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Trip Start
May 06, 2006
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Trip End
Mar 23, 2009
Rotorua,
New Zealand
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Unfortunately (or probably fortunately in my mum's eyes!) my time in Taupo was wasted because my skydive got canceled thanks to the bad weather. I guess that's what I get for not doing it on the day I arrived when the bus driver was trying to force me into it - I wanted time to think about it before I did it! I learned from that mistake!
It seems that the bad weather has been following me since I left Napier which I'm less than impressed with! I swear, New Zealanders make up seasons when they feel like it. I was told it was great, they have summer and winter, that's all. Now we are miraculously in 'rainy season'! Where did that one come from?! I love rain under normal circumstances but it's stopping me from doing a lot of hikes and activities I want to do!
Anyway, I left Taupo but I won't be defeated - I will stay there on the way back down until there's a day nice enough to do that skydive (sorry mum!). On to Rotorua I went. It's a town built on an area full of geothermal activity and it absolutely stinks. Apparently you get used to the sulphur smell (kinda like really rotten eggs!) after being there a while but I can't say I think I would ever get used to it.
On the way there I met some crazy Irish guys on the bus and after talking to one of them for a long time (he had been to Thailand and didn't go to see my babies 'cos he was told they were drugged - he wanted to know ALL about my time there!) they asked me to go zorbing with them. After the disappointment of not being able to sky dive I decided to just do it. I went in a zorb with 2 of the guys and it was such good fun! It was a very weird experience but definitely worth it. I got a few scratches, elbows in the face and sat on for most of the way down - I thought I was gonna drown at one point! We didn't think it looked that fast and weren't even sure we wanted to do it but once you're in there it's not slow at all! My favourite comment of the day was from one of the English guys who said "It's kind of like coming out of your mothers womb again"... had me in stitches that one!
After getting drenched in the zorb (only idiot me would wear jeans for it!) we headed up the gondola to the top of a hill overlooking Rotorua to go luging. You basically sit on these kart type things and the higher you lift the handle the faster you go down - such a great feeling but it's over too quickly. We paid for 5 rides but only had time for 4 - and even then we had a major panic that the bus had gone without us 'cos we were 50 minutes late (!). Lucky for us he had broken down and had no idea we'd only been waiting there for 5 minutes when he arrived!
After that I got the bus to the hostel and explored the place. It was a very nice town other than the smell and I was absolutely fascinated by its natural activity. On Wednesday I took a walk round a park in the middle of town and there are just pools of hot water or bubbling mud closed off like little ponds. People live on this thing that could surely erupt at any time?! At one point I was so covered in steam I could barely see my hand in front of me - it was like a smelly facial!
As I went out of the park I decided to walk through a modern Maori village and go to a beautiful church decorated with Maori carvings - I then noticed that people even had these 'pools' in their back yards! Madness! They're too hot to sit in but they must have some use for them (boiling eggs maybe like we did in Thailand?!).
That night (Thurs) I went to a Maori cultural night to see how the Maori people used to live before we decided to invade and push our ways on them. It was a little commercialised but I was expecting that - it reminded me of the night we went to in South Africa but obviously with Maori chants rather than African ones! I learnt a few new words and a little about the history but the best part of the evening for me was the Hangi (Maori dinner). They cook their food in a fire pit built into the ground - it tasted a little smoky but there was plenty of food for vegetarian me and, needless to say, I ate as much as I possibly could! I could barely move for the bush walk afterwards but it's the first time I've gone to bed full in a long time and it felt SO good!
The following day I was moving on to Mt Maunganui but not before some more adventure on the morning. I decided to go white water rafting (sorry Helena, did it without you!). They have a grade 5 river (Kaituna) with a 7 metre waterfall so I picked that one - only the most dangerous for me! Considering my swimming ability you'd think I would've been the cockiest person in there but when it came to dropping down the big waterfall I was so scared of falling out - god knows why, it probably would've been great fun! The holes in the wetsuits from rock cuts weren't too reassuring though! Anyway, it was a great trip and while I didn't fall out of the boat, I did get pushed out - nothing personal of course. Man, that water was COLD! If I have enough money on the way back down then I'll be sledging it down another grade 5 river - that looks like a lot of fun too!
After rafting I got dropped of at the Polynesian Spa for some relaxation before going to get my bus. They have 4 pools ranging from 38 to 42 degrees - I spent most of the time in the 42 degree one but it dehydrates you pretty quickly! You're not supposed to spend more than 15 minutes in a pool so you really have to watch the time! They also stink as the hot water is just pumped in the from the springs and then cold water is added to make it bearable! I had a little panic when I came out because all of my silver jewelry had turned black and my white gold was gold. I asked if it was going to be a permanent thing (after checking there were no signs telling you to take it off) and the woman said that it would change back eventually after I left Rotorua - it was just the air and the water that changed it! Seriously, people live here?!!!! She had some jewelry cleaner there though and changed it back to its normal colour for me!
That afternoon it was on to Mount Maunganui for a few relaxing days (or so we thought!)!
Having problems uploading photos so will try again when I'm back in Auckland in a couple of days time! Hope everyone is well!
Comments
Weather spells
am busily browsing the internet for spells to continue the bad weather and also now, to freeze the rivers. Can't you just find an area that does exciting things with knitting or quilt making! xx