Hotel Ibis Rotorua

... stayed for 3 nights and went around visiting various attractions like 'Hells Gate' sulphur pools and the Gondola ride to one of the hills surrounding the town then several goes on the 'luge' carts to come down again.
All in all Rotorua was great fun and we had an unexpectedly lovely time there with a fair share of suprises.
From here we set off for Wellington and the close of our north island adventure.

... a gentle stroll around Rotorua, taking in the New Zealand pace of life. I got picked up from the hostel to go to Wai-O-Tapu thermal village to see old volcanic craters, steaming mud pools and other thermal wonders. I felt quite underwhelmed as I couldn't see the main hot mud pool as there was too much steam that day. In the evening we went to the bar for free pizza!!

... as it would buy us a tank of gas or some groceries! Now we're in Rotorua, which is known for being the geothermal hotbed of New Zealand (actually we're staying just outside the city in a small place called Lake Tarawera). Apparently the earth's crust is the thinnest here so there is an abundance of hot springs, and spouting geyers. A lady from the church commented a bit dryly that it's the closest to hell on earth! haha I definitely wouldn't say ...

... bottom or curl up in front and we would all suddenly find our selves catapulted through the air or under a boat and waterfall. There was also quite a strong possibility we would forget to take a breath as we went over the edge as we were being fully submerged at the bottom would suddenly find our selves with no air. But we couragousely paddled onwards and a few seconds away from the edge when all we can hear is the roar of the water and our final chance of chickening out and ...

... up the stream and then running up to the meeting place. we are all seated in the meeting place and the warrors and wifes dance and sing a welcome song for us and we then sing a song back!! The ceremony is great and mostly done in Maori, but then translated and explained. The hosts have a good sense of humour and soon everyone is laughing and trying out the hand gesures and face pulling!! After the ceremony we have a buffet of the food ...

... and we were on our way. It took a couple of hours to arrive in Rotorua. We called in at the tourist information centre and after bustling our way through the crowds of backpackers just arrived on a bus, we headed for the campsite which was pretty decent. One interesting site was a Maori Land Court in the town. As has happened in Australia and the Aborigines, NZ has over the last 20 years ...

... There was a dead straight line of sky-reaching trees with an information board next to it. Apparently and completely astonishingly, these line of trees grew from wooden fence posts!!!!!!!!!! They just sprouted up from the posts!! (David: Now we know this can happen, we've seen them all over the place. Lois: well, the trees don't actually advertise the fact that they once used to be a fence post, "Hey! I used to be a stump" but you can guess at their origins I suppose. (David: The ...

... the trees. A scenic course plus intermediate and advanced courses. We try the scenic course first which itself is pretty fast. The sense of speed is enhanced by the fact that your bum is about 2 inches from the ground! After finishing the luge we get the ski lift back to the top and try out the Sky Swing. I hadn't seen the swing in operation and so was quite concerned as we were strapped in and then hoisted up on the swing until we were horizontal in the ...

... over New Zealand and at the same time guaranteeing land rights to the Maori. This treaty has been exploited and abused numerous times by settlers, but still forms the basis of Pakeha (Europeans) and Maori integration. There is a comitee that decides on property and other claims falling under ...