New Zealand travel photo album major update

We have been both busy and lazy, but today we have updated our Flickr photo album with some really nice pictures taken in the southern island.

We have modified just a few to make them more bearable and we must reckon that we put a lot of similar pictures in every set. But after all this is also our family album.

Enjoy them, or not.

Travel & Adventure reporter

Hi there my beloved friends and fans,

I have been busy this past weekend looking the pictures I took on vacation and for the very first time – just after the travel- I have decided to classify and to comment them.

If not soon you forget about places, about names and sometimes when a year or so have passed it’s a good idea to check your travel album. Normally you forget the pains and lame places and you magnify good ones.

The Northern Island is fully completed and categorized. All the pictures are taken as is, with no editing (I don’t want to loose more time on it) and may be there are a lot of them, but take into consideration that It’s always better to get invited to a friend’s home to watch the videos and pictures for hours.

Hola apreciados amigos y amados fans

Este fin de semana he estado ocupada mirando y seleccionando las fotos que he sacado en las vacaciones. Por primera vez he sido capaz de hacer los deberes rápido – justo después del viaje- He decidido clasificarlas y comentarlas.

Si no rapidamente te olvidas de los nombres, de los lugares y muchas veces cuando pasa un año o así es una buena idea volver a mirar ese album. Se te olvida lo malo y lo bueno parece mejor.

La isla del norte esta “acabada”. Las fotos como siempre tal como salen y sin retocar – no tengo tiempo ni ganas de mejorar nada- y además quizás haya demasiadas, pero pensad que es mejor esto que te inviten a casa de un amigo y te hagan tragar sus fotos y videos del viaje a Bali durante horas.

Nickie our new friend from the antipodes.

We were in Christchurch and Miffo wanted to take a picture of a sheep. After all in NZ there are more than 40 millions (far from the 80 millions there were a years ago). Incredible but that is the same that saying every New Zealander has 10.

Miffo was talking with Nickie – a nice little sheep that has the wish to travel the world – and she convinced her to come to Barcelona.

Here you can see her with Ninjin that is a bunny world authority in carrot breeding and plants.

Flying back home

In a few moments I will be queing for checking in my flight that will take me from Shanghai to Amsterdam. I am flying back home. And for the first time I had the feeling that i want to return home.

While at Nelson (NZ)

Father Bunny has gone to the Countdown supermarket to buy some food for today’s dinner – I did not remember of any of my travel with FB cooking everyday, but this is New Zealand and surely you will do the same-

Yes 9j! You will get shocked about the flavour combination this people like. At least in Auckland and big cities there are quite decent Japanese restaurants. Ah! Nijntje, How we are missing the good stuff we had everyday in Hokkaido and in Tokyo.

So while waiting for him I left you with some scenes from the past days.

A friend of Father Bunny established here secretly a few year ago and now he is an Egg's Tycoon.

Have you seen this carrot? awesome, and it tasted even better, sweet and soft.


Boys need to step in every single water and mud spot they found, so my father does all the time


Lupita at Karangahake gorge discovered a landscape that is very familiar to her

Stuck, by bad weather.

A snow rabbit, what more we could do...

Yes, no matter how bad the people from Avis treated us, after so many years trusting them. I will explain that to you in a near future, but now, we are really stuck. Bad weather – some people said the worst in several years- with heavy snow has stopped us, all the passes are closed and we needed a good shelter.

We have found one. But tomorrow’s journey can be epic.

One Bunny ring to rules all!

Rotoura day 2

We decided to have breakfast in our room, provided that we have a full kitchen for us.
A nice, but limited, full continental breakfast with ingredients Father Bunny bought the day before in Park’n’save.

First stop, Waitopa, according to our travel guides and the advice from local the best places to get an idea of this zone geothermal power – Rotorua is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire-

You pay an entrance fee of about 25 NZ$ (13 EUR) and you access to a three loops circuit with an extra 20 metres high geyser eruption at 10:15 am.

I will say you just enjoy the pictures and decide by yourself.

The Geyser that -with some help- wakes up at 10:15 everyday

Champagne pool - nice colours

Hot mud pool - great for your skin -

Next stop – Buried city- I know that I should write about this place’s story, but again will let you to decide – link-. After some 25 NZ$ each we entered in something that I have no words to describe and I am still hearing father bunny yelling nasty words.


A year ago we were in Hokkaido – Japan- and we visited an earthquake destroyed city – no entry fee- where you could really feel and fear the danger and anger of Mother Earth.

No more words.

Rotorua, day one.

We just arrived here, to one of the oldest and most touristic places of New Zealand. We booked a room in Princess Gate – the oldest hotel in town- where they were so nice as to upgrade up twice from a regular room to a bungalow with kitchen and living room.

Unfortunately the carpet and the hot atmosphere in the interior caused some problems to my old father – he suffers from asthma – and our first night it was a little nightmare with him complaining about the room and his poor running – he went for a run with this cold weather-

We managed to half watch the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics – it was on air here at 00:30 – quite nice but too much for us that get up at 5:00 everyday, suffering from the worst jet lag we have experienced ever.

We ended our Olympic day after watching the Spanish team – awful uniforms- entering the stadium. The NZ one sport Channel was looking for Mr Nadal and so did the Chinese TV, and finally they found him.

Rotoura – where earth shows her power.

Miffa and Miffo at Ohinemutu

This region is the home to the Arawa people, whose origin trace to the Arawa canoe in which the Polynesian warriors came here in the fourteenth century.

According to Maori oral tradition, the priest (Tohunga) Ngatoroirangi tried to climb the summit of Mount Tongariro but he feared dying from the extreme cold and so he prayed to the god of Hawaiki (Polynesian home land). The gods sent fire to the priest from inside the Earth that revealed as several volcanoes around the area.

Rotoura’s origin has firmly roots in tourism, in the last decades of the nineteenth century. One of the main attractions of that time it was the pink and the white terraces where people from all over the world travelled to take baths. After the destruction of the terraces by the eruption of Tarawera Volcano the government built the Government Sanatorium Complex to administer different spa treatments.

By far Rotoura has the bigger amount of tourist attraction per square meter of New Zealand. No matter what you like or dislike, surely you will find it here. Kiwi farms, sheep farms, 4wd driving, quads, the Zorb (you go downhill inside a big plastic ball), Maori experience, and of course spas.

Nothing to say except that prepare about 20 NZ$ average for every “attraction” whose quality range from fair to tourist trap rip off.

So if you are coming here, you have been warned.

We are leaving the North Island

Today we will take a Ferry and we will left our XR6 here, we are moving south where more ice and cold is waiting us.

I have a lot of nice pictures and things to share with you but unfortunately little time and no Internet access most of the times. (We drove yesterday more than 7 hours)