(EP37) Napier, Taupo, Rotorua! New Zealand continues 

Breaking news... man from Wales runs AWAY from sheep!

Thanks for a nice 'little burst of tourism' and a few bursts of 'been there, done that' from me. I certainly recall the pong of Rotorua and the steam vents in the tarmac in a car park (coming out from under the camper van which made me think I had a water leak). I asked a Rotoruan how they put up with the quite strong sulphurous bad egg gas smell everywhere and was told 'you get used to it and don't notice it after a bit' and I guess it gets better when the wind blows it away. Pretty place though, and there seemed to be lots of those little flightless black birds running across the roads in the tree fern forests south of the town.

I was waiting to see the sheep on the luge behind you...

I always knew you attracted the black sheep of the world with your quirky ways. The very loud ragtime music really made me laugh, especially you telling us why it was there. And the luge was the best test drive yet!... Although, that final chicane looked dodgy as hell.

One of the best videos so far. Loved the ragtime, nature walk and the luge looked so much fun. Good times.

Shame about the mic failure but I like the ragtime music 👍🏻

If I ever spend 3 months in NZ it'll just be for that luge. I'd be on it every day, all day.

$10 for a thermal walk! You were 'fleeced'.

Aww the sheep loves you Ian. She is just lonely and wants ewe for company!

Splendid, and one of my favorite NZ episodes so far! Firstly, you’re a motoring enthusiast who’s not immune to the beauty of the sky. We’re kindred spirits there. As for the luge rides, amazing... and not the first time this channel has featured adventures in a tiny vehicle steered with handlebars. ;-)

We used to stay around the other side of lake Taupo at Motuopa bay. Trout fishing was amazing with some really big trout being caught. A really pleasant part of the world!and more of a little Village than Taupo town. My late Dad owned the only 24 hour gas station in NZ there in the early 70's With 15 pumps!. Yes a very touristy sort of place.. 😁 The Luge is just like your driving Ellie around the Welsh hill isn't it?

SO many fun moments in this video, from Ninja sheep to Luge downhil racing (someone needs to add some Initial-D music to that bit!). It's a pleasure to be along for the ride Mr. Hubnut. Take care of yourself, greetings from Copenhagen where a ´05 Suzuki Wagin R+ and a ´11 VW Caddy 1,2TSi are waiting for test drives ;-)

A fascinating tour....thanks for taking me along

I wish I could like this video twice. Spent a year in NZ back in 2002. Amazing place.

Cooling lakes, importuning sheep and sulphurous effluvia, but the real fun starts at 16:05, when HubNut demonstrates the skills learned at the handlebars of his terrifying TWC Tiger.

Thanks for that. Seeing the luge footage reminds me of my visit to Rotorua back in March 2011.

Great video as always. Thanks Ian

Yet another very enjoyable episode! The luge track was just amazing and the sheep was hilarious :D

Great video of these beautiful towns in nz makes us appreciate where we come from 👍

Very interesting seems the land is very active

The woolly creature mistakenly thought she had found her brother, the other black sheep (of the family) 🐑

Hi Ian,that was a fun and awesome video,nice scenery to take in,I think that pig wanted to get a tour for itself lol,the Luge looks great fun, watching it with the camera it was fast going down.definately worth the money to have a go.

Great bit of Hubnut tourism! Fascinating to watch, especially the geothermic lakes. The sheep ewe should have christened "George the second" Thank you HN lol.

The bird is a Pukeko. Or blue chicken as we call them

The luge looks like a hoot, so many tourist attractions turn out to be as exciting as cold porridge. I'm definitely doing that if I make it to NZ!

That luge looks awesome! Well worth getting up early for.

I was watching the video hoping you would do the advanced course in the Luge. Had many a few trips there great fun!! I came off one of the corners while on two wheels! I see they have added some extra barriers and buffers as there was too many people flying off at the corners! Favourite section is when you fly for 3 seconds! Love the videos man keep it up hope Aussie is treating you well and I bet NZ is missing you!

Now I have to go to NZ! Gotta play on the luge runs. Oh hell yeah! them geezers (!) is alwite too. Nice and relaxing stroll. Thanks Ian.

Great travelogue and road test on the Loge that was scary

was great to see you enjoying yourself Ian, should head to Tauranga enjoy the beach!

