Rotorua - Adventure capital of the North Island

Sorry for the delay in posts everyone … we have been having a blast in Rotorua, which is becoming the adventure capital of the North Island along with its sister city Taupo.

The last time I was in Rotorua was in 2008 with Ted and previously with my friend Chantal in 1998. Oh my how it has changed. They have a shopping mall here (still a rarity in NZ), big box stores, and an airport with an arrivals building separate from departures - who knew! The little city that could …

In Rotorua you can do pretty much anything outdoors; cycling, fat biking, hiking, sailing, kayaking, rent a helicopter, parasailing, absailing, zorbing (check that out!), tree walks, zip lining down from the peak that you just road up on the gondola, go carting down the same space as the zip line - it’s crazy.

Sufficie it to say Ted and I kept to the hiking lol

We went to Te Puia, which is the premier geothermal park. We had a guided tour that provided a detailed explanation on the gysers, thermal hot spots, bubbling mud pools, native bush, and a tour of the kiwi enclosure (we saw 2 kiwi), and a visit to the Arts and Crafts Institute; stone carvers, wood carvers, and weavers - it was very informative and great to see some of the students working on their project right in front of us.

We also spend a day at Hell’s Gate - a mud pools and geothermal park. The mud bath was fun, though odd to do with so many people. We got all mudded up, let it cake on us for 20 minutes, then washed it off and you then alternated between the sulphure pools and plunge pools and basking in the sun.

Today was amazing - we did a 12km hike throughout Redwood Forest - which also has an elevated (lighted at night) tree walk. We tried to get tickets for the nighwalk, but it is sold out until January 13th (WTF) so we settled on walking under the tree walk after our 12km hike. The hike was exceptional and we were literally by ourselves for 90% of the hike; hiking through the giant redwoods, giant tree ferns.

Tomorrow is our last day in Rotorua before heading to Taupo for New Years. Not sure what we will be doing, but one thing is bowling at Metro Entertainment (a giant entertainment complex that has 10 pin bowling - yippy!). Ted is not too excited about it, but is doing it for me … Be prepared for funny photos if I am allowed to share …

The photos below show:

A redwood sculpture at the start of the hike; a shot of the platform and walkway for the tree walk; a photo of the colored orbs that light up at night to guide the walkers; Ted having fun hugging the trees; petrified wood at Hells Gate; a photo of Ted at the geothermal park of Hells Gate; a photo of the largest ‘hot water’ waterfall in the Southern Hemisphere; a couple photos from the Arts and Crafts Institute; and photos from Te Puia during our tour and Ted having fun playing around …

Cheers

Robert and Ted