Ted Ralphs

I stopped in Rotorua, a major Maori cultural center and also the location of major thermal activity. I visited a Maori village and took a tour. It was built right on top of a zone of significant thermal activity. They used the hot water for cooking, bathing, etc. It was a pretty amazing place. Later, I went Zorbing. You get in a giant inflatable ball ad roll down a hill like a pinball. Here are pictures from Rotorua.

Tonight, I’m camped on the Bay of Plenty on the East Coast of New Zealand. Beautiful beaches here! Here are some pictures.

Today, I started making my way down to Victoria University of Wellington, where I’ll make my next visit. I spent some time exploring the Coromandel Peninsula and camped on Sandy Bay, right near the tip. Here are some pictures.

I spent a few days visiting the University of Auckland and gave a talk in the department there. Here are some pictures from touring in Auckland.

My trip to Auckland will be in three legs. First, I fly from Philadelphia to L.A., then from L.A. to Tahiti and finally from Tahiti to Auckland.

We ended our tour in Palermo, which is a city like no other I have ever been to. It’s really difficult to describe the chaos and energy the city exudes without experiencing it for yourself. It also has some incredibly beautiful monuments and great restaurants. We ate at the Antico Focacceria, known as a favorite hangout of the mofioso Lucky Luciano, who has a pizza named after him at the restaurant (we ordered it!).

After Siracusa, we went to Argingento, site of some of the oldest Greek archeological sites ever found. The Valle di Templi consists of five Greek temples dating back to the sixth century B.C.

In the morning, we made our way to Sicily by hydrofoil and slowly wound or way down to Siracusa, where we stayed at an really quaint little B&B that we really enjoyed. The breakfast was all homemade, including four flavors of fresh jam! Dinner was at a restaurant serving typical Sicilian food and local wine. In the morning, we visited the Greek archeological sites in the area.

We took an overnight ferry to Stromboli, one of the world’s only continuously erupting volcanoes. We hiked right up to the summit and watched the eruptions from the edge of the crater. It was absolutely incredible. I have never experience anything like that and it ranks high on my list of lifetime experiences.

We spent the (rainy) day in Pompei and Ercalano, two incredible archeological sites. I was really impressed by how well preserved the building and other structures were. Unfortunately, most of the artifacts are in museums elsewhere.