The Home of Hardy Rotorua

... of huge potholes that our little Audi, Errol, struggled mightily against. As it was also pitch black by then, we also couldn't see any of the surrounding landscape as we drove in. We were pleasantly surprised, therefore, when we discovered that our hosts were very nice and the farm itself was beautiful. After sleeping in bunk beds in the Earthship it was a much welcomed change to have a huge bed and a room all to ourselves. The bed even had a heated ...

... We thought it would be a great idea for all of us to carry our luggage with us as we walked to the rental place, because driving back into town would be very difficult. Hannah managed to write the directions down for the car rental, but forgot to write down the phone number. You would think since we were walking that it would be impossible to miss our turn on Symonds St., but ...

... br><br>I got up at around 2pm (feeling much perkier) and set out to explore the free thermal parks the cleaner had told me about when I arrived. After a few hours trudging through mud (loving it), following trails of steam and taking trillions of photographs to prove it, I headed back to the hostel to clean up. Too lazy for anything else, I ate a bread roll dipped in peanut butter (pretty much my staple diet for the last few days) for dinner and agreed to go back to Lava Bar ...

... They are imported from CA and look like everything that I had imagined in California. The hike is beautiful, although limited wildlife, it is really nice. Mountain bikers are everywhere riding up the trails and back into town. <br><br>We then head to a concert put on by the native New Zealand Mora people ( i think that I spelled Mora wrong). We watched the concert that ...

... watch the sky becoming the ground and vice versa, then down the hill with both of us in it along with a load of warm water (not strapped in), and down a zig zag course again with loads of water - this is so funny! it is like being in a washing machine (maybe?). later on we went to a spa called Hells' gate. It has a thermal park like Wai-o-tapu but is a bit lame in comparison - would be better to come here first! there is ...

... salad will be as adventurous as it'll get. This evening on a recommendation we go to see the Mitai village that promises to give us an authentic introduction to Maori culture. We gather in a marquee with a few hundred others. We are seated at tables of about 10 people and it feels like a wedding until you look around and see everyone clad in fleeces. The evenings are getting chilly here as summer fades away. We are greated by one of the staff who does a good job of geting ...

... stop to see glow worms or fall backwards off of platforms and drop 1.5m in to the water on your bum (nearly losing a contact lens in the process) after that we rejoined the bus and headed to rotorua which is a centre for hot springs and geysers. I had an explore and something to eat and i'm just about to try the loocal pub for a beer - well i reckon i earned it today

... not nearly as tall as Old Faithful. When we were done seeing the results of current geothermal activity, we moved on to see the results of past geothermal activity.  I had mentioned that the area lies on a fault line.  As a result, there are daily earthquakes in the area.  Usually around 4 per day, although not all of them are able to be felt by humans.  The hills however, clearly show the results of these earthquakes.  The hills have ripples in them, almost like ...

... three of us that wanted to go on it but after finding out it was manual Dad was the only one who went on (he got the fastest time for the day). I tried my hand at Archery and did very well then Dad, Steven and Dana tried Clay Shooting. Dana &amp; Dad got 4/10 and Steven got 1/10 but still an amaing effort!! Tomorrow we lwave Rotorua and head out to the Gloworm Caves then off to the coast where i hope to do a beach horse ride. Bye For Now!!

Hallo hallo, Sorry nog maar eens voor de vertraging maar we hebben het hier in Nieuw Zeeland serieus naar onze zin en hoe meer plezier, hoe minder nieuws voor jullie. Rotorua dus, efkes denken. Ah ja, Rotorua kun je al op 50 kilometer afstand ruiken, rotte eieren om precies te zijn. Dit komt door de enorme ondergrondse volkanische activiteit die hier plaatsvindt. Bij het binnenrijden in de stad wordt je onmiddelijk overwelmd door de witte rookwolken ...