Sunday 7th February 2010, Taupo-Rotorua

Today's start wasn't too early but still it didn't count as a lie in! The bus left Urban Retreat, Taupo at 8:50am and then from there it was pretty much a straight run through to Rotorua arriving at about 10:30am! So not a long journey at all.

We were staying at Hot Rocks BASE in Rotorua so we were dropped there along with almost everyone else off the bus. We were able to check in and confirm our stay of 4 nights but due to the time we weren't able to get into our rooms until after 1pm. So with that in mind Caroline, myself and the other Caroline (Taupo) all set out for a walk around Rotorua.

Now just so you know, Rotorua also known as Rota Vegas to the locals is very famous for the eggy smell around town. This spell was evident to us before we even got off the bus as it seemed to be coming through the air vents! So first thing you notice is the smell and secondly is the steam that you see everywhere in town coming off all forms of water patches. Rotorua is in the North Island in the area known as The Bay of Plenty.

"Thermal activity is at the heart of much of Rotorua's tourist appeal. Geysers and bubbling mud-pools and hot thermal springs are all within Roturua…"

"…Rotorua has a nickname Sulphur City, because of the hydrogen sulphide emissions, which gives the city a "rotten eggs" smell…."

"The especially pungent smell in the central-east 'Te Ngae' area is due to the dense sulphur deposits located next to the southern boundary of the Government Gardens, in the area known as 'Sulphur Point'."

Anyway back to us. Our walk lead us down to the Lake which is known as Roturua Lake (they don't do complicated in the southern hemisphere). On the way we stopped off at a drinks and ice cream shop and all bought iced coffee's with cream-very nice!

Once at the lake we had a walk along it and took in the views. Our driver had mentioned about a possible market but on asking a local we were told it was the day before, bummer!

Lake Rotorua was the first lake we had been too in New Zealand that you couldn't swim in. Although the colour of it alone would put you off. Okay just to stand corrected according to what I've just read on the net you could swim in it but honestly you wouldn't want too! Not in the section we saw anyway!

We walked along the lake path for a while, although not too close to the edge as the black swans didn't look to friendly, until we couldn't go any further. The path ended but it then continued onto a road following the lake. We continued to walk down there but were a little unsure weather or not we should be there as it looked very residential. But after coming around a bend in the road we saw signs indicating a Maori village and art centre. The village is called Ohinemutu and is a lived in Maori village occupied by about 200 villagers. Although it is in Rotorua it is a private village and you have to sign in, in order to visit or walk about. On arriving we had a chat to the girl at the visitor counter and as we weren't sure what protocol was she told us it was gold coin donation, we were welcome to just wonder around taking photos and looking but could we please refrain from taking photos in the church.

The first thing that we couldn't fail to notice was the stronger pungent smell within the area and also a hell of a lot of random pools of water and mud with the very present steam coming off them. There was a drain in the courtyard in the village that was steaming quite vigorously. The main section to look at was the actual communal courtyard area and within this was The Meeting house (use for weddings, funerals and official business), the church and graveyard out the back and then various carved areas which hold meanings for the Maori people. The Maori people of Rotorua belong to the Arawa tribe and have been present in Rotorua for many hundreds of years. They seemed very welcoming and the lady at the visitor desk was quite open to questions and friendly and the lady in the shop wanted to talk non stop! To us it seems very different to the aboriginal people in Australia. Although the aboriginals have been through somewhat more than the Maori, the Maori are a lot more welcoming and want people to actually learn about there culture. It's a very different way of dealing with it!

The lady at the visitor desk told us that it's not uncommon to have about 500 earthquakes a year in this area but obviously most of them you would never know about. It states in various guidebooks that if you feel the earth move whilst here that it's not unusual and not to panic. It all to do with the volcanic activity around the area although it's been many years since they have one that has caused any major damage. The girl told us that it wasn't completely uncommon for people to wake up in the morning to find a mud pool in there house/garden. How true it is about the house I'm not sure but defiantly just walking around the village there were lots of small muddy puddles in and around the gardens/streets that were either just steaming or for some they were bubbling quite angrily. Very strange to see but also very interesting! As it was also the day after the celebration of The Treaty of Waitangi (an agreement between the Maori and the English Royals in 1840), she also told us some info regarding this as well. It was an interesting place to look around and the carving were amazing. After looking around the village we had a brief look in the art centre/shop and after chatting for a long time to the lady in the shop we made a mental note to come back and buy some carvings.

