BK's Rotorua Motor Lodge

... photograph.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br> The bush walk provides a stark contrast between the geothermal area and greenery for which New Zealand is known for. The native bush contains many examples of New Zealand's native trees and plants. It was a pleasant walk.<br><br><br> The Kakahi Falls is the largest hot water fall in the Southern ...

... every day! <br>After the luxury of the spa our last activity of the day was a ride on a cable car for views of the city. They have made a hill into a tourist attraction with a cafe at the top along with a 'skyswing' (think bungy jumping stuff...) and a lunge - think of go karts without engines going down the hill on a track. Loads of fun for the kids! After a wonder round we headed back to the lake for sleep! <br>

... is where there are sulphur emissions. Still, Rotorua was a bed of roses for us in comparison to Taupo! The bus stop was right beside an i-Site (a one stop shop for tourism information, booking trips and changing money). We knew in advance what we wanted to do so it was just a case of getting it booked sharpish so as to cram it all in! We booked our Maori experience for that night and then the following day had booked Zorbing in the morning (including a look around agro ...

... us - try that in England. We arrived at the airport in two hours so had plenty of time before our flight left - especially as it was delayed by 30mins. A good flight in a prop plane that flew at about 19000ft so had a wonderful view of the islands as we flew between them. The weather was noticeably warmer in Rotarua and again the sun was shining. We had problems with the hire car which, fortunately, Stan decided to inspect properly only ...

... that told her Rotorua was 40K uphill and Sandra the hostel owner who said the road was terrible. What her other options were if she was put off by these people i'm not exactly sure. They then wobbled off and we packed up and headed after them, only to pass them again as they made steady progress. This happened a lot as they made steady progress and we made stop start progress and while we stopped they passed us, except once when I ...

... other sheep out into the pasture. Paul arrived home about 30 minutes later. Everyone was back in the house by now so Paul took his gun down to the barn and killed the two sheep. He disposed of the bodies in the aweful pit (a common New Zealand farm term). Later that night, we had a wonderful shrimp dinner that was prepared by Christa and played cribbage again. This time we taught Paul's two twin daughters and their foreign exchange student how to play. The end.

... out of a hangi so I was abit gutted about that but it can't be helped. I did get food though so that helped line my stomach for the couple of pints of local beer here - Tui. I'm really enjoying myself, as I said before, I only wish my trip was longer.. but I'll make the most of this and then see where I am once I get back home. I feel like alot of doors have opened up to me now, opportunities for something different perhaps.

... where truly moving. The local village geysers gave us a fine send off as well.<br><br>After taking a wonderful, relaxing dip in the hostel's thermal pool, we strolled around town and had an ice cream. I had the famous Hokey Pokey at Lady Jane's Ice Cream, which the students from Wellingtion on the boat at Milford told me was the best they had sampled, and although my experience is more limited, I have to say it was yum! It was a good day!

... option, as it was cheaper and meant I didn't have to wear a wetsuit. The glowworms were cool I guess, and the caves were massive, I was over 40 metres underground at one point which is pretty scary if you think about it - I would have been so dead if there was a cave in... At the end of the tour you go out on this boat and see the millions of glowworms twinkling down at you like stars - and they really do look like stars - its so dark that ...

... difficult. For me the most interesting site there is the ancient forked tree that forms the entrance to the underworld in ancient Maori belief. <br> Nearby are a couple of high sanddunes that you can boogie-board down. We didn't have a board and the wind was too wild to seriously consider stupid stuff. We did it anyway, rolling down the hill. I suspect I've still got sand in body recesses out of my reach. <br> Last stop in Northland were the ancient Kauri Forests ...