Long weekend in Rotorua with the inlaws
Trip Start
Aug 13, 2007
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79
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Trip End
Dec 31, 2008
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Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand
Monday, October 6, 2008
On Saturday morning, Joan and I got up early and walked to the supermarket to get some supplies, as the townhouse was self catering. The motel is on the outskirts of the city centre and takes around 10mins to walk to the supermarket and the city centre.
Around mid morning, the 4 of us congregated outside the Rotorua I-site to go on our 1st adventure - the Duck Tour. We did the City and Lakes tour which showed us a mixture of Rotorua City and some of the lakes on the outskirts. We all got to make lots of noise at the pedestrians we passed, using our Duck Quackers!
After the tour we went home for lunch, then headed to Rainbow Springs for the Rainbow Springs & Kiwi Encounter Combo. We walked around the park and then went for the Kiwi Encounter. You have to book the Kiwi Encounter as they are guided tours that go from 10am to 4pm. Our ticket for Rainbow Springs allows as many entries as you like within a 24hr period. This is so you can experience Rainbow Springs by night as well as during the day.
After the Kiwi Encounter, we went up to Hells Gate Spa to have a relaxing dip in the mud pools and sulphur pools.
Later in the evening, we went back to Rainbow Springs to see the park at night. It was pretty good, although it was impossible to photograph the kiwis - mainly because I still don't really know how to use my camera. Nevermind, there's always next time.
On Sunday we headed down towards Taupo to go to Wai O Tapu Thermal Wonderland which is an area of geothermal activity. The weather was rubbish, so Jill & Steve (owners of the motel) very kindly lent Donna & Joan some waterproof jackets. When we got there, once we had bought our admission tickets, we then went down the road to the Lady Knox Geyser. This erupts daily at 10.15am, with a little helping hand from the staff who work there.
After the geyser eruption, we went back to the geothermal park and spent a couple of hours walking round, looking at all the different features. There are 3 walks that you can do, of varying length. We had enough time so we did the longest walk. You get given a guide map with the features all numbered on them, so it is easy to ensure you don't miss anything.
After we had finished at Wai O Tapu, we headed to the edge of Taupo to have a ride on the Huka Falls Jet. We didn't tell Donna & Joan where we were going as we thought they might wimp out, but they seemed to enjoy themselves. It's a very exhilarating ride, and luckily the rain stopped long enough so we didn't get wet.
We had lunch and a mooch around Taupo afterwards and then headed back to Rotorua. We stopped on the way to go to the Honey Hive. Unfortunately they had had a fire a few months beforehand, and so they were in temporary accommodation, and the bees that they normally have in the hives in the shop were being looked after somewhere else. I did buy some honey chocolate liquer, which tastes a bit like Baileys, and some hand cream.
In the evening we went to Mitai, one of the Maori Cultural performances. There seem to be a few of these shows to choose from, but I can definitely recommend this one. It seemed to have a few extras such as the arrival of the warriors by waka (war canoe). The hangi meal was absolutely delicious as well. Complimentary pickups from your accommodation is available as well.
Monday morning we packed up our stuff and headed back to Wellington, but not before we had a quick stop at the Agroventures park to have a quick go on the Shweeb. We were going to do the Zorb but it was raining again so we didn't fancy it. We stopped on the way back at Himatangi Beach for a spot of lunch and a walk along the beach, before heading back home, tired but happy.
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Comments
A great time indeed
Had fab time and everything arranged for us could not have been better and doubt if I will ever forget my first trip to New Zealand.
Thank you Graham and Shon for such a Brill time
Until the next time me hopes xxx