The previous blog post ended with a picture of our drive to Whakatane. We went there with our friends Aaron and Val with a purpose: we were going to visit an active volcano on January 2nd. White Island is an active volcano, approx. 50 km off the shore of the North Island. We had booked a boat trip and guided tour to this island, departing from Whakatane. The boat trip was pretty rough (even though apparently it was a calm day), so Judith and Val didn’t feel too well, and we were glad to be able to get off the boat and tour the island. As you can see in the pictures, we needed gas masks and helmets, because it was definitely an active volcano with lots of sulphur gas etc. Very interesting to see and experience!
In this blog post you can also find some pictures of our final days in New Zealand, which mostly consisted of packing, moving (helping the South African family that bought all of our stuff, including our car, to transfer everything to their place) and saying goodbye to friends. We spent our final night and day at our friends Marten and Mirjam and their children, with whom we even went to the beach during our final afternoon; the hottest day in NZ we had experienced so far (+38 Celsius). Quite a shock to get back to the Netherlands at below zero temperatures after that, as you can imagine!
However, we have fond memories of our time in New Zealand. It is the most beautiful place to travel and if you ever want to go there, don’t hesitate to contact us, so we can tell you more about everything you do not want to miss while you’re there! We sure know our way around! 🙂
