Gwendoline Motor Lodge Rotorua

... our names down for the 2pm dive and crossed our fingers that the cloud would clear by then. And as if by magic, at about 1.30pm, the blue sky started to appear and before we knew it it was 2pm, the sky was clear and we were at Taupo Airport putting all our gear on!

We chose to jump from the maximum altitude of 15,000 feet - if you are gonna do it, may as well do it properly we thought! The flight to that height was about 30 minutes and ...

... 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 ...

... geyser, the mud pools, the uses of the various trees and plants for making clothing, medicines, dyes, etc. Her stories were interesting, funny and entertaining... you got a glimpse into the real life of the Maori and hers in particular. It felt like quite a privilege to have her as a guide as we walked about the grounds. We also went and observed the wood carving students as well as the ...

... on fait tourner dans l'air) avec les filles, et les garcons eux apprennent la Hakka. C'est vraiment sympa mais ca l'aurait ete encore plus si j'avais accroche avec le groupe il faut l'avouer. Le lendemain nous passons par Rotorua ou ca sent bon le souffre... ;o) je ne vois pas grand chose de la ville -j'ai deja vu et fait les geysers et sources thermales en Amerique du Sud et donc je decide d'aller faire du Water sledging sur la riviere a la place! ;o) c'est ...

... in their communal outdoor baths. The ground is so thin that only a few families can live there and it seems they were all related. The guide's grandfather was 87 and an Englishman. They had buried her aunty last year and she took the last space in the cemetery, which consisted of concrete square mounds above ground with steam vents - quite strange! The guide showed us how they made their traditional skirts ...

... light spicy coconut milk with all sorts of yummy veggies over perfectly cooked rice. Yum. Anyway, the next day, we returned the car in Rotorua where we spent four days exploring. This is the geothermal capital of NZ and for some strange reason I didn't feel like eating eggs the whole time I was there! One day we took the bus (public transit alert) to the Kiwi Encounter. I think I talk a bit about them in one of the photo captions. They are doing great animal ...

... in tacky touristy treats, and done the Hobbiton Movie Set and Farm tour from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's closer to Matamata than Rotorua, so I've ended up going back not quite to where I started (ie Hamilton) but not too far off! We're in the Bay of Plenty area; it's where Anchor butter comes from, and is the race horse capital of New Zealand - there are more race horses here per head of population than anywhere else in NZ. Apparently ...

... large mountain that was Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings. We also stopped by the Huka Falls, which are these big rapids that creates 85% of New Zealand's hydro-electric power, and 15% of NZ's overall power. When we reached Rotorua in the evening, we found the motel where Shannon and Paul were staying, which had an excellect jacuzzi spa tub. The only problem about Rotorua is that the geo-thermal activity causes the whole town ...

... kuum*vee*llik*st. Enne b*sseini l*skmist j*hut*t*kse veetemper*tuur m*h*, seg*des sed* t*v*lise kr**nist tulev* veeg*. Veetemper*tuur erinev*tes b*sseinides oli v*hemikus 39-41 kr**di j* vesi pid*v*t olem* väg* tervist*v* toimeg*. Õhtul korj*s buss meid pe*le, et minn* v**t*m* m*ooride elustiili, ehk siis tegelikult l*v*stust, sest päris-m*oorid ei oleks om* elukommete näit*misest huvit*tud olnud :) Esm*lt õpet*ti meile n*tuke m*oori ...

... of all hot springs. We met up with Sumeshni, Sarit and Silash (damn, still can't spell the brother's name right, apologies, my man) in Rotorua and had a great time with them, although poor Sumeshni had to work a lot. We went Zorbing together which is one of these mad little Kiwi thrill gadgets ...