28 04 2010

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28 04 2010

Woke up and thankfully the sun was shining after the dull clouds of yesterday. We had decided to spend a 2nd day in Roturua. When we eventually got our act together we set off for the skyline and luge here, similar to the one in Queenstown.

Caught the gondola and appreciated the views of Roturua as they emerged as we got higher up the hill. I had 3 rides for the luge and was obliged to do the scenic beginners one firstly. After that we could choose which one we could go on. I settled fro the advanced and tore off after the bloke in front of me. Great fun and ended up skidding round a few tight bends. Managed to scrape past him in the final turns.

3rd and final run down was the intermediate which I had not yet done. Lovely little chicanes on the way down and then managed to shoot past a Japanese couple before the finish. Felt like I had won the grand prix and really enjoyed the laugh.

In the afternoon we went to what was without doubt the highlight of this place the Whakarewarewa living thermal village.

Very reasonable to get in and live show at 1400 hours which was very good and included Maori songs and a Haka . The Maori people are very friendly and they had us all dancing at the end when we did the hoky coky using the Maori words. We all had a good laugh and found them to be very endearing people.

The thermal village where they live is truly amazing, there are literally scores of fumaroles, the steam vents that release the pressure. One chap was cooking his veggies fro his dinner in a steaming vent and we ate corn on the cob which had been frozen only minutes before. They also siphon off the water for their baths and the ground was hot enough to keep you warm even when cold. Apparently the time to worry is when the geysers don’t blow their tops as that means the pressure is building up. Really liked the whole atmosphere and found their songs very cheerful except for the Haka which was intimidating but enjoyable.


After this we got a bit of shopping and settled into the van for evening meal and a read ready for the off tomorrow.


Phil Wendy

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