Malones Motel Rotorua

... happens to lay exactly above the “Ring of Fire” - the so called Meeting-Place of the two tectonical plates – the Australian and the Pacific. Where these plates meet fault lines develop. One of these runs on the North Island from the still active volcano of White Island in the Bay of Plenty down to Rotorua. If it weren`t for this fault lines I couldn`t have had a hot bath at the freezing ...

... Haka which is a war dance that was used to intimidate the opposition into not fighting. We had a tour then of the park and got an insight into the Maori heritage. Its really interesting as they are most likely descendent from Polynesians but also from Mexicans so they came from all over. We saw the largest glacier in the southern hemisphere go off which was cool. You can walk around the park and see bubbling mud pools and thermal pools. They have a ...

... The rain had cleared by morning so we set off for Te Puia to witness more hot springs, mud pools and the geysers. The Pohutu geyser was most incredible and erupts 20 times a day spurting boiling hot water up to 30 metres into the air. <br><br> We were quite glad to be leaving the eggy odour behind by the afternoon and set off for Auckland. <br><br>

... and it was rather hard work getting the kit on as not only was it wet but it was freezing water and cold temp outside, we did question what we were doing this for several times. Once looking sexy we all loaded into the van and headed to the cave, well not quite. Next we had to find a tube that was the right fit for our backsides - small tubes all round then!!! To test we had the right tube and we would be able to complete the course we had to jump backwards off the ...

... one of our group members fell out - but she was ok :) The day wasn't over yet... after rafting we headed over to another Marae where we were invited onto in a traditional ceremony. The ceremony was an educational experience... I got to see and understand the tribe and the way of life of the first people to land on the island of New Zealand. The tribe sang traditional Maroi songs and we enjoyed a stoned cooked meal... excellent :) After the dinner we ventured ...

... up with some dodgy looking groups of people but there wasn't any trouble (that we saw happening anyway). Our motel owner was prowling around all night and he told us just after midnight that he was going to turn the lights off on us! Quite good fireworks at midnight for which our front row seat was perfect once again. It even rained at midnight just to stick with old memories of Rotorua at this time of year. 01 January We all had plenty of coffee then headed to ...

... before they are put in the hole. A much heavier covering is needed to keep the soil from getting into the food once the food has been put on the heated rocks. You will need four to five pieces of sacking for this. One to lay over the food, three down the sides of the basket and one for each end of the holes. 8. Other Gear: Long handled shovel, rake, hose. 9. Outset: When all the preparation is done place the basket(s) on the ground and mark out the ground around the basket ...

... Form des Hangi, traditioneller maorischer Erdofen) und einem Besuch des Geysirs im Park, dieser war aber leider ruhig, so dass ich ihn nicht bei Nacht gesehen habe. Mitai hat kein Marae, dafuer aber ein Warkanu und ein traditionelles Maori Dorf in dem die Begruessungszeremonie abgehalten wird, auch hier mit anschliessenden Taenzen und Gesaengen, gefolgt von einem Essen und schliesslich ein Spaziergang durch den Rainbow Park, einem ...

... in our hovel, I mean hostel.<br><br>Katie was 10 mins late leaving the room (as a result of pulling half her hair out trying to comb it after running out of conditioner), but managed to avoid getting charged thankfully.<br><br>We needed some breakfast, so we headed to the local convenience store and stocked up on toileteries before grabbing some quick brekkie and ...