Country Villa Rotorua

... left by someone in the free food bin. Why would anyone leave 3 cookies? Oh, and we also had some fruit salad and custard that a group did not want to finish. Two free deserts, sweet!

Oh, I forgot to mention something. You know you're in New Zealand when they use a rugby analogy to explain plate tectonics in a museum: "When tectonic plates meet they move and push against each other like rugby players in a scrum". Haha, awesome!

... as usual but there were some huge gaps in the forest where the logging companies had been through. After our pit stop LJ felt fine and was soon eating crisps and shortly after that snoring. We soon hit the coast and followed it around to the Bay of Plenty region, not sure what there is plenty of but we did pass a lot of Kiwi fruit farms. We stopped at an old quarry called Te Puna which had lots of pretty flowers planted up to a lookout point, which gave a nice view of the ...

... hot steam from deep down in the earth; they are what make Rotorua smell like sulfur. After the park we went to our hotel and checked in. The next day we went to Wai- O- Tapu and The Buried Village. Wai- O- Tapu is one of the wonders of the world so it was very interesting to see. There I saw many just mind boggling craters, sacred waters, geysers, and mud pools. I have taken many pictures and videos that I will share with you all when I get back. The Buried ...

... a talking horse.

Just outside the town of Rotorua are a couiple of National Parks which have all sorts of weird and wonderful volcanic activity with sulphurous pools, geysers and bubbling mud. The bubbling mud by far and away is the most interesting. If you´re ever in this neck of the woods try taking a picture when the mud explodes...nigh on impossible.

Rotorua itself is a fairly large town, in New Zealand terms, and seems to be the epicentre of motel life on the ...

... but couldn't find it. Instead I stumbled across a Maori village next to Lake Rotorua. I went to the dining room, meeting room, church and a few other buildings. They have a very traditional culture and seem to be very community orientated. The buildings are beautifully decorated with wooden carvings, each with a different meaning. Then I went past some geothermal lakes which bubble and steam and smell bad. We had another fairly quiet night because the next day was a ...

... breakfast so that we could try hold off eating until our meal in the evening, as we had heard it was a real feast. We were going to the Tamaki Maori Village which included a buffet meal. So before breakfast we had to go confirm our places on the trip and pay our money. After breakfast we walked back to the information centre where we intended to catch the 12.50pm 'activity shuttle' and complete all the activities we wanted to do, but the shuttle never arrived, even ...

... And speaking of, we saw one in the wild! We camped at a little campground just north of Dargaville. It took a while to find but I'm glad we finally did. There is a little path that leads you through a Kauri forest and if you take the trail at night, you can see and hear tons of wildlife. Kiwi birds don't like noise or light so you have to walk very gingerly and cover your flashlights in red cellophane. It's ...

The problem with travelling for ages is that you need to find new stuff to see to get some variety in between the various beaches, waterfalls, mountain views, etc etc etc that you visit (Yes, I know that I am a spoilt brat!!) Anyway, I wanted to find out more about the Maori culture and so I booked myself onto a tour with the Tamaki Heritage experience. It was a great experience, we were taken through the whole traditional experience of arriving in a village in a ...

... sprinkled to create steam. MOVE FAST. The sacks must not have contained chemicals. The soil is then spread over the sacks forming a dome shaped mound. Begin, again from the bottom and build towards the top. Watch for any steam escaping and cover the cracks with soil. The hangi will need to be checked at regular intervals just incase steam escapes from the soil. The success of the hangi depends upon the speed in which the steps can be carried out. It should take about 15 - 20 ...