Blogs from Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

Rotorua Thursday /Friday 7th 8th March This is the centre of the geothermal area and after yesterday's trip to Orakei Korako, today we went to Wai-O-Tapu. There is a geyser, Lady Knox geyser, and a member of staff pours some soap into the geyser, which is a surfacterant that makes the geyser shoot up in a cloud of steam and soapsuds. Apparently it was discovered at the beginning of the last century when prisoners were clearing the land for tree cultivation, found a hot spring that they used to wash in, and one of the prisoners dropped his soap in the spring. After a few minutes the hot water shot up in a fountain scattering naked prisoners in every direction. They are terraces covered in silica, and various colours from different minerals underground. There is a ... read more

Premier arrêt : Rotorua ! Toute première impression : grand soleil (et ça comment ça fait du bien!!) mais l'odeur d'oeuf pourri est belle et bien là ? La ville est sympa, tout peut se faire à pied, c'est rempli de parcs et comme le lac est juste à côté on arrive facilement vers des points de vue d'eau. First stop: Rotorua! First impression: big fat sunshine (and that feels sooooo good), but the rotten egg smell is a bit heavy. The city is really nice, you can walk to anywhere easily, it's full of parks and since the lake is close by, you can easily stop by the water and enjoy it ?... read more

Well, it did it again. 250 words down the drain. Have to start all over again. Our flight to Auckland was about 2 1/2 hours. We were met by our new tour director, Marty, and taken to our hotel. We had another meet and greet to meet the new people on our bus. There were 34 of us in Australia, but only 20 went on to New Zealand. So we picked up another tour, plus about 8 people who were just doing New Zealand only. So now we have 47 people on a bus designed for 48. Takes longer to load and unload. The first morning, we did a bus tour of Auckland and then we went on a 90 minute cruise around Waitemata Harbor. We had free time in the afternoon, so we did our ... read more

Its funny what you forget with time. From the very first moment you open the vehicle door in Rotorua the sulphur smell greets you. It stays with you constantly, sometimes wafting stronger, both outdoors and even in sometimes. Accompanied by, what is quickly becoming our travel partner, the rain everything looks different. You lose the colours of the hot pools and geothermal lakes, and the bubbling mud pots become boiling liquidy soup. However, nothing detracts from the awe that our live and volatile planet inspires each and every time. Constant steam arising from the drains holes in the street, from between trees and rocks in the park, under a garden fence charring it black in the process. Everywhere you look there is a reminder, or two. Having visited two of the four major geothermal parks here ... read more

The Indian meal was bloody good – if you’re in Napier, go eat there. But I wouldn’t bother going to Napier just for the curry. Consistent with most of the places we have visited so far on the trip, the natural setting is lovely; the place a bit, well, tired? Maybe that’s being unkind, there is nothing really to fault but it could be that I am ready for a little more sophistication after almost three weeks motorcycle touring in New Zealand. For breakfast in The County Hotel I restricted myself to toast and honey - Crystal Meth Girl seemingly had a day off which was a good start. The skies were heavily overcast though, and the three-and-a-half-hour trip that we had in front of us to Rotorua promised to be, like Marge Simpson’s bowling shoes, ... read more