Rotorua

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Planned to go to the Wai-O-Tapu thermal area but got up and it was raining pretty hard so we decided that we didn’t want to go that bad. We saw some thermal areas while walking yesterday and they are very similar to Yellowstone National Park, but smaller. Instead, we walked downtown and while Michael spent time at the internet café, I did some laundry at the coin Laundromat. After lunch, Michael wanted to browse around town some more and I went back to our room to work on getting my journal caught up.
Dee picked us up around 6:30 pm but Vince didn’t come since he is on pain pills from some torn ligaments in his foot. He is also on crutches for the first time and isn’t handling the whole thing very well. Dee took us to the gondola that goes up a small mountain and has some beautiful views of Rotorua. We ate at a restaurant at the top that had a wonderful buffet. They have a toboggan course that goes down the mountain. Michael and I are amazed because the toboggan courses like this in the US have very high side curbs so you can’t fly off the course. In true NZ style, this course has no curbs at all! One missed turn and you can careen right down the mountain. Dee says, “Yes, many people get scraped up coming off the course”. You just have to love their spirit!

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