From here we made our way back up to town and called in at Fat Dogs café for lunch. Caroline had a Salad, I had a roast ham sandwich and other Caroline had a Panini. The portions were huge. Although I must say originally when mine came the idea of having gravy and mayo on the same sandwich was a tad weird but it actually was okay as they never mixed so it was a good sandwich in the end!

After our lunch we chilled for a bit at the café and had coffee whilst chatting and reading. We all then decided that we had better go and check in as it was now nearly 3pm! After checking in we were all toying with the idea of going to the mud baths but because Caroline 2 had to be somewhere at 7pm and the pick up for the mud baths wasn't until 5pm we decided to just spend some time by the pool, which coincidently was hot! Believe me when it's a super hot day it would really good to be able to jump in a COLD pool, but it wasn't to be and although it was super warm it was still nice!

At about 7pm we headed back to the room to shower and change and to take advantage of the fact that because we were in the Sanctuary rooms there were free hair dryers and GHD's for all to use!!

We had dinner tonight in the bar as they have various meal deals. I had pizza and Caroline had Nachos, and again the portions were huge so needless to say we couldn't finish them! Good food! After we had a couple of drinks and used the net before having a relatively early night for our early start tomorrow!

Monday 8th February 2010, Day trip to Waitomo

Today was our pre-booked day trip to Waitomo to do the legendary Black Water Rafting. Originally our plan had been to go to Waitomo from Taupo, do the rafting, spend a night and then go to Rotorua. But we changed our minds on that because really apart from the caving there is not a lot to do and plus it would have meant missing a day in Rotorua because the bus back is not until late afternoon. So after re-arranging we were picked up from Rotorua at about 7:20am for a 2 hour drive to Waitomo.

So anyway we arrived in Waitomo at about 10am and after checking in and paying we had about an hours wait until our trip was to start. So whilst we were waiting we had breakfast of cream cheese and bacon bagel with coffee.

So just to explain one of what we were to do. It is in fact not really a rafting trip but more of a abseiling, climbing, tubing and caving trip! And whilst doing all this we got to see hundreds of glow worms, so pretty. Waitomo Caves are one of the only places in New Zealand that you can see Glow worms. And because we couldn't simply walk down the cave (well you could but were not ones to shy away from a new adventure) we opted to the Black Abyss tour. The Black Abyss is sold as the ultimate adrenaline rush and caving tour of choice for natural born adventures! It so is, and I will admit to having to beat some fears whilst in the caves! To be expanded on in a bit.

The caves we were to descend into are called the Ruakuri Caves and apart from everybody having a head torch on their helmets there was no other light.

So after getting kitted out in wet suits, harnesses and other safety equipment we were all loaded into a van and taken to the start of the caves. Because this is adventure it's not as simple as just walking in, no, no, no we abseiled in. Firstly there was a little bit of training with a few photos and then it was all go, go, go!

There was a group of about 9 of us and I unfortunately was picked to go first! Not such a problem as we have both abseiled before but this was slightly different as it was into pitch dark! So once I was all attached to the ropes and my pulley was secure it was go.

The total abseil was 37m, but the start was more of a controlled drop over the edge as there was no wall. When I say controlled, the only person controlling it is yourself, although if it all goes wrong a loud scream would have Vee, who was at the bottom, giving the rope a very big tug and hold in order to stop all movement! Vee by the way was our guide along with Josh. So after going over the edge and dropping there was then a tight hole to squeeze through before then abseiling the rest of the way. I must say Caroline managed it a lot more elegantly than me!

