Rotorua, NZ

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Rotorua is the most popular tourist destination of the north island so we made our way over to see what the hype was about. We stopped at the Wai-O-Tapu thermal wonderland on our way into town. This region is teaming with geothermal activity, and sometimes the sulfur fumes hit you like a punch in the face and make you want to vomit. But Wai-O-Tapu, translation "sacred waters," is a park with these fun-colored thermal pools and craters so it was worth braving the smell for a little while at least. The park was well laid out, and we went through about half of it, sniffing out quite a few technicolored fart pools before booking it outa there. We then rolled into town and got ready for our big Friday night out. We went to go see a Maori concert and hangi. Moari's the original native people of New Zealand, and a few places here put on productions that are kind of like luaus I'd imagine. There was a big show with costumes, spears, and songs followed by the hangi feast where I *big surprise* inhaled disgusting quantities of food. This picture is of my first plate... Jim's plate was actually piled higher, but I took the picture from an angle that didn't quite render the full effect. I think we were still hungry from our 18km hike. I was definitely still sore from the hike, so the next day I decided to get a massage at the Polynesian Spa while Jim and Haley checked out the town. The spa also had over 20 hot spring pools, so after my massage I proceeded to turn myself into a prune. I was close to hitting the 3 hour mark when a Chinese tour bus must have pulled up because all of a sudden tons of people started pouring in, and that was my cue to finally leave my little hot springs oasis. It was actually raining on and off all day, so we met up again and decided to do two of the most universally popular rainy day activities- go to the Rotorua Museum, and then hit a bar. And that was our last day in Rotorua and also our last day as the traveling team James! Jim and Haley are headed back up to Auckland to conclude their 5 month whirlwind tour around the world, and I am continuing on eastward to Gisborne, a fun little beach town on the east coast of the north island.

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