For nearly three weeks Kyle Emard and I were in New Zealand and Australia. I flew nonstop from Los Angeles to Auckland in New Zealand (about 11 hours) on Qantas Airways (747-400 jet) and the trip was really very long and tiring but I managed to sleep some of the way since it was an overnight flight. After arriving to Auckland I took the shuttle bus to downtown Auckland where I checked in at the hostel. I did not plan to stay at the hostel (Auckland City Hostel, 18 Liverpool Street in downtown Auckland at email: yhaauck@yha.org.nz but at the urging of Kyle I decided to give it a try and we made the right decision to stay at a hostel which was very nice and clean. It was very cheap and we had our own private bedroom but the bathroom was down the hall which was not bad. It was clean and I realized that staying at hostels would save you alot of money if you travel for a very long time. For more information about hostels, you can go to www.hiusa.org and become a member before you can book room reservations.

I arrived two days before Kyle came to meet me as he had to attend classes at Gallaudet University. After a long jet flight and a nap at my hostel, I met a wonderful deaf guide, Sara of New Zealand Tours (nzdeaf@hotmail.com She took me to the deaf club at Auckland Deaf Society, 164 Balmoral Road, Balmoral, Auckland and I was very lucky to get there in time to meet many cricket deaf players before they flew to a cricket tournament in India. I also met many wonderful deaf and hard of hearing people at the club including Chris Blum of Sprint Relay New Zealand. (I met Chris a week earlier when he gave a presentation about New Zealand at CSUN so I was well prepared to go to New Zealand after listening to the presentation).

Sprint Relay donated food for the people who came to the deaf club that night and it was very nice. The following day Sara took me on an escorted tour of Auckland in her car. She was very good in ASL and spoken English. I did not realize that there were more than 40 volcanoes around the city of Auckland itself and I saw a few of them including the one at Mount Eden with a volcanic cone. It was breathtaking and beautiful. Auckland is a very beautiful city and if you go there you must also visit a town called Parnell inside Auckland. It reminds me of Georgetown in Washington, DC. Sara also took me to see a cafe owned by deaf people called Star Sign Cafe, 365 Dominion Road, Balmoral, Auckland (email is starsigncafe@lycos.co.uk). It was a small cafe but interesting. Sara and I had a very good homemade banana cake with whipped cream and coffee. After a wonderful day with Sara I returned to my hostel to pick up my car rental for the remainder of my trip in New Zealand. At first I was really very nervous because the driver's side of the car is on the right side and you drive on the left side of the road that are different from the USA and most of the world. I managed to have a test drive then I became used to it.

The next day I drove myself to the airport to pick up Kyle who flew from Washington DC and Los Angeles. Thanks to Sara, I felt like I knew my way around Auckland and showed Kyle where Sara took me the day before.

After spending some time in Auckland, Kyle and I drove to Rotorua, the volcanic plateau in the central

North Island of New Zealand (New Zealand is composed of two big islands called North Island and South Island and we were on the North Island)

Rotorua is a very hotspot of New Zealand's angry natural forces-one of the world's most active geothermal areas as we saw towering geysers, hissing steam, boiling mud and evil smells (sulfur) were constant companions as we traveled along the Thermal Explorer Highway from Rotorua to Taupo as well as Mount Tarawera where they filmed Lord of the Rings. We saw the mountain and the plateau where they made the film and it was like being on the moon.

It was summer down in New Zealand and in Australia so we enjoyed the warm weather and the sunshine when we were there.

We saw the Hangi and cultural performance of the Maori Indian tribe in Rotorua (Te Puia Attraction) and it was good. We also visited the Te Wairoa, the Buried Village, the most haunting sight of our trip since it was the place of the 1886 volcanic eruption. Many people in the village died when their houses disappeared under mud and ash but we were able to see some remaining houses that were covered with lava rocks. We saw many Maori carvings at the Buried Village so be sure to go there if you are in New Zealand on the North Island. (Go to their website at www.buriedvillage.co.nz for more information) We also took a lovely hike to stand in the spray of the magnificent Te Wairoa falls. Also in the Rotorua area we visited Polynesian Spa www.polynesianspa.co.nz which was New Zealand's leading international thermal bathing facility and saw many Japanese people there. We relaxed in several thermal pools of hot and warm geyser water . We loved it and saw many seagulls nearby. Speaking of the birds, we were very very very lucky to see the kiwi birds the day Kyle arrived to New Zealand as I wanted to stop the car and take pictures of the beautiful Auckland Harbor and we saw two kiwi birds walking on the beach!!!!!

Of course, we ate kiwi fruit almost every day in New Zealand as they were very delicious. We also bought a kiwi drink and it was very sweet. Speaking of visiting Therman Wonderland in the Rotorua area, we visited Wai-O-Tapu and it was the BEST!!!!! We took the walk there and saw many colorful thermal activity including boiling mud pools and mineral elements. The area is associated with volcanic activity dating back thousands of years. See their website at www.geyserland.co.nz

Kyle wanted something excitement so he took the jet boating, a high-speed trip on rapid waters near Rotorua for 30 minutes. I took the videotape of him on a high speed jet boat from the hill. He enjoyed the trip and you can see the website at www.rapidsjet.com. Go there if you can as it is one of few places on earth where you can experience the jet boat on river rapids.

Kyle and I were in New Zealand for about a week and we realized that it was not enough at all. When I visited the deaf club many people told me to stay much longer and to see the South Island as well. I was told that the South Island is more beautiful than the North Island BUT we did find the Noirth Island very beautiful. So I figured out how more beautiful the South Island was!!!!

This was not the only time for me to visit New Zealand as I have plans to go there again several more times in the future since I fell in love with New Zealand. If you love National Parks and the beauty of the country, then New Zealand is for you. I am also planning a tour for deaf and hard of hearing people to go to New Zealand and Australia. Let me know at brucegross@aol.com if you are interested to join on the tour.