Wellington Cable Car

Wellington Cable Car, originally uploaded by MagicTyger.

On the last morning of my journey, before I left for home, we went for a trip on the Wellington Cable Car.

Here's a video of the short trip. If you only have a brief time in town, this is a "must do", it's cheap, quick, and you get to see a lot of the city in one go.

Up the top there's a museum which describes the history of the cable car, plus the botanical gardens, planitarium and a cafe.

I only had an hour or two before my flight, so this was the best way to spend an hour.

Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo, originally uploaded by MagicTyger.

Taupo is a huge freshwater lake in the middle of the North Island. It's
surrounded by picturesque mountains, gravelly beaches, pine trees, and green
grass.

There's something about seeing so much freshwater in one place that
impresses a parched aussie like me.

There was an ironman competition here yesterday. The winning time was
almost nine hours. Can you imagine running, swimming and cycling for that
long?

Waiotapu Thermal Park

Waiotapu Thermal Park, originally uploaded by MagicTyger.

At the Waiotapu Thermal Park there's a large area of thermal pools all
colored by different chemicals that occur naturally in the water.

My specs fogged up from all the steam.

Boiling Mud

Boiling Mud, originally uploaded by MagicTyger.

We're off the ship and exploring New Zealand.

Here's some quick shots of some thermal mud pools at Waiotapu today. It
looks like something from another planet. And smells like it too :)

The ground is still rocking. We haven't quite got used to being off the
ship.

Auckland's Amazing Acrobatic Tugboat

We recently sailed from Auckland's beautiful harbour aboard P&O's Oriana which is currently on a world voyage.

The local tugboat captain skillfully helped the 65,000 tonne Ocean Liner gracefully reverse from her berth, and sent her on her way to Sydney.

But after he'd done the job, the Tug Boat captain showed us what he, and his powerful tug could really do.

To the Auckland Port Authority, and their Tug Operators, thanks for giving us a memory that will stick with us for years!

Please forgive the camera movement in the video. It's very hard to hold a mobile phone camera still while trying to celebrate at the same time.