Capri Court Motor Inn Rotorua

... the gondola back down which was good timing as there were coaches full of people arriving (my tip go earlier to avoid the rush). We headed to KFC for a traditional Maori zinger burger for lunch. We were so full up that we headed back to our room for a short nap (I had to finish yesterdays blog as it took me so long to write, before I was allowed a nap). Later in the afternoon we decided to finish the walk we started yesterday and headed to the lake and had a look at a Maori church but it ...

... the sulphur smell doesnt exist here. Went and visited the lake, and not a lot else for the rest of that day, got myself prepared for what was to come the next day...skydiving.

Monday came and I was pretty nervous but hopefull that the skydive would be on as it had rained all weekend, and was still cloudy come 9am. Come 10am and all clouds had cleared to leave a gorgous day, perfect skydiving weather im told on the phone by the lady, they would be collecting me at 11 ...

... got used to), it was actually quite interesting. We came across pools over 122 degrees Celsius and pools all sorts of colors, including brown, yellow, and black. One pool was called the "Cooking Pool," which back in the day the Maori used for cooking. It was so hot, that it could fully cook a normal-sized pig in just 2 hours! One pool was used for healing purposes and a long ...

We arrive in Rotorua the next day and check into the visitor center to find out what to do. I starting to warm up to the people in NZ and think that they think I am a kiwi also. Although difficult to pass for a south American, I think that I can pull off the Kiwi thing. I notice that I start talking with a British accent to the locals. People are generally friendly and the ...

... headed to the beach at Cathedral Cove and then up to Whitianga (pronounced Fitianga). But if you don't like the weather just wait 15 minutes. By the time we got to Cathedral Cove there was not a cloud in the sky and our stunned guide was telling us it was one of the best days of the year. We decided to bite the bullet and pay for sea kayaking rather than just hanging out at the beach. Wonderful decision. I am not a ...

Thats right after falling 7metres down the highest commercial waterfall in the world we ended up stinking of sulphur in a mudbath. Need a further explanation? ok here it is.

With Rotorua being the capital of fun in the north island we just had to get involved. There was so much to do and so little time and after Ashlee making Steve miss out on racing down hills in 'tobogan' style karts it was time for some water fun. There were a few ...

... to make yogurt, soft cheese, and ice cream all from scratch. I had to do a bit of boring stuff as well though. I weeded, mowed, dug, and cleaned more than I would have liked. But it wasn't just what I was doing, but who I was doing it with. There were three people I was working with mostly. The first was Issac who was maori and about 18. He was really cool to hang out with as he had a really interesting insight into the other people in ...

I had booked a helicopter flight for the afternoon but the company had rung Roger to say they would like me to go in the morning as there was no-one else who wanted to go in the afternoon. This meant I would miss the morning tour with the rest of the group but since I had missed my flight in Franz Josef I was very keen to fly. I decided I would take the morning flight and miss the tour. At 0945 I arrived at the Heli office and was joined by my two companions ...

... from the outside, but everything on the inside was tip top. The mud bath was excellent. It was basically a large tub filled with water and mud. The idea is that you stir up the mud and put it on your skin and its supposed to be good for you. One bonus is that the bath tub came complete with a rubber ducky! The whole experience lasted about 45 minutes and was well worth it. Later that night, I booked a trip to the Tamaki Maori Village which is a ...

... of these pools were just bubbling away it turned into loads of steam, and we had to walk out over this lake on a wooden bridge through a massive cloud of hot steam - we couldn't see where we was going but when we got to the other side there was the most amazing sight - I took a picture, I can't really describe it, it was like light meets dark with steam - very atmospheric... aparantly the area is very significant to the Maori ...