We left Whitianga (Mercury Bay) early in the morning and stopped off in Whangamata for lunch. En route to Rotorua we visited the Karangahake Scenic reserve to explore a stunning bush clad gorge. We took the 'windows walk' which involved walking along the river, crossing over two swing bridges and walking through a 1km long railway tunnel used in the old gold mining days. We jumped back on the coach and headed to Pareroa for lunch (a town famous for a lemon & Paero soft drink). We then passed through Matama or as it is now known 'Hobbiton' due to its feature in Lord of the Rings. We all had our picture taken with Golem before reaching Rotorua. The town has steam coming out from under the streets due to the geothermal activity.

That afternoon we went luging which involved driving our own cart down a hill side...it was scary but lots of fun! The hill was pretty steep and we had to get the gondola (or cable car to us) to the top of the hill & luge down. I managed the advanced course so I was pretty chuffed!

Later on that evening we went to Tamaki tours for a traditional Maori night with hangi and live entertainment. We arrived in the village and a chief from our bus was chosen, we watched them perform their welcoming ceremony before going to watch a performance of traditional music, weaponary & the Haka- the concert was awesome! After the concert we made our way to eat a traditional Hangi (a Maori feast prepared in an earth oven). The food was amazing, the meat was so tender & the steam pudding for afters was the best! Our drive back to the hostel was fun with the driver managing to remember everyones name on the bus with no aids and making lots of jokes & songs about each persons country.