Wow, that Luge looks fantastic - it's great to see your adventures and having good times 👍

What a cool video Ian. Magic just magic.

Loved it. Cheers buddy lol👍🏻🙂

Well, that's lovely. It's a long time since I've been in those parts but I remember the luge well.

Brilliant! Spectacular scenery! The chair lift brought out my fear of heights, even though I am just simply watching! I did do a chair lift up and down our local mountaintop, to the top; the view was spectacular, but my overwhelming fear of falling off puts a little bit of a damper! I did have liquid courage (alcohol) going up; going down, it was wear off, so looking straight ahead helped a little bit. The view from the gondola was also amazing. And what fun going down on the luge 🛷! Felt like I was along for the ride! Happy that you went out, had a very good time, enjoyed yourself!! Our local library utilizes geothermal energy for heating and cooling, very expensive here in the US. And yes, we, as a global community, need to use our natural resources for heating, cooling and energy production. Of course, interesting architecture AND vehicles! Well done!

You are a giggle a minute in your jandels .. main thing is you survived and thank you for the tour, enjoyed the Luge excitement!

Really enjoyed that, thanks 👍

It was great to see you enjoying yourself Ian! :-)

I'm sure that was a tidy Six wheeled Bedford TL tipper where the rebuilding was going on. No matter there will be plenty in Oz. Hubnut does it all, more excellent scenery, gushing waterfalls teeming with negative ions, cable cars, crazy luge runs, geothermal features. Victorian Maoris 🤔, a paddle-not-steamer, a lovely Merc SK truck and a Camry estate with the twin rear wipers. You will find one because these were built to run forever. Great find. PS. Take a break man!

You should have tried to cadge a drive in that double trailer tanker, reversing would be fun, especially in tight spots! Yet another great travelvlog, riding the luge looked like great fun, good times.

I think the sheep likes your shirt!

Aww, the sheep spied you 🐑😂 love harnessing the geothermals. Mildly interesting detour 🤣 aww we have a bluebelle chicken called Winnie (friend to Mrs Agnes Brown the ex-battery hen). Very cool ride downhill and about time you did touristy things 😍 cool Luge!!!!! How does it brake?? "I'll be your friend" - Kia Ora 😍 Scooby is like a sleeker Fox 😎 great video 👍

Nice to see you having some fun , after all , you are also human and surely you deserve it 🙂

Great vid , cheers!

Good fun, I’ve seen lots of pics of relatives hurtling down that track

When you mentioned the Singing Cliff, I half expected you to encounter the Bachelor Boy himself :)

Glad you enjoyed Rotovegas. As we call it in NZ

Hope you enjoyed being a tourist. I enjoyed watching you being a tourist.

All i can say is what a lovely country NZ is, beautiful views laced with" HUBNUTOLOGY",Magic moments i think....farewell and take care Ian on your travels.

No surprise the sheep wanted to tag along. They can tell you're from Wales 😂

excellent views Ian

The funny "Downhill Race" holiday outing, childhood memories in the Netherlands and Germany. And a few rare cars at the end.

We have the same luge in Calgary, AB Canada. They show this location as their first I believe. They take advantage of the “mountain” used for the Canada Olympic park which already has a few ski lift. Quite the riot 😀

That's usually the kind of sky you see just before a tornado. I love the subtitles in Napier: "Buildings!" 😀

Thanks Ian, not only am I going to be thinking about how beautiful New Zealand is but I'm going to be singing the Ki-ora song all bloody day now......thanks!! 😂

Another great video Ian! I loved Rotorua when I visited with my Dad in 1991...but I had no idea about the Luge...what fun! Did you not have a soak in one of Rotorua’s many mineral baths..? Very relaxing for the body, soul and mind! Next time, then..!

That was Great Fun !

Sean the sheep is a HubNut fan..the logo on it's wool was a dead giveaway..charming vid mate!

The luge ride reminds me when i went to alton towers in the early 80's with the school great that was. Some kid crashed in front of me and gashed his head open nasty. He was alright though afterwards. Great video that was.

Art Deco: exquisite!

Been on the Queenstown luge many times. Although last time my brakes failed and I got flung into a fence. Hilarious now I think about it

That was like the alpine New Zealand of my imagination from before you showed us so much more of what exists there.

