Tuesday 6 January 2015

Back on the road... Rotorua

We have had a cracking Christmas and New Year in Auckland with a lovely family who we have a family connection with from home. I have to admit i did feel homesick once it got to Christmas Eve but i soon snapped out of it and enjoyed the sun on Christmas Day rather than spend my time thinking how strange it all felt! Singing along to Shakin' Stevens and Slade just didn't seem right in roaring sunshine!!
On New Year's Day we drove to Rotorua, 'the adventure capital of New Zealand' and home to the rather fragrant geothermal activity. We had tickets to see the Kiwi band Fat Freddy's Drop on the 2nd so we went a day early to get a feel for the place. First of all you are struck by the stink of the Geothermal activity which does actually smell like rotten eggs! There was even steam coming up out of the pavement through the storm drains! Kuirau Park is just outside the centre of the town. It has geothermal lakes and ponds and boiling mud pools. It absolutely stinks especially if you are downwind of the steam and a breeze comes along! We also visited Wai O Tapu which is a 'geothermal wonderland' on the way out of Rotorua. A huge expanse of active and very colourful geothermal land. A track is mapped out for you to follow and take in the unusual scenery. It was hot already but the amount of steam is incredible and you find yourself sweltering even more! On the adventure front we did the Zydro Zorb which involved rolling down a hill in a huge inflatable hamster-like ball with the added bonus of water inside so you get soaked at the same time! Was so much fun, just over too quick! After that we took the Skyline Gondola up to the top and had 5 goes each on the Luge which was not as tame as i was expecting! Three different tracks to choose from, scenic, intermediate and advanced - i didn't even get to the advanced because the intermediate was too advanced for me! There were children zooming past me so fast i was expecting them to take off! Once at the bottom you just hopped onto the chair lift back to the top and did it all over again! There is photo evidence of both of these but unfortunately not to on this computer!   


Rotorua Museum, housed in the old Bath House 


Kuirau Park

Boiling Mud Pool, Kuirau Park

Kuirau Park

Wai O Tapu 

Wai O Tapu

Wai O Tapu 

Wai O Tapu

Wai O Tapu

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