Daytrippin'
Trip Start
Nov 27, 2010
1
8
Trip End
Jan 08, 2011
Taupo, North Island, New Zealand
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Our first day-trip was to the Hawke's Bay region and specifically to see Te Mata Peak. The last stretch of road up to the actual peak is a little bit of an experience too as it's a narrow gravel road with (at places) a steep drop on the side. Now, at certain spots, it IS wide enough for cars meeting each other to still pass, but the tour-bus that goes to the peak is a lot bigger than your average car. So it has a motorcyclist that scouts ahead of it and clears the way.
At the top of Te Mata Peak the view of the surrounding hills and farmlands (and ocean and towns too) is quite impressive. And, if it wasn't for the grey sky and the fierce winds, we would have stayed there longer to enjoy it all. We did notice something there that enforced the belief that it is windy MOST of the time up at Te Mata Peak. A little wooden platform that just ends... Which, after a few minutes, we deduced was there for hang-gliders and para-gliders to start their flight. (And that was later confirmed by overhearing the tour-bus-guide say just that to his passengers.)
After working our way down Te Mata Peak we decided to head into the nearby city of Napier as it's known for its Art Deco architecture. Sadly enough the city wasn't all that nice that day. Partly due to the weather we suspect, but the Art Deco look of it wasn't as prevailant as we imagined either.
The day after our excursion to Te Mata Peak and Napier we decided to give Rotorua another try. Last time we stayed in Rotorua we didn't think too highly of it and couldn't really see other people's passion and love for the place. It has nice thermal parks surrounding it that we DO enjoy visiting, but the city itself just didn't resonate with us.
The reason for returning was that we saw an image online of a rather nice section in Rotorua that we didn't see ourselves last time. So, back we went to see if it was indeed as nice as other people's pictures made it look.
The weather this day was a lot more accomodating and we had the nice blue skies and calm weather that makes exploring areas and photographing things so much more enjoyable. And indeed, that section of Rotorua was very pretty. The Government Gardens is a very picturesque area and The Rotorua Museum (formerly The Rotorua Bath House) is a wonderfully old building in a style that just fits so perfectly there.
Having given Rotorua another try we can now quite safely conclude that it really isn't the city for us. We can SORT OF see the appeal for other people, but the smell there was just so bad (AGAIN) that it's not the kind of place we'd want to be in for very long. It has a few nice sights (the Government Gardens are DEFINITELY worth your time if you're nearby), but the smell that permeates the city made us lose our appetite and made lingering there a rather unpleasant prospect.
However, we can't deny that Rotorua is indeed unique... But WE are unlikely to go back there since the thermal parks can be reached quite safely from other nearby towns that do NOT smell like rotten eggs :P
In the end we were quite happy using Taupo as our base for these day-trips and we even got to enjoy having lunch one of the days while watching the participants of the Half-Ironman Competition run (and later cycle) past.
Comments
as somebody who has visited Rotorua a number of times I tend to agree - bits of it are rather picturesue and all - but the smell REALLY doesnt do much for the experience !
Merry Christmas guys!
Did you go Zorbing in Rotarua?
Very picturesque... and yet again I am thankful that recording technology doesn't yet incorporate scents.
Oh, and merry Christmas.