Waitrose - The New Budget Shop

OK I promise to never go on about how expensive UK food is… I had to do a double take when I went to the supermarket for the first time… a loaf of bread, not the budget variety nor the really posh stuff – just bog standard was $5.00 so halve it… about £2.50 (UK - £1.50). A box of ten free range eggs costs $9.49 (UK £2.40 for 15). 

 

Also it definitely pays off to shop around as the same or similar item may vary greatly in price. We bought a diary for $0.99 in the supermarket and the exact same diary was $10 in the stationary shop down in central Takapuna. I’m sure the locals are more in the know, but the main shopping places I’ve found in Takapuna are…

Countdown – equivalent to a Sainsburys (products, not price) and walking distance to our flat in Takapuna. Our youngest however is slightly apprehensive going there in fear that there may be an explosive device inside.

Pack n Save – this is a short drive out of town and is massive. Definitely the more cost friendly supermarket which we brave once a week. It even has an international isle where there are a few imported popular items – managed to get hold of the all important Branson Pickle to keep me happy.

Takapuna Sunday Market is great for fruit and veg, although as I found out isn’t necessarily always the more cost effective option – but I still love to pay it a visit – for a browse round the stalls.

There is another supermarket - New World, but have never been there so can't really comment.

Dotted round central Takapuna there are a few convenience stores but they are substantially more than the supermarkets, so try to avoid them if I can help it.

And just to prove it… I’m telling no lie when I say it’s darn expensive out here… here’s a copy of our food bill (from Pack n Save considered the bargain supermarket) from our shop today… OK there is a small amount of booze on there, but nothing more than our usual UK shop which normally comes to between £90 and £140 for a weekly shop…. Dan had a little shock when they rang up the total! Eeek!!! 

I tell you Waitrose will feel like a budget shop when we get back to the UK!

Should note for the record that despite the food being sky high the petrol prices win hands down over here and are much cheaper than the UK.

I really don’t know how local people can afford it to be truthful. I get the impression that Takapuna is a fairly affluent pocket of Auckland, so your average Kiwi must really struggle with their food bill especially as I understand wages aren’t substantially higher. When we came out here 12 years ago everything was as cheap as chips… but oh how things have changed!

Rotorua - Skyline Gondola and Luge Rides

To say the boys loved luging in Rotorua is an understatement! They just wanted to keep on going and going. We bought a package at the bottom Skyline Luge ticket office which consisted of the gondola ride to the top of the mountain, 8 luge rides and a skyline buffet at the restaurant at the top. Once at the top the boys were asked if they wanted to feed the sheep and alpacas - an offer they couldn't turn down!

Then it was off to grab our crash helmets and go for our luge trip back down the mountain. The luges are dead easy to control, however given our youngest's gung-ho no-fear attitude and general lacking of self preservation, we thought it best for him to go on with Dan. There are 3 different rides of different levels. The slowest beginner ride is known as the scenic ride and is defiantly longer than the others, my preferred option, but alas the boys liked the trill of speed and near misses of the other tracks.

Really really good fun and a must for anyone coming to Rotorua... I think there is a luge ride down south in Queenstown too - will have to give that one a go when we get there. Once at the bottom, a chair - similar to a ski lift takes you back up to the top to do it all over again...

and again...

Finally we had a buffet meal at the restaurant to fill our little tummies. The boys got stuck into eat-as-much-as-you-want sea food... crabs, muscles, oysters, followed by steaks and sausages. The only problem was there was just so much to choose from! Fab puddings too, and I opted for the crepes...I can feel the poundage pilling on!! Not only was the food second to none but we had an amazing view over Rotorua Lake to boot - the perfect way to end a fantastic weekend. We'll definitely be back for more!

Rotorua - Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park and Mud Pools

Wai-O-Tapu thermal park is a must do for anyone visiting Rororua. Once you get over the overwhelming eggy sulphur smell the landscapes and scenery are second to none, something truly unique and definitely well worth a visit.

My favourites would have to be the 'Artist's Palette', the 'Champagne Pool' and the bright green lake known as the 'Devils Bath'. Some of the lakes such as the 'Frying Pan Flat' were quite dry, so I think WaiOTapu would probably be a good place to visit in the rainy season when there is more water on the ground and slightly cooler too (yes I missed a bit when slapping on the sunscreen and got a little pink in places).

Apparently there is the Lady Knox Geyser which goes off at around 10.30 am in the morning and that's when the crowds arrive, but we didn't bother with the geyser as we'd seen one earlier at Whakarewarewa village - which was brilliant as we could avoid the crowds and stroll around, enjoying the scenery at our own pace.