Those subtitles in Napier were hilarious :D

Hubnut you are not the only one who loves Camry wagons. I missed a minty v6, 5 speed, with leather and 3 row seating for $1700us.

You should see napier on art deco weekend. Cars for miles! Love the luge!

The Rotorua luge is one of my favourite things there... And apparently there are more accidents on it than three are on the bungie jumps 😮

Good video Ian.

That toboggan looks fun , bringing out the child in all of us , got to be done 😁👍

2:55 I'm fascinated by the electrical plugs. The pin pattern is the same as plugs in China but the receptacle plates have switches built-in like the UK ones, which outlets in China don't. Love the video so far, Ian! keep up the good work!

That Luge thing is I think the most exiting thing I have thus far seen during your NZ trip! When are the Aussie vids coming?

Travelling is an addiction, Ian, you're hooked now. Only old age and infirmity can cure it.😄

"Betty i lost the sheep"

Enjoyed that very much. Thank you. The Luge was brilliant but I think those 'Gezzers', (sorry), were a bit cheeky charging $10 for the thermal walk!

Really enjoying these videos Ian glad to see you are having a good time, but please get some shut eye 👍🏻

I’ve been to the Rotorua luge place - I was there in 1994. It was terrifying!

that looks so much fun,,, I WANNA GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When you compare how much it cost to walk around a few steamy, smelly rocks & the Luge I think we all know which one is the best value for money and the main thing is Ian you had some fun!

Love the travelogues, now with added music, best 49 dollars ever!!!

Thoroughly enjoyed that 😁🤣👍

I’d not heard of Napier, I’ll have to add it to my Art Deco bucket list

11:23 "Singing Cliff"? Aah, Mr Richard! LOL

Really lovely. The luge - tricycle of doom!

Fantastic! Although I would have been much slower on the luge! So glad you are able to have some tourist days. NZ Tourism should give you a few quid (or dollars?) as you have shown so much of a stunning Country!

I've been downloading your vids for my mother. . . .she's 86yrs old and loves your channel. . . . . Her name is Moyra and her dog is Molly . . she lives in Hull UK . . . . (a shout out would be a massive shock for her) . . . Keep up he good work my friend.

that was very cool

When the Rotorua luge opened, the "advanced" route was the only track and some of the corners and cambers were very wrong. The "scenic" and "intermediate" tracks opened some years later after many tourists were seriously injured.

To be fair, I think the rapids in the thermal park were marginally quicker than the Nissan Lafesta CVT. That Luge run looked fun!

Ian that Luge looked brilliant and I bet you felt like a 12 year old again, sort of thing as you get older you need to push yourself to do to feel young , looked just fantastic. Great to see you got back on form before leaving New Zealand. Love that video because as you said it was tourist stuff and fun too. Super 😉🛷

The sheep knows you’re from Wales 🤣

I went on the luge at Queenstown last time I visited NZ but the one at Rotarua looks far better!

I’m quite bummed I didn’t discover this channel when he was in Taupo where I live!😂

That gadget looked awesome...its very important to voluntarily risk you life in a foreign country at least once....:)Great video thank you

Enjoyed the musical interlude - I suppose that's what can happen with on-the-fly. That hill track would have been a schoolboy go-karter's dream - until he comes to the sign saying "Slow Down!" and he has no brakes! (I speak from experience.)

That Ragtime was unexpected! nice though!

That luge reminds me of my childhood,my brother and I spent all our time looking for pram wheels for go carts and racing them down the south downs in the school holidays..👍

Looks like fun Ian, I bet Simon doesn't think so though 😂

The question is> Did the sheep pay the 10 New Zealand Dollars as well for the walk? Liked this one, showing that being a tourist, having fun, is also very nice! Appreciated! Thursday evening I will leave to Argentina. Hope in Wales everything is ok? Heared about flooding area's. Be safe!

That sheep knew you are a Welshman...😁

The best thermals near Taupo are "Orakei Korako Geothermal Park & Cave". You only need to see one, this is the one.

Not sure I've heard of a Luge. Looks like it is similar to a bobsled but with wheels. I love seeing those older lorries. What was the blue one off in the distance at 31:00?