The Maori attach themselves to a mountain and to a river. A common question would be, "What is your mountain?" Well ours is Mt. Taranaki and we look at it as much as we can in awe. But I digress.
We drove up to Waitara and along the coast to Awakino. We saw a couple sitting on the beach with a huge spool of fishing line anchored into the sand. We wanted to see what they were after but we had to press on. We didn't think it would be anything that would fit into a bucket! We then drove inland through some incredible country to Te Kuiti. This is the Shearing capital of the world. We're coming back in late March for the Running of the sheep. They muster 2000 sheep down the main street to the shearing sheds.
We arrived in Rotorua by mid-day. This is the Banff of NZ. Mountains, lakes and geothermal hot pools are abundant here. You can actually smell when you are getting close. It smells like rotten eggs due to the sulphur steaming out of back yards, street gutters and bubbling mud pools in the central park.
After we walked through beautiful gardens we relaxed in a hot pool.
Lake Rotorua is a fresh water crater lake. There is a rowing and sailing club and a steamer vessel. We walked around and watched people and birds.
We came upon a bazaar. I bought a 18 month calendar for $2 and some opium incense sticks.
Not sure what that fellow is looking at. Maybe he wants a calendar too!
We stayed at the best place in town! It was $10 per person per night. It was at a YHA and the washrooms had heated floors(geothermal heat is everywhere in this town.) It also had a communal kitchen and sitting room and a hot pool. We pitched a tent and it was walking distance from town.
It worked out well except when a busload of African kids came for a dance festival. I was in the washroom when they all came running in, giggling and singing and dancing. I flushed and walked out and they turned and looked at me and went silent. Then they started up with their voices , sounding like a flock of seagulls, and then the sea of girls parted and let me get to the sink. I thought they would carry on all night and disturb our sleep, but they actually were well behaved.
Before turning in we went to the Pig and Whistle and had a cold Swinelager on tap. We ordered a bowl of NZ mussels and garlic toast. It was lovely!
We went mountain biking on Sunday. This is an international acclaimed site with 100km of trails. The Whakarewarewa Forest is just out side of town. We rented our bikes from Planet Bike in the carpark.
The trails were excellent but exhausting! Some of the trail names were Genesis, The Dipper, and Tahi.
We had gone for about 2 hours when the boys wanted to try the trail called The Challenge. I was feeling tired so I thought it wouldn't be smart to push myself. I headed down a gravel path to hand in my bike and wait.
After the great exercise we decided we'd play the tourist role and go to the Skyline Gondola! You ride up on a gondola and ride down tracks on a luge. They were like toboggans but with bicycle handlebars. If you pull right back the brakes are applied. If you push forwards the brakes are released and the wheels pop out and down you go. It was a concrete track and you traveled really fast and it was fun banking around the corners. We got to go three times and it was quite fun!
A nice part about this trip was that the streams were hot and clear and were very soothing. We just would pull off the road and sink into the sand and soak up!
More Falls! These are the Huka Falls.
We happened to time it with 3 minutes to spare to catch the Aratiatia Rapids Dam opening. The dam is opened and shut 4 times a day. There is a count down clock and it is quite dramatic.
Some sights on the way home were Mt. Doom and the Plains of Gongorath (Lord of the Rings for anyone not familiar with the story.) Mt Ngauruhoe and Tongariro National Park in reality.
All in all a fun packed 3 days full of sights and activities!
Thanks for reading!
i cant wait to get out there and see some of this for myself, it all sounds so great!
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