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Published: January 2nd 2007
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We arrived in Rotorua without having made a hotel reservation in advance. As we drove through the outskirts of town, we passed one "no vacancy" sign after another. Getting a little worried, we headed directly for the I Site. In New Zealand, just about every town has an I Site tourist center. These small offices are a godsend for tourists! Similar to AAA at home, they provide maps, brochures, and free booking services (but you don't have to be a member). The lines at this I Site were huge which only added to our concern. We picked up a handful of brochures and decided to try our luck driving around some more.
Our first stop was
Innes Cottage. There were a number of cars parked out front so we figured our chances of a vacancy were slim but I headed up to the door anyway while J waited in the car. The door was opened by a man who looked like my uncle. He was on the phone. He hung up and said, "I saw you coming and since we don't have any room, I just called over to my friend around the corner to see if they did." He
ushered me inside and explained his friends had a very nice B&B for a good price but they had just returned from Lake Taupo and needed a few minutes to get the room prepared before we could go and see it. He showed me maps of town and started telling me all about the best attractions. When I said we were from Seattle, he smiled and told me a couple from Oregon had just been there the week before. He pulled out the guest book and started looking for their entry to show me. When he couldn't find it, I said, "Well maybe they just didn't sign the book." He looked at me aghast and exclaimed with a chuckle - "No one leaves here without signing the book!" A few minutes later, his friend called back to say the room was ready. Chris then hopped in his truck and had us follow him in our car over to
Flojos. Floss and John have a lovely home with a garden out back and a suite behind the garage. It was perfect for us! Chris and John convinced us we really needed to stay for two nights to see everything Rotorua had
to offer, and they were right.
J was very intrigued by the
Polynesian Spa so the first evening we went for a dip. The prices are fairly reasonable and the place was packed! I am a little creeped out by swimming in a pool of hot water with strangers because of the infection potential but braved it anyway. First we went in the largest, deepest, sulfur-smelling pool where there was actually an elderly man doing laps. Then we moved outside to the smaller, hot-tub like "hot pools." They ranged in temperature from 38-42 degrees Celsius - 40 was about my speed, but J preferred the 42 (107.6F) degree pool. It was fun to be outdoors where it was pretty chilly in the hot pools with steam rising all around! It was here that we met a couple about our age from the North Island. The husband had never left the North Island of New Zealand! Having lived and travelled all over the world, we find that difficult to comprehend. J wanted to ask why on earth they would go to such a tourist packed place as Rotorua during high season when they live nearby, but held his tongue.
The
next morning at breakfast, J mentioned that he had "even put his head under the hot water" at the spa. Our hosts looked alarmed initially, and then calmly said, "well, there could be an ameoba in there that can kill you". I guess they were calm because I would have been feeling a lot worse that morning should I have got it. Apparently the
Naegleria Fowleri ameoba can live in hot water and can enter through your nose, and is usually fatal. So don't ever put your head under the water in hot springs!
One positive thing about the hot springs, or maybe it was our B&B, was this marked the first night in over a year that J got a good nights sleep! The hot springs are said to "cure all that ails you", and in this case they sure seemed to!
After "brekkie" we headed out for the
Buried Village. In 1886, this peaceful village was destroyed by a volcano. We thought the entry fee was a little steep but the museum and grounds kept us interested and occupied for about an hour and a half. The attraction of this area was the Pink and White Terraces (see oldtime
photo) which were destroyed by the eruption.
The biggest attraction of Rotorua are the geothermal "parks." I put parks in quotes because these are not like national parks in the US where you pay $10 to drive your car in, then hike around and look at the wonders of nature on your own. These parks are privately run and boast Maori culture centers, and ostentatious gift shops; hence the hefty entrance fees of ~$35 NZ per person! We were told
Te Puia was the best of the bunch, located right outside of town. We started out with a guided tour but ended up wandering on our own so J could take more photos. I have to admit, it was other-worldly walking around with mud bubbling right beside the trail and geysers shooting into the air every few minutes! But the high price of admission detracted from our pleasure considerably.
No trip to Rotorua is complete without a Maori village dinner extravaganza. Chris and John convinced us to go with the Cadillac of tours:
Tamaki Brothers. For about $90 NZ per person we had a full evening of food and entertainment. Worth it? It was definitely neat, but again, overpriced for
what you get. Several busloads of people are taken from town to the "village." On the busride, a chief for your tribe is chosen to represent the group upon arrival. Ours was a shy, nerdy, newlywed Brit. Upon arrival, the 6 or so chiefs were called forward. The Maori warriers came out to "greet" us with spears in hand and making the intimidating faces and grunts they are famous for. Once they accepted the chiefs, we were led into the village. I must say, it was all orchestrated perfectly - you walk through the gates into a beautiful forest precisely at sunset. The light coming through the trees really made it a magical experience! Inside they had stations set up with Maori crafts and games. Next, we were led into an auditorium for a song and dance presentation. Finally, we were ushered into the dining hall for a traditional dinner cooked in a pit in the ground (similar to a Hawaiian luau). The food was very good and we had fun visiting with the other folks at our table, including, coincidentally, a couple from Bainbridge Island!
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Jess
non-member comment
yipes!
I just read about the amoeba--scary! I feel itchy all over!!! I'm glad you didn't encounter it. Yipes! It's good to read the journals again :)