Ledwich Lodge Motel Rotorua

... a lot less than the others as well. Oh and I have just found I can get a wireless signal in this room from Milly's Cafe over the road - it's going to cost me $8 for an hour, but what the hell, live a little, eh?<br><br>Just been out for some tea. Rotorua is a lot nicer round the town centre, but of course being after 5pm is completely closed. Well apart from the shops operated by people from Japan/China/Korea et al - if the Kiwi's aren't careful they'll have their country off them! <br>

... a talking horse.<br><br>Just outside the town of Rotorua are a couiple of National Parks which have all sorts of weird and wonderful volcanic activity with sulphurous pools, geysers and bubbling mud. The bubbling mud by far and away is the most interesting. If you´re ever in this neck of the woods try taking a picture when the mud explodes...nigh on impossible.<br><br>Rotorua itself is a fairly large town, in New Zealand terms, and seems to be the epicentre of motel life on the ...

Rotorua is a mystical city set on geothermal parklands sacred to the Maori people. It is still very much revered today and has become a major tourist destination as much of the maori traditions and cultures are practiced and preserved and it is clear that the income from the tourists play a major part in preserving the indigenous culture. A huge difference from Australia to New Zealand is that here, the indigenous culture is very much celebrated and there is ...

... for it ! Just out of town is the Maori village of Te Whaka, in a geothermal valley where Maoris have been living for 700 years (actually it's full name is Te Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao - the gathering place of the war parties of Wahiao). Maoris still live in the valley & keep the history & culture alive. They are justly proud of their heritage. The tourist area has an exhibitions of Maori life & culture with demonstrations of Maori ...

In the morning, we drove to our first destination in the Kawhia Bay, called Ocean Beach. We had to be there around the low tide because you can dig a pit in the sand and let the hot springs under the sand fill the "tub" with hot water. Pretty amazing huh? You can do this in two places on the North Island, and this one was the least out of the way for us, so we decided to check it out and we really wanted to relax on the ...

... night ended with a tour in the nearby sanctuary, where we all saw for the first time various animals of New Zealand. The kiwi was of course the protagonist of the show. The kea was also notable, especially because of its interest for rubber (we probably have to be extra careful in the south island if we don't want to have our campervan destroyed by these lovely birds). The following day was even smellier than the previous one. We visited the geothermal ...

... only see them from inside of the Magic Bus), with that lot of sheep around. But then, there are also really some hobbit holes still there. Ok, they don't look like in the movie any more. There's no decoration, no fences, no doors or anything that looks like homes. But with some imagination and especially with the posted pictures there everywhere you can see them, and it's just cool to stand there where they shot some well known movie scenes. At the end of the tour they finished with a ...

... into a jump suit, all the harnesses, a cap and then we toddled off to the plane - they kept asking me if I was excited, and no, to be honest, that wasn't quite how I was feeling - sick, more like! So the plane set off and I stayed cool, no panic, it was all part of this 'inevitable' feeling. A few minutes before the jump, I'd to sit on Eric's lap and that was when he strapped us together. I'd got my instructions. When he pushed us out of the plane (at 9000 ...

... Hammond I wonder how I never noticed the awful smell growing up. Of course, at least the sulfur smell in Rotorua is caused by natural causes, and not a myriad of factories and refineries like Hammond. We spent our first day in Rotorua exploring Maori culture. First up, we headed to the Maori cultural center known as Te Puia, where we learned about Maori culture, observed Maori carving and weaving techniques, and saw a performance of Maori ...

... opgeklaard na gister en gelukkig ook nog niet te warm. Ff mijn walkman pakken... Walkman... Damn! Na mijn sarong op het strand van Kaikoura en mijn zonnebril op de ferry naar Wellington, bleek ik nu mijn walkman in Taupo te hebben laten liggen, met mijn favo bandjes. Na een telefoontje bleek niemand hem daar in te hebben geleverd (wel een mp3 speler, maar die had ik dan weer goed moeten omschrijven.... wat moet iemand nou nog met mijn walkman??). Nou ja, daar baalde ik dus flink van ...