First Night in Rotorua

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Holy crap am I glad I chose to come to Rotorua. I was originally going to skip it, thinking it too "touristy" and stating that I had little interest in a geyser and some hot springs. What I didn't realize is that Rotorua has a lake, is inland so it's fairly not-windy, but most importantly the feel of the city is kind of a bustling laketown where kiwis come to vacation. Right now I'm sitting on the waterfront in a tank top, with seagulls crying and black swans swimming by as I type (turns out there are tons and tons of black swans over here). I walked by a "retro carnival" on the way here, with shining rides and 50s music. Amazingly awesome city.



Tonight I'm staying in the Base Backpackers, and it's a crazy-nice place. I think my room is only girls, there's a bathroom within our suite (gasp!), we overlook the lava bar next door, it's great. The girls are even friendly--I struck up a conversation with two of them (Maddie and Charlotte, they're Australian) as soon as I walked in, basically. It's great.



Well, time for me to go check out the Thursday Night nightmarket! I'm heading to the i-SITE (tourist info center, they're super useful and can book anything) early tomorrow morning to figure out what I should see. I can't wait!

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