Day 8 & 9: Rotorua

 

I left Auckland on a cold, grey, rainy morning! No surprise to know that I opted for a taxi to the bus station! The walk was definitely to far in the rain, the hotel next door agreed with me and were  happy to order a taxi for me!

My bus to Rotorua was great, more crowded than I expected  but apparently it’s the last few days of the NZ school hols, so lots of people heading home etc.

I had a rather interesting guy sitting behind me, a little tipsy, and very vocal on his mobile, I hope his Nan gives him the $10,000 and he enjoyed the pie his sister was making for him and I really hope him and his brother make things up!! 😍

I was looking forward to the scenery on my bus journey, but sadly due to the rubbish weather it was like traveling through twilight the whole way, not helped by the rain! We did go through and past  some interesting places, Huntley, with its massive Thermal Power station, the largest in NZ (Sorry no pics) Huntly is on the banks of the Waikato River the longest River in NZ. We also passed through lots of farm land, cattle and sheep mostly. This is all surrounded by mountains, although these were shrouded in cloud and mist!

After nearly 5hrs we arrived in Rotorua, it was dark, and only a light drizzle, It was a short 10min walk to my accommodation, my first experience of NZ’s YHA! Well, it all started brilliantly, an upgrade to a double en-suite, from my booked single! The room is small, but had everything you would need, towels, even some small (very small) toiletries. I dropped off my stuff and headed out for some much needed food. Handily the clever people of Rotorua have a street called ‘Eat Street’ which means I don’t have to wander all over the place looking for sustenance! The only trouble is when you’re really hungry lots of choice is too much! I finally opted for  simple burger and chips, which were yummy! Then headed back to the YHA to bed! For some reason I am still really tired, delayed jet lag??

After a cold night! Yes, Cryogenic Claire got cold!! Very thin covers on the bed and an outside temp of 3degrees! I was awake around 7am I got in the shower, which was wonderful and hot!! Stayed there till my feet warmed up! Then got dressed and headed out. Thank god the weather had improved, blue skies and some sunshine! I walked down to the lake front. The lake is very large and forms part of the valley/crater created some 2000 yrs ago when there was a huge explosion, I think a possible Caldera eruption, this would also explain why there is so much Geothermal activity in and around Rotorua.  After the lake front I had to go shopping, not my favourite thing, especially as it was for boring stuff, not a beautiful Green Stone/jade necklace! instead it was for  pair of socks that will stay up!! Having found said socks, and paid £10, seriously! They best not fall down, ever! I headed over towards the park, and some geothermal pools. When I got there there was a local food market going on which was great. The local people here certainly like their meat with a side of meat and possibly some fried things! The smells were great, and there were also lots of vegetables, which you can buy to cook to go with your meat! 😂

after a mooch around here it was time for my tour. I was going off to visit the movie set of Hobbiton! A few facts first. The original set, built for Lord of the Rings in 1999,  was a temporary site, built on land owned by a local farming family, the Alexander’s. Then in 2009 the whole thing was rebuilt for the Hobbit Films. It was decided then to build everything as permanent structures. It took 2 years to build and filming there was done in 12 days!! Peter Jackson’s attention to detail is phenomenal! The bus for the tour left Rotorua with only 4 people! Which was fab as it was like having a private tour. The ride there was so good as I got to see the scenery I had missed the day before, stunning!

The Movie set is really fabulous, and it was especially fun as one of the girls on our bus was a huge fan and she was super excited! She also happened to be tiny and very hobbit like, in the best way!

When I was planning my trip to NZ, Dave one of my friends and a great CotC customer had challenged me to do a Haka at Hobbiton! If I did he promised to put £20 of suspended coffee on our list, well, never one to shirk a challenge I aimed to give it a go! There were a few issues! First I don’t know how to do a Haka. Second, neither did our driver, guide or any of my fellow passengers! (One lovely German guy didn’t even know what a Haka was!) Third, you cant just pretend to do a Haka as this would be culturally inappropriate and disrespectful. So it was looking like the challenge would be lost. Then we arrived at Hobbitons best drinking establishment: The Green Dragon! I asked a couple of the staff, explaining what and why I wanted to do it and behold the lovely Jackie came forward, a beautiful young Maori girl who does Hakas at competitions!! She was happy to show me, so off we went outside, 1 minute of practice and a Haka was performed! Short but sweet! 😂😂 The staff thought it was brilliant, and the video may well appear on their FB page! (God forbid!) so, Dave Maulin, that’s £20 you now owe CotC, challenge completed!!

After this fabulous day I headed back to Rotorua. I had a glass of wine in a nice bar in Eat Street, then opted for some Thai Rice for dinner. I stopped at another nice pub on the way back To the YHA, chatted to a nice Maori guy called Tommy who answered lots of my random questions, bless him. Apparently Rotorua has the largest number of Maori people in the world, so it is a cultural centre.

Tomorrow I am heading to Napier, but for now its bedtime for me, Glad to say I have a spare blanket and my new fancy socks to keep me warm!

Oh, just to say we are 6/6 on the rainbow front!! 🌈🌈

I Can’t upload the Haka video, so I’ll pop it in my FB page. X

Good night/Good Morning. 😘😘