Blogs from Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 90

I have been in New Zealand for ten days now. Today I arrived in Rotorua. I went zorbing this afternoon, which was amazingly fun. It was a 180m zigzag course and the zorb was partially filled with warm water; it is probably the closest I will ever get to being in a washing machine!... read more

Rotorua is probably the one place that most tourists make sure to visit when coming to New Zealand. This is the literal hotbed of Maori culture, because this is the bountiful geothermic area that was so abundant in its riches for the earliest Maori people to arrive in New Zealand, more than 200 years before the Big Discovery made by Christopher Columbus. Rotorua sits on the edge of one of the most concentrated volcanic areas in the world. It is surrounded by evidence of a wild geological past, extending back millions of years. The name of the town is comprised of two Maori words: Roto = “lake” and rua = “two”, the second lake of 15 in the area to be discovered by the Maori. On our third visit to the city, we brought Erin, who ... read more

The last couple of days in Auckland have shown us that it’s true, any city can be perfectly acceptable as long as you have enough money to insulate yourself from any unpleasantness. It’s a really sprawling sort of place and the public transport system is probably OK if you know it well, but we didn’t, so until we picked up the car didn’t see the different areas. If you’re staying downtown, as we are, and you have a car, you actually have to get out because the parking is soooo expensive. So we went to North Shore, Takapuna Beach to be precise, and had a day of beaching as the weather was nice. Having spent the last few weeks constantly telling Barb to be careful with the sun, use sunscreen at every opportunity, southern hemisphere ozone ... read more

Spent 2 nights in Rotorua, famous for hot springs and Maouri culture. Spent the afternoon at the Polynesian Spa, dipping in and out of the 5 outdoor thermal pools, overlooking the lake. Very relaxing. In the evening, went to a Maouri Hungi (feast) at the Maori village of Mitai It was great! The tribe arrived at the venue canoe on the river running through the bushland of the location. It was dark and quite eery stood in the silence and hearing them approaching, chanting their Pohiri (welcome). Once inside the tent, we were told Maouri stories, had the culture explained and given displays of tribal dances, songs, and weaponary. We then dined on a traditional Maouri feast cooked in the traditional way - i.e in the ground! We finished with a bush walk to see the ... read more

Yesterday I had another run of the Kaituna, this time in a Phat that I had borrowed. The day before I spent the whole day at the play hole trying to get my confidence and roll back. I think I finally got it. At the end of the day I was getting windowshaded and cartwheeled all over the hole but I wasn’t swimming. So what follows now is somewhat of a trip report for the Kaituna. First off the Kaituna is like no other river I’ve ever paddled. It seems to me to be like 1km of the Narrows on Section III at high water. But its drop pool and very pushy, almost big water but not really… there are drops. The eddies, well what eddies, just different types of boiling water, remind me of the ... read more