Sydney. Last few hours before flying home.

We only had a few hours before going to the airport so we decided to go back to Manly beach.

Ooooh it was a bit rough!

It doesn't look that rough really does it??? It was.

The swimming was restricted to the very far end which was full of school parties on their last day before their summer holidays so we happily settled on the sand for an hour.

The flight socks weren't the most flattering.

But hey, it's quite a magnificent plank.

The tree was pretty awesome too.

Oh no.

Not the Lord Nelson again?

oh OK then.

If you insist.

We both insisted.

The fishnchips were too good not to have one last portion before flying home.

We walked them off, wandering through the Sydney Botanical Gardens.

Oh and look! Cub's appartment!

When he lived on Macquarie Street.

Norwegian Jewel was peeping through, waiting for its next lot of passengers to take to New Zealand.

#jealous

Words and photos will never be enough to explain what a great time we had.

We were so pleased with ourselves for flying that far that a "great time" was never in doubt, but we really DID have a fantastic holiday.

Absolutely, wonderfully, fabulously ACE.

Auckland

In Auckland we did a Litter Survey(!!)...

had a walk through town with its huge Santa and reindeer...

looked up at the very high Sky Tower...

planked in the high street...

went back to Sky Tower...

had a Christmassy photo in Santa's sleigh...

...watched the New Zealand Christmas trees turn red...

did a mini warrior pose...

and then hit the beach.

It was a lovely couple of hours, in and out of the sea, watching the school parties having their PE lessons on surfing and water games, fishnchipped on the beach which was magical (I think it must've been the salt) and then returned to the ship which was docked right in the centre of town.

Super!

Rotorua. Jetboat. Polynesian Spa

We docked at Tauranga where you get beaches and hills in the same photo

and we took the bus to Rotorua for our hot springs experience.

But we had time for a bit of excitement first!

JETBOATING!!

What thrill seekers we have become in our "old" age.

THIS IS WHAT WE DID...

Book a 30min Jet Tour on Lake Rotorua and experience the excitement and exhilaration of one of the areas most popular adventure activities. Feel the rush and the power as our V8's push you through the water at approximately 80 km/hr, while our professional drivers thrill you with speed, spins and adrenalin. 

Visit iconic landmarks such as Kawaha Point, Mokoia Island and Sulphur Bay and learn the history of the area, the people and the events that have shaped this special place into the cultural and event capital of New Zealand. 

IT WAS BRILL!

Fast, exhilerating, exciting, bouncy, educational and entertaining, our pilot gave our little party of 5 a great ride with lots of spins and fast bumps and a bit of amusing history every now and again.

30 minutes was enough for us thrill novices! 

It was plenty. We are so delicate!

Don't forget we were still recovering from The Tandem haha.

We needed to wallow in a hot volcanic thermal pool! 

So we headed across the road to the Polynesian Spa.

Rotorua is renowned for its healing waters.

 People have been flocking here since the 1800s.

Nestled on the shores of Lake Rotorua lies a geothermal bathing retreat called Polynesian Spa with

28 hot mineral pools with varying temperatures and differing acidity levels. Rachel Spring Waters are alkaline which soften and nourish the skin, whereas the slightly acidic Priest Spring relieves the aches and pains of arthritis and rheumatism.

This pool was just under boiling point, you can see the steam

There are two types of mineral waters used for health purposes in Rotorua: “Rachel”, which is alkaline, sulphur water, softening the skin and sedative, and the “Priest”, which is free-acid water.

The Rachel waters and mud baths are used to manage rheumatic diseases that required a “softening effect”. The waters are regarded as soothing and sedative, relieving pain and reducing swelling in joints and tissues.

We tried several of the pools, even the cold plunge (!) and all had a lovely view of the lake.

The acidic mineral water in this pool comes from the world famous Priest and Radium Spring, renowned for the relief it gives to sufferers of  arthritis and rhematism and general aches and pains as it reduces swelling in joints and tissue.

Certain minerals in geothermal water react with each other as the temperatures are lowered due to atmospheric conditions. The minerals like sulphur and silica bond together as the water cools and becomes visible in the form of opaque milky water or as white particles in the water. This is 100% natural

Polynesian Spa is the only facility to have access to the Priest Spring

It was the perfect place to relax and unwind...and we were most certainly relaxing and unwinding until we had a little incident...but all in all it was A FABULOUS afternoon. Top place.

We were going to make a Christmas Card when we got home but I got a bit waylaid

with parties, 

last minute stockings 

and general Christmas fun 

but it was a good photo!

Napier. THE TANDEM

In 1931 a massive earthquake rocked Napier, destroying the commercial centre of the town and killing nearly 260 people.

Rebuilding started straightaway, resulting in Napier becoming one of the Art Deco capitals of the world and we liked it immediately.

We had a super day here.

On our little mooch around the shops and streets and avenues, we found a decent looking sports stadium, used for cricket and rugby.

Floodlights with palmtrees! YAY!

The town centre was Christmassy.

There were some fabulous statues dotted around.

This one reminded me of AnneThePan and her retired greyhound Reggie.

Naturally, I wanted to do this but I still have a job and I might not have if I'd fallen off.

Mr Nape-the-Juice made me a terrific Liver Flush consisting of apple, carrot, ginger (ooooosh) 

and BEETROOT, it really did hit the back of my throat and made my spine tingle.

THE TANDEM

Napier sits alongside a stunning foreshore of miles and miles of black pebbles.

But alongside that is a wide cycletrack and in a moment of brilliant madness or was it a moment of mad brilliance we walked out of NapierCityBikeHire with two helmets, a lock and a tandem.

Oh my days, were we in for a treat!

The friendly, helpful Bike Hire Staff had lathered us up with suncream, taken care of our bags, adjusted the seats accordingly, and convinced us, without question that we would be able to ride their trusty steed, no problem and off we went.

Except we didn't.

Off we definitely didn't go,

The combination of my weak right knee, Husb being several stones heavier than me on the back and him wanting to push off on his right leg meant a slight resemblance to an episode of Fawlty Towers with Basil and Manuel as we veered into the undergrowth a few times trying to get going.

The people sat drinking coffee were having a free comedy show, we must have been quite entertaining.

Plan B.

Places were swapped. 

Husb, on the lower front seat now had his knees round his ears and the height of the back seat was making my eyes water. Ooooeeerrr.

More hilarity followed.

But we have been married for 37 years and are very patient and hadn't laughed so much in ages and oh my days we actually got going. 

BUT THEN WE COULDN'T STOP!

We only went through one set of plants.

Tandems don't go round corners. Arrgghh.

They don't bend!

What a joy, what a laugh, wotahoot!

We got some speed up in the end and covered several miles in the hour.

Brilliant. Brilliant.Brilliant.

HERE IS THE PROOF!!

It was great fun and I'm sure we had better abs from all that laughing.

But just to make sure, I did a plank on some bark on the pebbles.