Rotorua (21-23 Nov 2010)

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Sunday 21st November 2010 (Whitianga – Rotorua)

Left Whitianga & arrived in Mata Mata for lunch, which is close to Hobbiton, although there was no option to take the tour! Torrential downpours had put toll to the usual walking pass so we arrived Rotorua early and went for a group walk in the redwood forest.

After checking into the base hostel, we decided to have a quick dip in the pool, but it was over 40 degrees and it was hard to even put our faces in the water, let alone swim, so we gave up and sat in the Jacuzzi with Jacob (which was ironically cooler). Dillon picked us up and took a few of us lugeing (gravity powered go-kart) where we had 5 fantastic luge rides down the mountainside followed by a hot chocolate.

In the evening we attended the Tamaki Maori cultural evening. Jacob was picked as chief for our bus and he had to take part in a traditional welcoming ceremony with some scary looking Maori warriors and then Joanne won a stick game used for warriors co-ordination & agility. Before dinner we were entertained with show of traditional hakas, dances & songs. The dinner was a traditional Hangi where everything is cooked underground for hours in-between hot volcanic rocks and soil before being dug up and served... it was a good evening and our driver instigated a karaoke style singsong on coach home with a particularly memorable rendition of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, which probably continued for the full 7 minutes with a select few holding it together a couple of times when it lagged.

Back at the Hostel we continued the merriment at the Lava bar next door where we watched people looking very silly doing drinking games.

Monday 22nd November 2010 (Rotorua)

We opted to leave our first bus here and stay a few days especially with Rotorua being the tourist capital of New Zealand.

We fancied something physical so we hired mountain bikes & went riding in the redwood forest, which had really cool downhill sections and some tough terrain where you needed to watch your speed! A quick stop at Noodle Canteen for a bite to eat and on to Te Puia – Guyserland, where we unfortunately waited 45 mins for the guided tour only for it to start lashing down so we didn’t get to see anything or take pictures! We asked for a ticket for tomorrow but we were met with an uncompromising ‘no’.

Back to Base & off to the Polynesian Spa. We opted for the luxury side as 2 busloads of tourists had just filled the other side! Lava bar for dinner (free bbq for Richard and massive serving of fush & chups for Joanne) & drinks. We also played the pub Quiz with a few friends which we won and were showered with gifts of a large bar tab, free thongs (flip flops), playing cards, and very randomly – lip gloss?

Tuesday 23rd November 2010 (Rotorua)

We arranged to visit Hobbiton (the film set from Lord of the Rings), which meant re-tracing our steps most of the way back to Mata Mata. A village full of tiny house fronts with virtually nothing behind but very impressive nonetheless. There was lots of work going on in order to get the set ready for the next film - The Hobbit - which meant non-disclosure agreements & signing our names in blood (afraid this means no pictures!). Back at the farm we were treated to a sheep sheering display and then Joanne fed the baby lambs & was so smitten that she asked Richard not to eat lamb anymore, but he refused as this is his favourite (murderer!!!).

The driver kindly dropped us off at Te Puia – Guyserland on the way back, where we planned to beg for re-entry & unlike the stern cow from the day before the lady understood, cut us off mid-begging and gave us 2 tickets. Take 2, and thank god, we would have missed so much if we had tried to squeeze it into an hour yesterday regardless of the rain, geysers – we hadn’t seen anything! There were hot pools, bubbling mud, exploding geysers & the carving & weaving school.

After a long day in Rotorua where do you go - that’s right - the Lava bar... a musician with a guitar was playing and singing with a girl – they both had fabulous voices. Later the girl had a rest and he invited people up to join him. Richard signed Joanne up for an Alicia Keys number which reminded him of the wedding. The guitarist was so impressed he asked her to sing another song, and after she’d finished the barman showered us with free drinks and said he wished they’d had karaoke there every night!

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Comments

[Mark]

Rotorua
I can smell it from here!