Devils Ink Pots

Artist's Palette

Artist's Palette

Artist's Palette

Crossing the Terrace on the Boardwalk

Pool crossing the Terrace on the Boardwalk

Green waters of Lake Ngakoro

The Champagne Pool

The Primrose Terrace

Oyster Pool

Devil's Bath

Rotorua - Whakarewarewa Thermal Village

Whakarewarewa Village was our first stop at 9am - way way too early for our family. Back our childless backpacking days, Dan and I went to a culture show at a different location so thought it would be good for the boys to experience one too, but this was different. Whakarewarewa is an actual Mauri village which is still inhabited by local people who live and work there. We were taken around their various steaming eggy pools and told a brief history about the village and its culture, a brief "ooh" and "ahh" at the Prince of Wales geyser followed by a culture show.

(now does this carving have a certain resemblance to a famous yellow cartoon character?)

I have to say in truth that this tour is probably aimed more for adults rather than families as it was (in my opinion) quite dry. Other culture shows which we've seen back in the day, whilst more contrived being aimed at the tourist industry and far more expensive, are far more theatrical and possibly more entertaining and memorable for the boys - you get what you pay for as they say!!!

Still it was quite interesting and amazing to think that people still lived there, building their houses on quite unstable ground. Back in the day they didn't have fences around all their hot boiling pools of water - quite a hazard if you had children I think - talk about a health and safety issue.

The name on the plaque that greeted us as we entered Whakarewarewa Village was their Maori name Tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao, there me little Welsh friends, that should give you a run for your money!

Rotorua - Kuirau Park

There are so many activities in Rotorua, and we stumbled upon Kuirau Park which is one of the free things to do, and seeing as it's so darn expensive in Rotorua feel it's well worth a mention.

Kuirau Park is a thermal park which you can wander round the thermal volcanic steaming land and admire all the bubbling mud it has to offer... this was the first taster of thermal active land for the boys and to say they were slightly overwhelmed with the rotten eggy smell is a slight understatement!

Rotorua - Zip-lining Rainforest Rotorua Canopy Tours

Where did the weekend go? Our 'things to do' list for Rotorua is quite extensive, so we had to prioritise as we only had the weekend, so opted for the Rotorua Canopy Tour, an impromptu round of crazy golf, a guided tour and cultural performance in Whakarewarewa Village for a taste of Maori culture, a gentle stroll around the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland Volcanic park to top it off with a Rotoura Gonda and luge rides... phew quite a bit to cram in!

So we set off early on Saturday morning for our 3 hour drive south to Rotorua stopping enroute for a quick energy sugar boost/ stretch legs time at a cafe in a lovely little town called Cambridge - a quaint little town with quite a British feel to it packed full of antique shops. After our round of muffins and hot chocolates, and fast forward an hour, we arrived for our three hour zip lining rainforest adventure. Well all I can say is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant and a must do for anyone seeking a little adventure in Rotorua.

After a brief introduction and helmet and harness kitting out session, our group of ten were lead by our two instructors Richard and Shane through the rainforest. When everyone else precariously took a step backward when faced with the question of who wants to go first - our youngest's hand shot up - oh the gift of naivety! So off he went shooting along the first zip wire, disappearing amongst the foliage to the next platform, closely followed by his brother.

Along the way we were told about the various birds that used to inhabit the forrest, most of which are sadly now extinct - mainly due to the introduction of mammals to the island such as the rats which caught a free ride over on the boats, rabbits, ferrets (introduced to control the rabbits) and the possums. Unfortunately being flightless birds their only defence was to freeze and stand still, so the New Zealand birds really didn't stand a chance.

Apparently when Captain Cook first came to the island he could hear the bird song from 2 miles away, and when asked to stand still we were surrounded by pure silence, not a single chirp, very sad. We learnt about the conservation project underway aimed at reducing the amount of predators, for which some of the money of our tickets went on - so a truly worthwhile cause.

After our bit of excitement we decided on a light spot of crazy golf - a rematch in Dan's eyes from back in the day when I whipped his butt back in Portershead... oh I'll never let him forget! So here we are trying to teach our children the rights and wrongs, that it's OK to loose, and to loose gracefully, there can only be one winner etc... but oh no this all goes to pot here. Dan's competitive monster rears it's ugly head - not in a loud or aggressive way, but competitive silence - it was all in his eyes, calculating the score as he went, working out his strategy for the next move.

Just for the record, alas the pressure was just too much and Dan sadly didn't win (again)... hee hee hee, loving it!

We then tootled on back to our hotel - Hotel Novetel, a really good find in an excellent central location for Rotorua close to the lake. There was a  big concert going on in the field outside our Novetel Hotel so we watched the opening Haka ceremony and then we slipped away into the town for a bite to eat.

Despite being way past the boys bedtime we quickly got changed into our swimsuits and headed down to the hotel spa (well it would be rude not to squeeze in one spa trip when in Rotorua). The pool area consisted of a swimming pool and two spa pools... the tip of my toe was the only brave (or stupid) part of my body that entered the thermal hot pool, at 40 degrees, how on earth can that be good for you?... and then back off to bed to visit the inside of our eye lids.