Going south

Yes. The time has come for the mighty adventurers to head south. We have been waiting for this time to come for some time now. And now, when the date of the departure is coming very near, we have to do some final preparation, so that party will travel safely and won't get lost on the way in the mysterious land that awaits them.

The departure time is tomorrow (13th) in the morning hours.

Party came up with a plan how they will travel in the unknown land of south. Here you can see their plan in the unknown land.
In this last day we must purchase the food and drink, and pack everything together so that the departure will be when it should be.

It will be long.

Party plans to return on 25th.

It will be hard.

There are more then 3.000 km just on south to do.

It will be unforgettable.

There will be much to see.

Wish them luck and bare with them on their journey in the south.

More will be written upon their return from "THE SOUTH"...

Road Trip #2

I was really lazy last week and I didn't write any post. But anyway. here is the first one to break the silence.

On the easter weekend we had 5 days off, so we planed a longer road trip on the north island.

Day 1.
We had to do some starting millage. On our way up we went around the Mount Ruapehu, the highest mountain on the north island. We went past it on the east side on the so called "Desert road". Later some of the local people told us that there is a training area for NZ army there. And that they were shooting the great battle of Lord oft The Rings there.
Our first stop was Lake Taupo. Its a grat lake with really nice landscape around there. We made a short stop in city of Taupo. Its nice beach there but we didn't have time to stop there for a swim.
Just few miles to the north of Taupo we stopped at Hakka falls. This are really big rapids wit the fall at the end. The water is so wild there.
The second thing there, just few minutes away was "Craters of the Moon". This is a park with 45 min walk where you can see what thermal ground means. There was smoke coming out from small pitches and cracks in the ground everywhere. And there was hot mud lake there as well.
Next stop on our final destination of the 1st day was hot stream that was running through the forrest several kilometers to the north. We first went there to check it out. And then put our swimsuits on and get into it. It was really hot spring in the middle of the forest (at least 40ºC if not more). We were in there just for few minutes.
After that we went to city of Rotorua. A really stinky place. But the smell was there because of all the thermal smoke at that area. We had a hard time finding the place to sleep and finally found it in Korean youth hostel. It was not very tidy but we lived.

Day 2.
On the second day we paid a visit to the beautiful lakes around the Rotorua in the morning and had breakfast at one of those lakes (Green lake, Blue lake, Lake Tarawera). We found out that there were really great terraces close to those lake before 19th century, when eruption of nearby volcano put them to rest in depths of one of the lakes. The volcano also buried one village in that area.
Our next stop was Watakane. We hoped that we could see the White island from there (an active volcano island), but it was too far from the shore to see it. We passed several lakes on our way to Wakatane. We bought tent there, and reserved the place to sleep in Tauronga. We got a space by the YHA. From Watakane to Tauronga we took the coastal road and stopped on the way for a swim. The beach was really beautiful and the waves were really gigantic. It was a white sand beach.
When we came to Tauronga, we cooked the dinner and went out on the Jazz festival that was on on the Easter weekend. The center of the city was full of life and it was really nice. After the concert was over we went through the center where all the clubs were filled with young drunk people. The feeling was amazing. So many people at one place. We didn't join them thou.

Day 3.
We started in the morning wit a tour through th Tauronga and neighbor city Mt. Manganui. The cities are sticking together and you can't really tell where one ends and the other begins. mt. Manganui got its name by the mountain (its a small hill actually) that stands up at the coastal ridge. It's quite prestigious city with fancy building and hotels and a really nice coast.
After that we continued our was in direction of Auckland. We took the Pacific Coast Highway and paid a visit to Coromandel peninsula. Its a really nice hilly peninsula that stretches out of the north island. The landscape there is just amazing. We went through few tourist cities on our way up, and they looked quite prestigious. We reached our most north point this day in city of Kuaotunu. The coast there is amazing. From cliffs to sand beach full of shells. There were shells all over the coast there and it was amazing. We continued our way to the city of Coromandel. The weather gave up on us and it started to rain when we got there, so we didn't see much of the attractions there. But we did see some of its really nice landscape. The views there were amazing.
We continud our way along the Coastal Highway with plenty of nice views. We reached the Auckland in the evening and were happy that we booked our rooms day before at International YHA. This hostel wasn't as nice as the one in Tauronga but it did the job.
After the dinner we went out to explore the city at night. The city has 1.2 million people but it covers large area so the population isn't concentrated as in cities in Europe. There are still some high building in the center. We went to coast, where all the life should be (according to the guy at information center). There were several nice restaurants but all the clubs were closed because it was Easter Sunday. We went to the highest building in the south hemisphere - the Sky Tower. And the view at night was amazing. All the lights of the city were spreading as far as the eye could see.

Day 4.
After we woke up we started our tour around the Auckland. First we went to the art gallery that was really close to our YHA. We were lucky since there was no entrance fee on that Monday. Only half of the gallery was opened because the main part was being renovated. After that we went for a walk to the Museum, but turned around and get the car, since it started to rain.
The museum was fantastic. You can see so many things there that you just can't believe. This was one of the best museums that I've been to.
After we finished with the museum we looked for an aquarium for more than half an hour. We were on the right street but we just couldn't find it. We gave up and started our travel back to the south.
Next stop was Hamilton. We found out that there are nice gardens there and so we went there. And yes, they were really nice There were all kinds of gardens from all over the world there. From Japanese Zen garden to Chinese garden, English garden, Modern American garden, Italian renaissance garden, and more. There was a big park around the complex, but we didn't have time to see it.
We continued out way to Waitomo caves. We reached the caves late in the evening. We had a dinner and after that we went for a night walk in the land of "glow worms". And it was amazing. The walk takes around 45 minutes and you can see lots of blue glowing worms right next to the track. It's beautiful.
When we came back we put the tent up and slept till the morning.

Day 5.
In the morning we went to one of the caves there "Ruakuri caves". It was a nice experience. On our way through the cave we met the group on their dark water adventure. The cave was amazing.
When we got back from the caves we did the same walk that we did the night before. And we saw many more things and went to the natural tunnel that we missed at night.
After that we started our return. It took us many hours of drive to gat back to Wanganui. The landscape was nice all the time. It was amazing.

You can see the photos from out trip in my gallery here.

No more movies spam

Yes, I have decided.
I will not post my movie reviews on this blog anymore. If the movies won't be really really great and worth it.

Open studios

This and last weekend were the Open studio weekends in Wanganui, when all the art studios in the city open their doors for anyone to visit.

As far I went in Green Bench studio where Julian and his wife are settled in.
She is a graphics designer and he is a computer scientist that took the art with it. He had an exhibition on reusing old things. Especially computers and all stuff connected to them. One of his projects is called geekosystem. He uses paper shredder to shred all computer manuals and create soil from them. He mixed the shredded manuals with the coffee beens and watter and planted some seeds in there.
He also had workshop on how to reuse old computer parts. and some people made nice artworks from old transistors, chips and other stuff. I made myself a working radio station in the box.
It was really nice experience to handle the hardware. I havend done much of that even thou that I'm a computer scientist myself.

Here are some pictures of my FM radio station.