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Published: January 23rd 2008
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After our 'grey but great' experience in The Bay of Islands, we headed South for Rotorua. The home of bubbling pools of sulphurous mud, it would be a lie to say the place smelt nice; however we weren't there to breathe in the aromas, we were there for extreme sports! We had penciled in going to the 'Agrodome', a celebration of all things sheepy about New Zealand just for the laugh, but at the last minute that plan was shelved and we went luging!
Luging is basically gravity powered go-karting, on narrow cement roads down a mountainside. With three tracks to choose from (Scenic, Intermediate & Advanced) the was lots of fun to be had with the only proviso being you had to do the Scenic or Intermediate first. So I promptly go into my kart and headed for the middle lane, not really looking at the signs. Suddenly I was going warp speed, bearing down on anybody within sight with the roar of plastic wheels, and 95% of my body out of the kart to prevent it flipping over on the turns. I presumed I was on the intermediate track, but when I went over the jump and into
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On the bubble up to the luging the heavily cambered banked turns, I was feeling a little scared of taking on anything more 'radical'! When I arrived at the bottom and waited by the chairlift for Kate (for about 3 minutes i might add. I feared she wasn't really pushing herself when she uttered " I couldn't get started again after stopping to scratch my nose...") she informed me that I'd headed straight down the advanced track. We both did the advanced again, and then Kate said my last run I should do the intermediate as it's faster and longer. Red rag to a bull, off I went like a young Juan-Pablo Montoya streaking past parent-and-child having "a nice day out" striking fear into anybody I approached to overtake (they get a bit skittish when you slipstream...). We left exhilarated, and headed back to our hostel to prepare for the evenings entertainment.
We stayed in Mexican-themed Cactus Jacks Backpackers which was great; with all the rooms located around a courtyard each one had its own wild west personality. Some people slept in the jail, some in the barber shop, some in the telegraph office. Unfortunately we omitted to take any pictures of said Cactus Jacks, so
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Wacky Racer No.1 you'll just have to take my word for it. There was also a decent hot tub for relaxing in after the long drive. The highlight however was waking up in the wee hours to the sounds of a NZ stag night out, doing an awesome rendition of the Haka in the courtyard just outside our door. Now I understand why the Irish players are teary eyed facing it; and its not to do with how beautiful or moving it is! It should be noted that we wandered around Rotorua on Saturday night looking for somewhere lively for a pint. The place was like a ghost town, only quieter! Only 1 pub was open, and every other newsagent, shop, restaurant and off license was closed at 6pm. Now we understand why people say NZ is quiet!
After the luging we headed to a traditional Maori night at the Mitai tribe's rather grand tourist centre. We did feel a bit cheap and nasty doing something so touristy after all our 'real' experiences in South America; shouldering American pensioners out of the way to get a picture of Maoris floating by in their boat (which they did 4 times, to give the
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Ready to Roll pensioners a chance to get back up and get a picture too...) wasn't the way we would have wanted it. That said it was a great night, a very impressive show was put on for us (which we were in the front row of...alot to be said for the shouldering again) and a good feed too. We had traditional food cooked in a steaming pit, called Hangi, which was great; and in true backpacker style left with the top buttons of our trousers open. Our compere for the night was quite the cunning linguist, he managed to say a few sentences to each nationality present (we were a tribe of 17 nations!). He even exchanged a cupla focal with us Gaelogoirs such as "dia dhuit", "conas ata tu", "ta me go maith" and "cead mile failte"...very impressive!
The next morning was filled with excitement, as it was Zorbing time! To the uninitiated, Zorbing is where you jump into a giant inflatable ball and the hatch is zipped up behind you, and roll down the nearest hill giggling like a schoolgirl. I went first and opted for the wet option; unrestrained inside down a zig-zag track with a bucket of
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On the chairlift (thankfully, and kindly) warmed water to complete that washing machine experience. After the first turn I could see nothing, spent half the time backwards or upsidedown, inhaled mouthfuls of water, and loved it. Pretty similar experience to a good waterslide. Kate went for the 'strapped in' option which reportedly gives you more G-forces. In the zorb in a harness, she rolled straight down the hill, being given plenty of G's as she went upsidedown every other second. She emerged with a smile on her face, a definite success!
We hit the road again headed for the town of National Park, which is, as the name might suggest, in a National Park area. Tongariro National Park is home to 3 spectacular volcanoes, Mt Ruapehu, Mt Tongariro & Mt Ngauruhoe (Mordor's Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings). We camped right beside Mt Ngauruhoe but the weather was so bad that we never saw it over 3 days! We planned to do the Tongariro Crossing hike the next day, a good 8 hour stroll through some beautiful scenery, thought to be one of the best walks in NZ. However the rain decided that it would fall non stop for 24 hours
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Take her steady or so, so at 6am warm in our tent, we decided against it, and opted for the lie in! National Park is really a winter ski town, so it was a little on the quiet side, but it was good to just chill out for the day, reading and drinking tea. This is also where the obsession with draughts starts, the series continues as we speak, Kate comfortably having the upper hand. After National Park, we continued south toward Wellington. Having a rental car is great for us, we can throw some food in the back and cook wherever we stay; the age of $3 fillet steaks is definitely over! We stayed at a great place in Wellington called the Cambridge Hotel which caters for the less affluent backpacker too. For $5 each (E2.50) we got a pint and a plate full of bbq, so we were delighted with that spot of economizing! With the rental car back in one piece, the rest of the evening was spent having a few drinks in a snazzy bar that we felt decidedly under dressed in, but enjoyed being back amongst revelers.
The next day would see the start of our South
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Montoya looks at a pass Island adventure!
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MichaelM.
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Wonderful entertaining stuff to read Mark. After almost 2 weeks not being able to read of your travels it was great to read of the fun you had in your new travel pods. One of our staff was in New Zealand 2 years ago and she concurred with your comments on the place. I look forward( if I get to read it) to hearing of your balloon flight.