Oceania → Australasia → New Zealand → Bay of Plenty → Rotorua
for the 3-day break last weekend, beginning friday through sunday, kayo, yoko, and myself decided to make the time useful by visiting rotorua, which is in central north island. it is some 240 kms north of hastings (where i am now), or 460 kms from wellington (where i first arrived) and having no cars, we checked going there by bus first. after finding out that 1-way ticket costs as much as $50 per person (so a hundred dollars roundtrip), we almost cancelled the trip. then, we tried borrowing morgan’s spare car, and since it’s available, we used it, me as the driver. the car, a 20-year old mitsubishi lancer in manual transmission, proved to be an old trusty vehicle that we made our way to rotorua and back without any problem whatsoever. this was my first time to drive in the wrong side of the road (it’s left-hand drive in the philippines), and it was definitely weird at first. everything is completely opposite. i have to use my left hand for the gears. the wiper is on the left side of the steering wheel, and the turn-signal on the right side. there were times i’m turning the wiper on when i needed the sign to turn. the gas tank opening is on the right side of the car (just like the driver’s seat), and the pump hose in gas station does not extend much that you should carefully park with the right side of the car facing the machine (did i make sense?) in order to refuel. you do the filling by yourself, and can pay either by eftpos (like a BPI’s EPS) or go to the teller and pay after refilling (everyone is honest to pay, i’m amazed).
we left the hostel about 8 in a friday morning, and after a few kilometers and getting used to right-hand driving (that is left-side traffic), we safely reached taupo for a quick stopover in taupo lake. it was nice to drive again (even it was a bit odd), but since i’m at the wheels, i didn’t get a chance to take pictures of the views we passed by. sights were really great, very idyllic. the ubiquitous hills with cattles and sheeps, soaring snow-capped mountains afar, endless farms, towering trees in some semi-forest area, and occasionally, bridges crossing stony low-water rivers.
continuing the travel from taupo, it took about an hour to reach rotorua. there is certainly one thing you can’t avoid but notice in this town, and that is its smell. hydrogen sulphide is in the air, drifting up from natural vents in the region’s thin crust. so we were literally inhaling air that smells like fart, or if you fancy analogy in food terms, rotten eggs. a quick visit to i-site (tourist info in all of nz’s centre) to get more info what to do around, then looked for a hostel. both kayo and yoko has BBH card so we stayed in an accredited one. we booked for a night (rate is $23 for me, no BBH), and good there’s free parking outside. kayo is an excellent human gps so we didn’t lose our way even once. we were all starving as it was noon already, so had some fish burger in a local fish and chips. all stuffed, we made our way by walk to lake rotorua, home to a lot of seagulls and swans of different species. walking right from the lake, we arrived at rotorua museum which was a mud bathhouse in history. several of the old baths have been preserved and showcased in the museum. there was also a short film about the history of both the area and the baths. other section of the museum includes the te arawa carvings, and dramatic events surrounding the tarawera eruption. there’s also access to the basement and rooftop of the building with the basement showing the pipes and more baths exhibits. going to the rooftop gives a panoramic view of the surrounding area including lake rotorua.
temperature here varies extensively. sometimes it’s so hot, other times it’s cold. days could reach as high as 37 degree celsius, and while we were in rotorua, it was a bit hot but cooler when the wind blows. we had ice cream before walking our way back to hostel. helen and natalie were actually also in rotorua the same day, but won’t stay overnight in the area as they are going sky diving the next day (last saturday) in taupo. we planned to meet them, but shame we weren’t able to. back at the hostel, we had a quick plan what to do on our next day and realizing that probably there’s no time to do the zorbing other than that day, i asked the reception about the zorb facility schedule (open til 7pm), and leaving at the hostel at half-past 6, we quickly hopped in the car and find our way to zorbing area. zorbing is a very simple game activity but costs a lot (for me), all you have to do is go inside a gigantic 11-foot ball. and the ball goes down from top of the hill with you inside. there are 2 different ways of doing this. one is dry where you are harnessed inside the ball so you go upside down or sideways as you go down. the second is a wet one where they put a bit of water inside the ball and you go inside with nothing to hold on to and just slide all around it and a bit of tumbling as well. i would definitely want the dry one as it sounds more exciting and i don’t want to get my clothes wet but they only run the wet version that day as it was too windy. the ride was awesome! and definitely a lot more fun if i have some company inside the ball. the short time inside the ball was $45! they can actually launch the ball with 3 people inside (yes, that’s how big the zorb ball is), but kayo and yoko are not keen on trying this thing. they were more excited for our next stop (of course, girls..), which was the polynesian spa. the facility has several pools most offering landscape views of lake rotorua. the hot mineral pools claimed to treat some ailments like arthritis and rheumatism, funny as we may sooner get these illnesses if we keep working in farms. some pools have acidic water bubbling up through the bottom of tub with temperature varying from 36 to 43C. having lied in hot water for quite awhile, we went our way to some grocery and get some beer and some food for breakfast the next day. then, back to hostel, and went out again by walk to find something to eat for dinner. we were meaning to have some kebab (saw the restaurant earlier in the morning) but the shop was closed already when we got there. nearby restaurant looks posh and costly, so we resorted to burger king.
the next day, which was saturday, was not properly started as we all stayed in bed a bit longer. after quick breakfast, we left the hostel and on our way to wai o tapu, some 30 kms south of central rotorua. the facility combines a vast expanse of mult-colored rocks and pools, nz’s largest and most impressive lake of boiling mud and the famed lady knox geyser, which is induced to perform on schedule at 10.15 in the morning daily. a packet of soap flakes is poured into the vent, and within a few minutes, the soap reduced the water’s surface tension, and superheated steam and water are released in a jet which reaches a maximum height of 20 meters. after the geyser performance, we headed back to the main park for a walk with series of mud pools, craters, rocks, and vents. the walk is about 3 or 4 kms and took more time as we were taking photos and looking around. the center of attraction is the champagne pool, a circular bottle-green cauldron wreathed in swirling steam and fringed by a burnt-orange shelf. i believe this is actually the main cover of my rough guide book i bought back in the philippines, and was convinced when i saw it myself.
the walk around the park was tiring but definitely worth the energy. at about noon, we started our way back to hastings after getting more petrol and a short stop for quick lunch (i had sushi from the grocery). it was hot on our way back and the road was endless i feel so sleepy at times. the car has a habit of going sideways to left when the steering wheel is not held firmly so i think i scared kayo and yoko a bit! also, the maximum speed limit is 100 kph, but i think i drove as much as 140kph. petrol share is just $25 each for the 3 of us, and some petrol still left. it was a great savings from $100 each if we took the bus!
back safely at the hostel for some rest, it was then sushi night led by dan (of italy). ‘really cheap as the share was only $5, and doubled as a cooking lesson as well as i learned how to make sushi. helen and natalie came in a bit after us and was telling us about their skydive in total exhilaration. they did it complete with t-shirt souvenir. ‘can’t wait for my turn to dive once i get enough money
