Thursday 19th February - Rotorua

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Hey!

Today we drove to Rotorua, which is only an hours drive from Taupo so was nice to have a long day to ourselves to see 'Sulphur City' as it is affectionately known - the whole place smells like rotten eggs! First we visited the Geo-thermal Mud Pools - attached are some pics but we have a good video to show you when we get home so you get the full affect! Very strange and very smelly things! The steam coming off them is also really hot. Also is our last day with Damo today which is sad as he's been a great bus driver/guide - can't believe our Kiwi Experience is almost over : (
After the mud pools we took a bus to Mount Ngongotaha where we did the Gondola and Luge, 487 metres above sea level - very very funny!! We went up Mount Ngongotaha via cable car which gave us great views of Rotorua City, Lake and surrounding areas. We then had 5 turns on the luge - check out the attractive helmet wear!! You start on the scenic route - to make sure you can actually brake properly, then there are 2 more tracks - intermediate which we did once and then the advanced track which we did 3 time because we are hardcore mentalists and loved the Big Dipper! Was touch and go for a moment when i forgot how to brake going down the advanced track and Libby wanted to play bumper cars - even though falling out of the car when going at the speed we were going could have caused serious grazing!!! crazy girl! she's such a wild child, must get it from you Hilary 😊 and obviously the drinking from you Glyn ; ) (Libby told me i could write the last bit!)
After the mayhem on the mountain we headed back to freshen up for our Maori Experience which has to be one of the best nights we've had! The tour guide Cheara was mental but obviously very dedicated to her culture and proud of her ancestory. She picked a bus load of us up from our hostel and took us to Tamaki Village, teaching us Maori sayings along the way - kia ora which is an informal way of saying hello. We'll be fluent by the time we come home : ) We were briefed not to smile or laugh during the first opening ceremony as they find this very offensive and no way did we want to annoy any Maori's - you've all seen the Haka! So of course I was conscious of trying not laugh when being told I can't and Libby always laughs in nervous situations, but we managed to control ourselves! After the welcoming ceremony they lead us into the village and talked to us about Maori culture, which was really interesting. Then they entertained us with music and dance and of course the Haka - loved it!! We then were given a 2 course dinner which was cooked the Maori way - using hot rocks and placed underground. Awesome night topped off with the drive home when Cheara made the whole bus sing 'she'll be coming round the mountain when she comes' while continously driving round a roundabout and then said 'that's how we round off the night - in a roundabout way!' one very crazy lady! She also knocked over 3 traffic cones without even flinching which was hilarious as she then informed us she had been assessed all night - luckily the guy who was assessing her got off the bus before she hit the cones! Off to Auckland tomorrow for our last couple of days xx

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Photos

The Luge!
don't we look attractive ; )

Mud Pools
They smell bad!

Comments

[Trout]

Wow again!!
These stories just get better and better.... Good to hear your still havin an awesome time.. keep up the good blogging work!! See ya soon!! Not long now!! xx