotorua were closed, except 1 Lava Bar...but nobody there. After a Kiwi Green night I slept pretty well.

3rd of August FEELING HOT HOT HOT, THE 'BIG' ERUPTION AND SPA TIME

The Mai-Ta-Pu Thermal Wonderland. Sounds spectacular. The Lady Fox Geyser erupts only once a day at 10:15. All the tourists in a rush. Be on time, it takes a half an hour drive from the city, first you have to buy tickets at a visitor centre, then back to the parking, drive to another location to see the geyser. Heaps of people, scared as shit and nobody on the front. Pussies, afraid of water? I knew it was fake! They have to put a sort of soap in to start the eruption. Well, it looks more like an ejaculation if you ask me. Maybe 8 mters high? It's tourist time in the park right now so we drove to a small bridge on the loop (just 2 km after the visitor centre). 'DANGER'-signs everywhere. Here streams the hot water that comes out of the thermal springs from the park. And ends up in a small river, mixing with cold water. So it's misty and rainy today, but I take my clothes off and jump in the river. What a good idea, further after the bridge the water get hotter and hotter. Time to get my hot body out of the water and go back to the park. Even with this ind of weather it's beautifull to see. The bright colors of the craters and the Champagne Pools. The girls were cold and tired and they waited for me in the car, I finished all the tracks and tested the surface sometimes. Back in town it was travel arranging time for me, what a rip-off at the I-Site! Grrr... Nolwenn and I decided after tossing some coins to go to the Polynesian Spa, even with the rain. DAMN! This was a good spa! Several thermal bath from 36 - 42 degrees, a nice view over the lake an dthe cold rain dripping on your head. We had a good time, the only thing that was missing was a bottle of champagne. I visited Debbie at the Crank Hostel, one of my friends from Thailand, funny to meet your old travel friends again on the other side of the world. My last night at Rotorua, sleeping with 3 French girls hahahaa. Well it was not planned, but the night didn't stop. Tea, cookies, more spa, language jokes, more chocolate, the green...Thanks everyone for the laughs and the adventures in the North.