Detour to New Zealand on the way to Sydney

A few more days in Singapore. We meet Laura and her family again and take a walk on a treetop walkway right in the middle of the city. Torben explores the nightlife of Singapore with Laura and enjoys the Diwali festival (Indian New Year) in Little India. He felt like he was in India there.

On October 29th, we say goodbye to Singapore. The plan is to travel with a stopover in Sydney so that we can get off there if all the visas have arrived by then. In the end, we didn't get off.
The departure is now being made more difficult for us. But luckily, we were at the airport early for once, so in the end, everything worked out. For New Zealand, you can get a visa on arrival for 4 weeks, BUT: you must have a valid return flight within this period. However, we didn't have one yet because we wanted to keep our options open (I'm just talking about visas) - and that's why LATAM wouldn't let us check in. The airport WiFi was overloaded and the booking was canceled several times... the lady was already standing next to us and luckily accepted our online ticket just before the deadline.

.... During the over 4 hours layover in Sydney, the boys learn a lot about airplane types and how to recognize the differences... And the approach to Sydney was already great, as was the view of the skyline from the transit area!!!

But also the approach to Auckland!!! I was a bit worried about the many suitcases before entering. We packed and showed the few groceries as requested. Fortunately, nothing had to be disinfected. We had packed our things tactically well, so we didn't have to search for them for a long time during the inspection. Unfortunately, we didn't get the one bag back :-) Ole and Mika bravely and patiently pushed the fully packed trolleys! And here, nobody wanted to see the valid return flight ticket anymore...

We have chosen a very nice AirBnB in Devonport - a very good choice! Very relaxed location almost directly at the Cheltenham Beach and within walking distance to the grocery store with milk, bread, and coffee on offer, to the ferry to Auckland city center, and to the big supermarket as well as with many interesting destinations for walks, very green and quiet. And there were geocaches around every corner, often with very creative hiding places.
We didn't even need to go to Auckland, the days were also very varied in Devonport. We walked along the beach for a long time in sunny weather and low tide, visited North Head, a former military base with underground tunnel systems, and Fort Takapuna. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to visit the volcanic islands off the coast, where you can go hiking.
During our trip to Auckland, we let ourselves be guided by geocaches to mostly beautiful places in the newly designed harbor area and downtown, and we also checked out the relatively new Britomart Transport Centre (the suburban rail station opposite the ferry terminal).
The New Zealanders are not only very relaxed and friendly and open, but also very hardened. After our tropical experiences of the past weeks, we have to dress warmly, but the locals mostly go barefoot or in flip-flops, with shorts/skirts, but at least sometimes with long-sleeved thicker tops..

We feel so comfortable here that we almost want to change everything and stay here instead of waiting for Australia. On October 31st, Ole's and my visas will arrive. Only Mika's is missing. This actually arrives a few days later! We book the flight to Sydney for November 7th and inform everyone who has been waiting for us: the landlady, the kindergarten, and the school. The boys are already very excited because we booked the return flight to Sydney on the A380!

But before that, we want to make a trip to the interior of the country, to Rotorua. It is very active underground there, which should also be interesting for the boys. Because of the many suitcases, we rent a slightly larger car and drive about 3 hours very relaxed through varied scenery with changeable weather and picturesque cloud formations. Our accommodation is in Ngongotaha, right next to Rotorua. It turns out to be a summer house by the lake. There is luckily air conditioning that also heats, so everything is fine. Rotorua has developed into a tourist destination. In addition to the geothermal parks, there are natural hot springs, amusement parks or facilities, and small Maori villages with tourist-oriented programs. We take a bit of everything.

The boys have a great time at the Skyline Park. We take the cable car up the mountain. There are several downhill mountain bike trails that look really dangerous and 3 or 4 runs for luges, something similar to a summer toboggan run, but without tracks. We got 6 rides as a gift in addition to the 10 we bought. Despite occasional rain, we had fun and saw many rainbows!!

In Rotorua and the surrounding area, there are many places where it bubbles, spouts, and stinks. In the beautifully landscaped parks, there are also bubbling water holes to be found. To get a comprehensive impression of the geothermal activities, we drive to the Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Water) Thermal Wonderland. There is a lot to see in a relatively small area. In the morning, the viewers are started with a package of soap and explanations by a guide to the Lady Knox Geyser, which shoots up to 20 meters high for about 1 hour. There are also geysers at other locations, which turn on their fountains unplanned... and there are ones that are no longer active. The boys were very enthusiastic about the mud pool and the Champagne Pool, which is so named because there are small bubbles on the water surface, like in a champagne glass, and the many yellow and colorful water holes with great names like the devil's bath. In the evening, we watched a Maori show at Te Puia and walked through the park at night, where a geyser sprayed hot water and the illuminated rising steam looked eerie.

Although the boys were reluctant for a long time because of the unpleasant smell, we visited the Polynesian Spa one afternoon, a thermal bath located on Lake Rotorua and fed by hot springs. There are several areas, two of which we were allowed to enter with the children. It was heavenly! Outside rather cool with 15-17 degrees, and in the water pleasantly warm in pools with water temperatures of 37, 39, 41, and 42 degrees Celsius. Only the seagulls were screeching between the pool edge and us... very relaxing!

This is also how we make our way back to the airport, where we were bid farewell by a proper downpour between the parking lot and the terminal...