Blogs from Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Tour Day 45, Cruise Day 45 – Napier, a coastal city on New Zealand's North Island, is set amid the renowned wine-producing region of Hawke's Bay and is sometimes referred to as the "Nice of the Pacific." The town was virtually flattened by the 1931 earthquake, was rebuilt in the art deco style and, therefore, is more commonly referred to as “The Art Deco Capital of the World.” Given that wineries and art deco architecture haven’t made it to my A-list, there were no shore excursions I found appealing. Given the weather was uncooperative, I stayed on the ship. Tour Day 46, Cruise Day 46 – The Living Village Experience (5.5 hours) - An authentic, living Maori village steeped in history awaits you, along with the best of Rotorua's geothermal activity. Enjoy a panoramic drive from ... read more

Bonjour à tous, Il me semble que depuis que j'ai quitté Wellington, je suis moins dans la culture anglaise, beaucoup plus dans la culture Maori. Les noms et surtout le faciès des gens. Une chose est constante malheureusement la bouffe. J'entends beaucoup plus parlé, je pense que c'est du Maori et que ça doit avoir une incidence sur la prononciation de l'anglais. Le Maori étant une des 2 langues officielles avec l'anglais de la Nouvelle Zélande. Peut être aussi le "bellage" des moutons??. Hier soir pour la deuxième fois avec Queenstown, j'ai trouvé de la vie dans une ville, mais il est seulement 18H . Rotuora est la ville la plus visitée de NZ avec ces 70 000 habitants. Elle est le centre de la culture Maori, et les sources d'eau chaudes et geysers, en sont ... read more

Never anything worth watching on the TV on a Saturday evening so I enjoyed a couple of heygo tours in New Zealand. First tour - Government Gardens or Paepaekumana, located on an old Maori battle field. Generously, the Maori gave a large tract of the land including many therapeutic hot springs to the British Crown in the 1880s to benefit the people of the world. Second tour with Louise to Rotorua Kuirau Thermal Park - The Maori folklore has it that a young woman named Kuiarau was swimming in the main lake when a mythical creature dragged her to the bottom. It is said that the gods were angered by this and made the lake boil so the creature would be destroyed. The name of the main lake is taken from that lost woman. Two great ... read more

Příjezd do města Rotorua jsme poznali již s předstihem, jelikož jeho typická "vůně" se nedá zaměnit. Měli jsme tu čest čichat zkažená vajíčka celou předchozí noc, jelikož jsme byli ubytováni nedaleko epicentra odkud to vycházelo. Místo zvané Te Puia nás navíc vítalo nejen odérem síry, ale také drobným kouřem, který stoupal ze spousty míst. Co se taky divíme, když jsme v aktivní sopečné oblasti. Vidět jsme mohli krátery, ve kterých se doslova vařila voda, bublající bahno a jeden z aktivních gejzírů. Co byl však největší zážitek byste neuhodli - viděla jsem ptáčka kiwiho. Živého, sice v zajetí a ve velké tmě, ale je to další z mých splněných přání. I samotné město Rotorua stojí za prohlídku. Vyniká polynézskými lázněmi a nádherně upravenými parky. V jednom zrovna probíhaly trhy a tak jsem měla možnost koupit malou chuťovku ... read more

This is just a quick update to let everyone know where we are and where we are headed next just in case you should want to touch base. We always love to hear what you are all up to too so feel free to drop us a line anytime and I can then also confirm that you are not hitting the delete button as soon as you see who it is from! lol After returning from Aus in October last year we moved back into our very comfortable home and have appreciated the space if offers after so long living in a motorhome plus we had forgotten what stunning views we have of Lake Rotorua and farmland. We had hoped to then sell the house to move to a warmer area of the North Island but ... read more