Once everyone was at the bottom it was a quick information talk before walking our way through some of the caves to the next section which is the flying fox. The Flying Fox being a zip wire for those that didn't know. Once here we all went down individually obviously, it was about a further 20m down and it was done in darkness as all head torches were turned off except for attach and detach! This bit was just fun, although as the first person top go didn't know what to expect maybe she didn't find it as so much as the people at the back. This being because when the first girl went all you saw was her leave, lights off, a scream and then a big bang! This then continued for most people. The big bang was actually Josh hitting a rubber tube against the rocks, but obviously when you're at the top you don't know this!

After everyone was safely down from the Flying Fox it was time for a hot drink and a cookie before water time! Now this where my fears starting creeping in! I hadn't known when booking that there was a rock jump involved, so when I found out I was a little freaked. But thankfully I had made Josh and Vee aware of my fear so that when I completely crumbled they knew why! I have done a rock jump before but that was in broad daylight and took a lot of coaxing. This rock jump was obviously in darkness and because I couldn't see where I was jumping it made it a lot harder. I think it didn't help that whilst we were having our drink I could just see water below me, tubes around me and no stair case, so although at that stage no one had said it was time for a rock jump, I knew it was coming! Thankfully I had Caroline for support and a couple from Durham who all really encouraged me along with the guides. So after a bit of a panic cry and watching everyone else go I did it!!! Although on impact I fell off the tube I still did it so I was happy and a lot calmer once down!

From here we all pulled ourselves up stream whilst on our tubes and then floated back down in a big snake like line whilst viewing the glow worms. For those of you that don't know glow worms are actually glow maggots. There basically just insect larvae. They live for a short time catching food in their webs before eventually evolving into a fly with no mouth and so die as they can't feed! A very short story from me and also for them, bless!

After we had tubed back down the river in the cave it was then time to start the wading process whilst doing our best not to fall over. Being caves it was very uneven so you found yourselves walking like your drunk! I know your probably thinking this wouldn't be hard for us! The walking wasn't it was just the part of staying up right! Most people fell at some point. So anyway it was a walk, wade, swim and a slide down a waterfall to get us through the caves. At this point we were about 70m below the ground. We also had a couple of tight squeezes as well through rocks. Finally we had two waterfalls to climb up, unaided! They were fairly fast flowing but good fun! And although it was unaided it was in the knowledge that there was someone underneath you to catch you if you fell!!

After the climb up the waterfalls we emerged back out in the world for a small uphill walk (this was not mentioned in the brochure) back to the bus! We had an excellent day with about 3 hours spent in the actual caves. So worth the money and the fears. Great fun!

Once back at the office we got changed, grabbed some tomato soup (yummy!) and a bagel before quickly getting our photos we had ordered, saying goodbye to everyone and then it was straight back to Rotorua.

We arrived back in Rotorua at about 6:30pm and after showering, changing and making ourselves look beautiful we went to the bar with Caroline 2 for some food and drinks! Plus a few more and a late one! It was also Caroline's last night so it was goodbye drinks as well.

Tuesday 9th February 2010, Rotorua

For today and again tomorrow our mornings were just sleep, chill and relax!

Today we left the hostel at about 12:30pm and went to get a subway before catching the local bus to The Skyline and Luging Ride centre.

The Skyline is located not far from the city centre so was only a 10 minute bus ride. Once there we purchased a skyline and luge pass. Because we were on Kiwi Experience we received a discount as well. A lot of activities we have done have had a discount because we are on Kiwi Experience which is nice. We had decided to do 5 luge rides as it wasn't much more expensive and lots more fun!

So anyway the skyline is a gondola and it takes you up Mount Ngongotaha to 487 metres above sea level giving you stunning panoramic views of Rotorua City, Rotorua Lake and the surrounding area.

Once at the top we put our things in a locker and headed over to the luge track. So luging. A luge is a "fun filled ride on a three wheeled cart." It takes you down a track down the side of the mountain. The cart is a bit like a sledge but with wheels and a steering bar. It was good fun. Everyone has to start on the Scenic Track just to get you used to it. The Scenic track is 2km long taking you through The Redwood Forest. It doesn't have as many turns and isn't as steep. Speedy Gonzalez Caroline had no problems and took great thrill in taking the micky for me being a bit slower than her! I personally just like to be a bit more controlled! Once at the bottom we then caught the chairlift back to the top.

