Together Abroad: December 2009

So, I've been down with a case of flu and still am recuperating. Christmas is just days away and I pray to God that I'll be fine by then. But for now, I'm going to write about my trip to Rotorua, which was weeks ago, but I hope I can still relay the experience here. Well, we went to Rotorua on our third day. Took a bus which took three hours to reach Rotorua. When we reach, it was close to noon and it was drizzling. Not suprising. We checked into our motel, Rotorua Motor Lodge. Quite a decent place. Host Tim who checked us in was friendly and really helpful. He helped us to arrange to rent a car and also booked us for a Cultural Evening Experience in Te Puia Village, less than five minutes drive from the motel. Anyway, since I intend to write about Rotorua in a single entry, I should probably separate it into Day 1 and Day 2.

Day 1

You already know the gist. Arrived Rotorua, checked in, booked a car. Once we had the car, we drove to town to get familiar with the streets. Then, we drove to what seemed to be the end of the street because beyond us was a huge lake with hundreds of swans, pigeons, birds alike. And for the two days we spent in Rotorua, I think we went to this place four times! For some reason, my dad likes this place. Anyway, we had korean hot plate for lunch and shop for souvenirs afterwards. On the way back to the motel, we brought some groceries ; juice, cheese corn chips, beers, etc. Rested for awhile and came evening, we went to the nearby Te Puia Village, a traditional Maori Village which was highly recommended by Tim, our host.

So we went to Te Puia Village, got our tickets from the counter which cost NZD $ 99 per person (not exactly cheap but totally worth it!) for the Cultural Evening Experience Package which includes a brief guided tour in the beginning, showing us the origin and history of Maori which was really fascinating, a Maori cultural and dance performances e.g. Haka Dance where audience got to go to the stage to learn their dances,and Maori's song are so pleasant and to the point of uplifting, we had Hangi meal afterwards; Hangi meal is basically a traditional Maori's way of preparing a meal, which is by using the natural steam and heat from the earth. Almost like stewing the food, but, in a old-fashioned Maori way. So, typical Hangi meal consists of sweet corn, sweet potatoes, and lots of meat, and really, lots of them. So after dinner, we had another guided tour to the geyser. We had a train cum tram that took us to the nearby geyser and the first thing that we noticed when we're near the geyser was the awful, pungent smell, which is actually the sulphur steam emitting from the geyser. But despite the smell, the geyser itself was a beautiful sight. And to add to that short tour, we got to sip on hot chocolate and sit on a rock that emits natural heat. It's the perfect way to enjoy the sight of geyser. To end the tour, our guide sang us a Maori farewell song and he sang well. My family enjoyed the tour as much as I did. Perfect way to end our first day in Rotorua.

Pictures from Day 1.

Us, on a very early and chilly morning, waiting for a bus to Rotorua.

Where we stayed at Rotorua

First lunch in Rotorua was in a cozy Korean restaurant cum Supermarket.

At the lake side, bird/swan watching

Me by the lake

With a wood statue. This is near Rotorua Museum

Taken in the Garden near Rotorua Museum

Te Puia Village, a traditional Maori Village

Our guide for the evening

Maori's Welcoming Dance

More cultural and dance performance

Us having Hangi Meal

At the geyser.

Day 2

We woke up to a misty morning. We drove down to Wai-O-Tapu, which was a 30 to 40 mins scenic drive where we saw hundreds or even thousand of cows, sheeps and horses. The road side was graced with tall, majestic pine trees and vast, stretches of greens that seems never-ending to ones eyes. Anyway, Wai-O-Tapu which means 'Sacred Water' in Maori is an active geothermal area and its many hot springs are famous for its colourful appearance. And one notably famous hot spring is Lady Knox Geyser which erupts every 10.15am and shoots jets of water up to 10-15 metres and this eruptions last for over 1 hour, depending weather. Pictures would come later. After the visit to Wai-O-Tapu, we went to Rotorua Museum. Usually, visit to museum is uneventful but Rotorua museum has many exciting things that centres around Rotorua's history as a town rich with hot springs which is said to have healing elements that cure skin diseases. And as much as Rotorua is blessed with natural hot springs due to its location which has active geothermal activity, this is also a curse as chances of volcanic eruptions are high with the last volcanic disaster dated back in 1886, when Mount Tarawera killed over 150 people in Rotorua. Rotorua Museum shows a chronology of the said volcanic disaster. Of course, we also got an insight of Maori's history. After the museum visit, we had lunch at a Thai Restaurant. Mum and I went to Hell's Gate which is famous for it's mud bath and sulphur spa. So, we did just that in the hope to have smoother skin afterwards. Truthfully, before and after the bath and spa, I didn't feel any difference to my skin. But it's the experience that counts. I think that's pretty much the major things we did on the second day. We went back to the lake mentioned earlier twice on the second day, in the morning and in the evening.

Pictures from day 2.

Dad driving

The scenic drive. If only we had clear blue sky instead of gloomy ones.

Wai-O-Tapu!

The many craters

And hot springs!

Lady Knox Geyser

Green hot spring

Rotorua Museum

Posing with a marble statue

Taken from Rotorua Museum's roof top

Me again.

One last trip to the lake.

So, I guess, that pretty much wraps up my Rotorua trip. Fun and eventful. We went back to Auckland the next day which I'll write about in the next entry. Cheers.

Finally, I have time to sit down and write about my New Zealand trip. Seriously, this past few weeks, I've been cooped up in the meeting room, staring at the laptop screen until late hours so much so I fall sick! Now that the annual sales planning and budget meeting is over, I can finally unwind a little. But before that, fyi, Oliver is in Greece! That lucky fella.

Anyway, NZ trip with the family was nice. It wasn't great, but still, nice. The first two days and last two days were spent in Auckland, also nicknamed 'The City of Sail'.We stayed in Manukau, which is another city, 30 mins drive from Auckland. Nothing much to say about Manukau although, i must say that the apartment we stayed in is recommendable. Nice and well equipped apartment, friendly staffs, about 20 mins drive from the airport, the Manukau Westfield shopping centre and cinema is right in front of the apartment and Rainbow End Theme Park, largest Theme Park in NZ is within walking distance.

The day we arrived in Auckland, we only went to Manukau Westfield shopping centre. Marshal and I watched Twilight Saga: New Moon while the parents went shopping. The next day, we went to Waiheke Island in the morning and just explore Auckland city in the afternoon. So, let me show you some pictures.

Let's go to Waiheke!

Ferry Building @ Viaduct Harbour

I think I was trying to do a scene from Titanic if you know what i mean..

Marshal and I

Meet my parents

Me with a bag of cheese flavoured corn chips *Heart*

Onetangi Beach

Isolated Onetangi Beach where I was eaten by sandflies alive.

Don't i just blend in with the surrounding wild flowers?

One of the many vineyards in Waiheke Island. The saddest thing was we didn't get to do any wine tasting because we were too early and most vineyard only open for wine tasting at 12noon.