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.
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