For the second ride I made Caroline do the scenic track again just so I was 100% confident. This time I went quite a bit faster but I will never be as confident as Caroline so even if I start first she always overtakes! Still great fun which ever way so neither of us is bothered. For the third time we took the intermediate track which was a little bit faster with more bends and a bit steeper. This was 1.7km long. And then for our 4th and 5th go we went on the advanced track which is just 1km long but loads steeper and lots of tight bends. There is also a section where you go over a hill and end up off the ground as you go over! So as you can imagine we had loads of fun today!

After the final ride we went back up to the top, had a drink (coke), took some photos of the views and just took in the scenery for a bit. At about 5pm we took the gondola back down and caught the local bus back to town.

On arriving back at the hostel we showered and changed and headed to the bar at 7:30pm to meet up with Helen and Paul, the couple from Durham who we had met the day before, for a drink. So after a brief drink with them as they had a dinner reservation at 8:15pm we then had dinner in the bar again before drinking a few more beverages. We have become very lazy at cooking but when the meal deals are as good it actually works out cheaper than buying food in.

Wednesday 10th February 2010, Rotorua

The same morning as yesterday with the same lunch before taking the same local bus but this time to a further point out of town and this time to a different activity called Zorbing!

What is Zorbing I hear you ask? Well I would say it's where you get in a big inflatable ball and roll very fast down a hill. And this is basically it but this is what the original company of Zorbing says,

"ZORB is a New Zealand company that invented the ZORB globe and the sport of globe riding (rolling down a hill in a large inflatable globe)-and ZORB Rotorua is where it all started."

So there you go that is what it is. We were obviously in Rotorua so therefore it was only fitting that we had to try it whilst here!

There two ways of Zorbing. A) The Zorbit Ride and B) The Zydro ride.

The Zorbit ride is the dry version and for this one you are strapped in to a specially designed harness. You have to ride alone and you have to go down the straight track. There are two tracks by the way, 1 is straight the other is zig zagged. The Zorbit is billed as the Astronaut in training option. Now to say we liked this way would be lying. Caroline pretty much hated it. I thought it was okay and I was glad to have tried it but I wouldn't do it again. Our reasons being are you basically go very fast spinning upside down and because you are strapped in you still move a bit but only up or down so at times a bit painful!

So for ride 2 we went for the wet version which is known as the Zydro ride. Because we got a free ride when buying the two we opted to go together on this one. When there is more than one in the wet ride you have to go down the straight track. The straight track is obviously a lot faster than the Zig Zag track. For the wet ride you are not strapped in as you don't go upside down. Now I'm sure there is some scientific reason for this but personally I don't know what it is. Anyway to say we enjoyed this ride would be an understatement. We laughed all the way down non stop! It was brilliant!

And then for our third ride we each went separate in the Zydro ride which then meant we could go down the Zig Zag track. A lot slower but loads of bumps and loads of water! Another time of pretty much laughing all the way down! We both decided that if we had either the money or our own personal globe we could do that all day long and not get bored! It was fab and I would recommend it to everyone!

From here we caught the bus back into town and after showering and changing we did some of the blog before going for dinner at a Noodle House (another cheap meal) and then we both had a early alcohol free night! Did you get that, ALCOHOL FREE!!! See we can do it sometimes! Ha ha!

Thursday 11th February 2010, Rotorua to Auckland

The bus today was at 10:30am so not early at all. We checked out at 10am and had time to grab a take out coffee before catching the bus and then it was off to Auckland!

See you there xxx

P.S. Two things just to add,

A)The smell, believe it or not you get used to it! The locals told us this when we first arrived but we didn't believe them but its true.

And

B)Although Rotorua is famous for its mud and sulphur pools we decided not to partake in this activity as it was pretty expensive and we have been in mud pools before so we decided that we rather spend the money on doing new things.

Bye for now xxx