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Published: June 10th 2010
A few days before I climbed to the top of Mount Manganui! Ines, Katja, Timo, and I went along the main path with another German couple (Alana and Tobias) form the hostel. Anika and Kerstin decided to skip the climb as they had both done it on an earlier occasion. The hike to the top took about 45 minutes and we got very lucky as the weather stayed nice long enough for us to get back to the hostel before it started to dump. We split off of the main path close to the top of the mountain to follow what we decided to call the extreme trail (trail being a very strong word for this little rut in the side of the mountain) and got to the top before Alana and Tobias.
The view from the top was pretty fantastic and I took as many pictures as my limited battery capacity would allow and I think I got a few good shots. After the walk down which was harder on the legs that the climb was, we got some huge ice-cream cones (I got hokey pokey, orange chocolate chip, and strawberry) and stopped by a café for a caffeine
intake. All in all a nice outing!
A couple days later (yesterday) the group (Anika, Ines, ,Katja, Kerstin, Timo, and myself) got out to Rotorua and saw a lot of stuff. The town of Rotorua is situated to the south of lake Rotorua and is smack dab in the middle of a lot of smelly geothermal activity. The park we went to that is famous for it’s smelly bubbling mud pools was nice visually, with the steam coming off the pools and out of little crevasses, but to the olfactory senses it was less that kind.
After our walk through rotten egg park, we walked through the town toward lake Rotorua and took in some of the sights. The sun was out but the wind was blowing and I’m starting to get the idea that it’s not summer here anymore. The lake itself is pretty big, but at select parts of the shore you can get a whiff of it’s geothermal nature, maybe that’s why the swans and geese like it.
After heading to a little Korean eatery, (where I found a brand of beer named Cass though I didn‘t try any) the girls decided to go
on a guided tour of Maori village just a little bit outside the town in Te Puia. Timo and I decided to stay behind because the tour cost $35 to get in and we thought that our time and money might be better spent seeing some more of the free sights of the town and hanging out for a beer at the only bar open at that time.
When the girls got back, we all piled into the cars and went to the Zorb hill. What is Zorb or Zorbbing you might ask, well imagine a giant air cushioned hamster ball that you jump in before rolling down a hill! The rest of the group was less than enthusiastic, but I was psyced. I got my ticket for a Zydro which is where they put some water (warm when it’s cold out) in the Zorb ball before you get in then roll you down the hill. I got changed into my trunks and got outside to watch the two girls who were there before us go down the hill, and it was COLD! There are a couple pictures of the foolish Canadian in nothing but beach ware when it’s
cold enough to see your breath.
I went down the windy hill (as opposed to the straight hill) which was sweet as! You get chucked around all over and you’re not sure which way is up, I imagine it’s probably how your socks feel when they’re in the spin cycle! I got a couple pictures taken on a free CD from the guys at Zorb, which unfortunately I have no use for because no one in my group has a laptop with a CD-drive, but Kerstin took a couple pictures of the ball going down the hill and some as I was getting out.
That’s all the excitement for now, talk to you later.
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Mom
non-member comment
Yeah Zorbing!
That's great, I'm so glad you tried it as it is something that maybe is only done in NZ? Do you want that to be a BDay gift or have you thought of something else? Let me know, Love you, Mom