Smelling it up in Rotorua
Trip Start
Dec 29, 2007
1
28
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Rotorua,
North Island,
New Zealand
Sunday, June 1, 2008
After the guts of 3 hours driving, we finally entered Rotorua & were greeted by a stench of rotten eggs & although neither of us suffer from flatulence that I know of there was a definite side glance thrown. Prior to arrival we had been informed that because of the high sulphur content in the area to expect it, but how strong it was came as a surprise. On reaching our hostel on Fenton St, the main st, the odour became more pungent appearing in pockets. The centre is very compact, tourist orientated & naturally full of souvenir shops.
D blue lake shot
Our hostel was situated right beside Dominos, a breakfast cafe & only a 5 min walk from the Nz version of Lidl, Pak'n Save...the job. Thanks to Vanesas ability to hoard pamphlets & brochures from tourist offices combined with advice from friends/work colleagues, we had a good idea of what to see & do. There is considerable competition between companies to lure tourists in with each offering virtually the same service. Our hostel gave good advice on these & offered discounts when booking through them.We were haunted with good weather all weekend long which usually means I'm going to be rear-ended sometime soon. We 1st headed just south of Rotorua to the lake area to tramp around Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake) which is picturesque. From there we drove around the other lakes before heading up the winding route to the multitude of trecks hidden in the Lake Okataina periphery. So much of the natural landscape has been untouched & makes for real eye candy. Generally all trails indicate their expected duration & had it not been for dusk shortly after 5, we would have probably still wandered round the forest seeking out the glow worms we had heard so much about. Knackered after the early start & the constant hillwalking we headed back & mingled with our fellow backpackers swapping stories & advice. Included was a french guy who had worked in Ireland for a year & was very au fait with Irish craic, 'Yea like, I wiz walking down zee street wiz a nagon boy'...classic.
Next morning following a mini full Irish, we made our way to Wai-o-Tapu a half hour away.
Vane shore blue lake
Park entry to see the geothermal trail is $27 a head with its highlight being the Lady Knox Geyser set off each morning at 10:15. After a brief history lesson on the location, our orator threw some soap into the jaws & set it off. It reached heights of 20m & continued to spray upwards 20 mins later when we moved on. From a distance the park appears like a giant fire has been lit inside with a huge plume billowing from the top. Our pathway was initially foggy as the rising hot water vapours met the early morning chill but improved as time moved on. The trail lead us past sulphur mounds, boiling surface water, multicoloured lakes & alum cliffs as a result of the various mineral deposits. The ground in the area is unstable with the last collapse happening in 1968 & you can hear water bubbling up to the surface below on approach. On leaving we passed by the boiling mud pool which is pretty surreal. As expected mud & spa beauty treatment is a popular gimic in the area & although the idea was tempting I took a raincheck. Our hostel organised a Maori evening through the Mitai family for us at $90 each which we hoped would enlighten us on their customs. Picked up from the hostel & dropped off at the door, about 50 odd others & ourselves were all lead into a large marquee with some dude strumming a guitar. Typically the only other Irish present, a Kerry couple, were seated at our table. Our evening was kicked off by a guy asking what countries everyone was from & then spitting out a few words of that countries native tongue.
DV geyser
I was impressed he came out with Dia dhuit & not Pog mo Thoin. He lead us to the hangi, the cooking of food in the ground, which looked savage before guiding us to the river which was cold enough to make me feel like John Bobbit. In fairness they did allow for that having a supply of blankets & raincovers for everone. A team of maoris in tribal dress came upstream in a canoe chanting aloud allowing us to snap photos before racing ahead of us into a make-shift cave. There, they put on a spectacle explaining/demonstrating weapons, musical instruments, dances, songs, greetings, tattoos & combat giving a little history on each before naturally finishing with the Haka. The tattoos are like their family crest but also indicate their status. On completion we were herded back into the marquee for the mother of all buffets. There was easily 3 servings a head on offer & did we make hay! Our guru then lead us outside just as it started to drizzle to teach us a bit about the trees & plants & how the silver fern is the emblem of Nz not the kiwi. After advising us to switch off the torches we made our way along the river bank where we finally got to see the gloworms in the mossy undergrowth. They are pretty unique similar to ants waving micro glowsticks except you're not hallucenating. After the token gift shop browse & with my top button at bursting point, our minivan sped us back to the hostel. You do acclimatise to the odour although in the hostel an open door can send a waft through the building strong enough to make you gag.
Our final day in Rotorua was alotted to the great outdoors. A dude in the hostel recommended a treck in the Redwoods which was a huge forest that we passed en route to the lakes on our 1st day. There were trails varying in length from 30mins to 8 hours so we opted for somewhere midway. The hike took us high up into the mountain forest overlooking the town of Rotorua with spectacular views of the lake. There were excellent bmx tracks which were very well signposted.
The afternoon could only be spent in one place, the luge. It's a novel system resembling a go karting track but using gravity for speed & a unique steering system involving pulling the handle bars to brake and letting go to accelerate. You have to get a gondola up to the top of the mountain to start & at $24 a cable car ride & $9 a luge ride, they certainly are taking the michael but while in Rotorua... The scenic & intermediate circuits were purely for daddys bringing their kids onboard. Apparently difficult to overturn let's just say I made short work of that urban legend. I felt like Humpty Dumpty in that miniature kart & following in his footsteps on the advanced treck proved all too easy but it was well worth it. Fortunately we got our final run in before the heavens opened. Unfortunately it did mean a longer drive back to Auckland. So yea Rotorua gets a definite thumbs up & will hopefully be a place I get to revisit.
