.JPG)
On a hot summer’s day, there is nothing quite like Plugging Out and flying a kite. But there is so much more to kites than the bits of string and jolly paper at the end of Mary Poppins and since it’s National Kite Day this week, we thought these interesting facts might get you chomping at the bit to pop out for a spot of light flying:
If that is not enough to get you racing for your coat the next sign of a blustery day, we don’t know what is.
Thank you for reading. Please visit Breathedreamgo or stop by my Facebook page at Breathedreamgo.
]]>
Spend time in New Zealand and it became apparent that most of the best things for tourists to do are free.
Without anyone turning a profit from the attractions there is little publicity, and in some cases outright hostility, from locals who want their secret spots hidden.
Never heard of Kerosene Creek or Rangitoto? What about the Tongariro Crossing or the glow worm walk in Waitomo?
Most of the gems are too enticing to be kept under raps forever, and locals have started sharing information about the places on websites.
With budgets strained, taking advantage of freebies will make it easier to afford a holiday in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
First, the ground rules. All the places described in this article have free entry, but getting there can be an expense. Nobody is going to charge you to walk to the top of Rangitoto Island for an incredible view of Auckland, but you will need to first pay for a ferry out there.
Mostly the travel costs are minimal, and New Zealand has a pretty good public bus service.
1. Kerosene Creek
Walking alongside a dirt track beside a steaming creek of geothermally heated water is a natural spa bath, where thousands of bubbles forced down a rockface jet up to the surface.
A little further along the fern-lined path in the forest is a small waterfall with a swimming area below, all warmed by Mother Nature to allow bathing during even the coolest months.
Many people who travel to Rotorua sit in concrete pits of heated mud, or swim in artificially heated hot springs that smell like a burnt match.
They miss what I consider the true showpiece – Kerosene Creek. Don’t ask the locals too much about it. You will hear a litany of reasons why you absolutely must avoid the place.
“You will catch meningitis if you bathe there” is often told.
In fact health authorities say no-one has ever caught meningitis at the stream, and only two people in New Zealand’s history have ever caught the rare form of amoebic meningitis that can be washed into hot pools from soil.
“The crime rate for people who leave their cars there is incredibly high” is another.
But police in Rotorua say crimes around the creek are not the norm, and certainly not happening on a daily or even weekly basis. Patrol cars are sent to the area regularly just in case.
I was also told it is nearly impossible to find, not worth the effort and dangerous to drive there.
It does seem the street signs that help you find the place are regularly pulled down, so it can be tricky to locate the first time, and it is off a dirt road, where public transport will not take you.
Even the name Kerosene Creek makes it sound like a toxic waste dump.
Once I made the effort the first time to find it I was a convert. For a place the locals demonise I must say there were a lot of them down there.
The water level and temperature changes day to day, but mostly it is possible to walk into the waters and have a swim, or even move behind the cascading flow for an unforgettable memory of Rotorua.
To get there drive south along the highway towards Taupo from Rotorua and after about 30 kilometres turn into the Old Waiotapu Road, which is just after Rainbow Mountain. Drive down the road about two kilometres where there is a strip of grass and walk to the hot springs.
There are no changing rooms.
2. Waitomo Glow Worm Walk
A path that allows you to view the larvae of the fungus gnat may not sound like a tourist magnet, yet the sight of tens of thousands of the organisms, better known as glow worms, is incredible.
Most people who travel to Waitomo, about two-and-a-half hours’ drive from Auckland, pay to go into caves and see the unforgettable sight.
Some pay substantially more to go blackwater rafting, which involves floating in tyre tubes through the underground caves where the glow worms live.
Both the paid walk and the blackwater rafting are a great way to see the creatures, yet for the budget conscious traveller there is an alternative.
Known officially as the Ruakuri Natural Tunnel Walk, the path that snakes alongside the Waitomo Stream is one of my favourite activities in New Zealand.
It is only four kilometres from the Waitomo village, and begins at a car park just off the Tumutumu Road.
During the day it is a fun nature walk, but once night hits it comes into its own.
In the pitch black glow worms…
]]>