From Hamilton to Te Kuiti

Hello, everyone,

Today (11.03) was another eventful day. We got up early in the morning to drive to Hamilton to open a bank account and buy a SIM card. After driving through the city about 10 times, we finally found a parking space. However, the parking meter at this machine was not working. Annoying, because you're not allowed to park there, as a brief inquiry at the nearest store revealed. Fortunately, there was another parking lot a few meters away, this time with a working parking meter. Or so we thought. After inserting a dollar and nothing happened, we got nervous. Luckily, at that very moment, the person responsible for checking those parking spaces came by. After we complained to the man, we were allowed to stay there even though the parking meter still didn't show anything. Finally, we went to the bank. When we arrived, we were surprised that the doors didn't open. No wonder on a Saturday afternoon. We hadn't even thought that a bank might be closed on weekends. Fortunately, we were more successful at the next stop. I am now the proud owner of a New Zealand SIM card. :D But I will continue to use my German number on What's App, so you can still write to me. J

After at least having this task done, we drove about an hour through a very beautiful landscape to Te Kuiti. Luckily, my phone didn't lead us through the highway but through another route that was probably much more scenic. Among other things, we passed by the largest Mormon temple in Oceania. When we arrived at our motel, we unpacked the car and had a light lunch, leftovers from the delicious curry from last night. Then we went to the highlight of this region, the Waitomo Caves. There is a glowworm cave there that is said to be incredibly fascinating. However, when we arrived, we learned that due to heavy rainfall in recent days, the part of the cave with the glowworms cannot be visited. Apparently, you can see them during a boat tour through the cave. However, due to the heavy rainfall, the river has risen too high. Hoping that the good weather from the drive would continue, we booked a tour for tomorrow and decided to go for a hike. We started walking to a lookout point in bright sunshine. But shortly after, it started raining cats and dogs, completely drenching us. When we finally made it back to the car, the rain suddenly stopped. No wonder, we were already wet..

But we didn't let that stop us and continued driving to the next attraction, the Mangapohue Natural Bridge, a colossal rock formation that forms a natural bridge under which you can walk. Simply fascinating. After that, we continued to the Marokopu Falls, a beautiful waterfall in the middle of the jungle. We covered the approximately 30 km on a serpentine road that offered incredibly beautiful views of the New Zealand landscape. While we could drive there in bright sunshine, it started pouring down as soon as we got in the car on the way back.

On the way back, we stopped at a restaurant called HuHu. Since it had stopped raining again, we were able to sit outside and enjoy a beautiful view. The food was also very delicious once again.

In addition, there is another festive announcement to make. Today my car got a name. From today on, we are traveling with Sandy, a strong name that describes not only the external color of the car but also its internal condition.

With these words, I say goodbye and wish you a beautiful day.

Best regards,

Jessi

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