Regent Motel Rotorua

... rotten eggs but you get to see all the cool bubbling areas around town.  My last day there I took a ride up the gondola for fantastic views.  On my waty there I missed the bus stop for it, which was in the first seven minutes and had to get a full 30 minute tour of the suburbs before it looped back around to the gondola. I ended my afternoon by going to the Polynesian Spa to sit in the Therapeutic mineral hot pools before I hopped on a bus and went back to auckland.  

... went down to the Kiwi house - which is simulated night time as the kiwis are nocturnal , so that was a great chance to see the kiwis as there really is no other way. Third stop was the bubbling mud pools - which reminded us of The Bog Of Eternal Stench from The Labyrinth, before heading swifty (due to the sulphur smell) onto the two Geysers, Pohutu and the Prince of Wales Feathers geysers. They were erupting in full flow when ...

... Along with a kitchen and our own bathroom! Bonus! Went for a stroll around the town to see what was there, not much so decided to go back to hostel and laze by the pool, actually recieved dome sunbathing weather in NZ! At night we decided as we had saved $4 each on the room we'd go and splash out on some food!!! We found a restaurant that would serve the kids menu to adults ha ha! SO we all had a ...

Lyndsey is obsessed with the Zorb. We therefore decided to hop in the car, drive down a good (supposedly 1.5 hours, which actually took closer to 4) and stop over in Rotorua, land of the Maories...to Zorb. Now, let us explain. zorb is an enormous, air-filled, clear golf ball big enough to house two-three grown adults inside as it's sent hurdling over a cliff and down a mountain. Add water. And you have ...

... when we docked. When we stepped off the ship we saw a Porsche but alas it turns out that was another car hire company. Our car was next to the Porsche and it was a classic - A Datsun Sunny of around 1988 or maybe 1888 vintage. Anyway it was clean, had 4 wheels and a steering wheel so off we went. Soon I realised I was optimistic about the car having a steering wheel - it didn't really have one. In order to drive straight the steering wheel ...

... have just assumed that he knew a ton of people and not been worried that he was trying to tell them something about the road. At Rainbow Springs, we took the sky gondola to the top of a mountain that overlooked the city and lake.  I don't think we saw a single building in the city that could have been more than about 5 stories.  It's short and flat and cute.  From the top of the mountain, we took these "luge" carts down.  There ...

... just doesn't do it for me. I'm really not into audience participation events and the whole thing seem over-commercialized so I'm going to opt out of this one. This type of event is probably the biggest draw for the area, but Rotarua has plenty of trekking, moutain biking, zorbing and things to see which don't involve the "shows" so it's a good stop even if you're like me. Alas, day two in Rotarua has given me my first taste of ...

... us! The following day we decided to go our seperate ways for a few hours , Jon went to pay golf at the government gardens, and Daniella studied Spanish, when I returned we both studied together for a while. Rotorua is a nice enough town, with a decent enough selection of shops, bars and restaurant , we had a meal at Nandos for dinner, some good chicken, but we did notice that the sauces are not as spicy as back home. After dinner, we had a drink ...

... outside, so we were panicking<br>when we actually stepped foot into our Toyota Camry, and everything was<br>on the opposite side! Lu said he'd done this before... but that was a<br>scooter in Bahamas, so it doesn't count! He was actually having a mini<br>freakout, just trying to get out of the parking lot in the rain and<br>dark ...