Rotorua: Zorbing, Thermal Pools & More!

Whew! I just got back from my road trip to Rotorua, and I am exhausted but energized. I've decided to update my blog, partly because I don't want to forget all the incredible things that have happened, and also because I have a pile of reading sitting on my desk that I'm glad to put off.

We left Thursday night, and although we intended to leave at 6:00pm we ended taking off around 7:30. We rented a five-seater a few hours beforehand, and since I'd offered to drive first, I got a little practice driving in the city. Not only did I have to get used to driving on the left side of the road, but also sitting on what felt like the passengers seat, shifting with my left hand, and turning on the blinkers with the hand by the window (I ended up turning on the windshield wipers about three times before getting it right). Roundabouts are also a little strange to get used to, but with practice, end up being much more fluid than four-way stop signs.

After heading about 50km North, I realized that I'd left my purse (with my wallet, keys, phone, camera, and other valuables) on my living room table, and we had to double back. After that annoying delay, I felt a little guilty and so agreed to drive for the entire trip. I was paying very close attention to the road (or so I thought) but somehow ended up on a different highway (honestly, they all look pretty much the same in New Zealand... windy, two-lane roads surrounded by greenery). After a few wrong turns on each of our parts, a few angry truck drivers, a trip through a dense forest on frighteningly low gas, and a few stops in towns with no gas pumps or broken credit card gas machines, we made it to a gas station around 1:30am. We ended up arriving at Rotorua after 3:00am, and we were all frustrated and exhausted. And thanks to Murphy's Law as well as my continuous string of bad luck, the entrance code to our hostel didn't work.

We were already upset about the thought of sleeping in our car after the long journey, when a drunken young man stumbled up to us and said "hey ladiesss". Of course, we all exchanged a look of "please, not now". He asked "you girls live here?" pointing at the hostel, and although none of of us were willing to deal with being hit on by a drunken cavorter at this point (and I was almost ready to punch someone out of frustration), I said "this is a hostel, people stay at hostels, they don't really live in them". He oscillated back and forth before responding "I know that! I live here!" And after groping his sagging pants for about a minute, the drunken would-be-jerk ended up finding the entrance key and saving our skins. We crawled into our beds still laughing.

The next morning we set out bright and early to the zorbing fields! Zorbing is an extremely safe but extremely fun extreme sport that originated in New Zealand. For those of you who have never heard of it, Wikipedia defines it thusly: "Zorbing is an activity where riders enter into large inflatable plastic balls and ride along the ground, on water or down hills. The balls have two transparent skins which are connected together by wires and a tunnel by which the riders enter the ball. Air is inflated between the skins which forms a cushion to protect the riders." And if that description is a bit too technical and verbose for your taste, I'd recommend seeing the pictures of me zorbing instead:













What I did was actually called "Zydro", because it involved filling the plastic ball in the center with water, so that I sloshed around while rolling down the hill. I had a friend of mine take a video of my zorb down the hill, so perhaps I'll post it on youtube?

Anyhow, after zorbing, we headed over to the skyline gondola, which took us to the top of a mountain overlooking all of Rotorua. The view was gorgeous, and we partook in several activities while up there, including a small hike, as well as luging down the mountain and then taking the seat ride back up:





After returning back to sea level, we took a small trip to a Polynesian Thermal Spa, and were more than ready to turn in early so that we could visit the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland the next day. This supposed "thermal wonderland" was on my list of must-see locations in New Zealand, and I was not disappointed. When we drove to Wai-O-Tapu the next day, we knew we were getting close to the park because various areas of the forest floor were steaming. We did a walking loop around the whole park, and spent the entire two hours enthralled. The entire landscape was a hotbed of unique thermal, geological, and chemical activities quite beyond my scientific understanding, but which created such beautiful colors, patterns, and formations that I was completely mesmerized.

We started off the day by watching the Fort Knox Geyser erupt:



We came across a lot of small, colorful springs such as this one, which were bubbling profusely:



Some of the most impressive sights ended up being the water, which was naturally various shades of deep green due to it's chemical make-up:





My absolute favorite site was what I'd been longing to see, and that was the champagne pools. I couldn't tell you what made this gigantic steaming pool turn a variety of orange and turquoise colors, but it was absolutely amazing to see some of the neon colors that mother nature is capable of producing.





We also stopped at the Boiling Mud Pools nearby, which were huge pools of steaming, bubbling, popping mud. Because of its constant volcanic and thermal activity, pretty much the entirety of Rotorua stunk of sulfur; these mud pools, however, took the cake. And in what I doubt was a usual tourist experience, we got splattered with boiling mud when one of the more vicious mud bubbles exploded right in front of us.



That evening, we took some leisure walks around Rotorua, and Nikki and I went out for a free coffee and drink provided by coupons through our hostel. We turned in fairly early, however, because we got up at 7:00am for an early start back to Wellington. Although we were stopped by a police officer for going 63km in a 60km zone, he let us off with a warning when he found out we weren't from Auckland (honestly, everyone in New Zealand hates Auckland, allegedly due to it's huge, capitalistic, sprawling urban feel, which is quite different from a lot of other kiwi culture). We made such good time on the way home that we were able to stop in Lake Taupo for breakfast, and then dip our feet in the Tasman Sea, a beautiful and near-empty beach:



I arrived home today a little travel weary but otherwise excited about my next trip (we're planning a larger loop around the North Island for Easter break this weekend, and a South Island loop for mid-semester break). There's so much more to see and do, and I'm overwhelmed with possibilities. This trip taught be a lot about time management, travel planning, and money (one of the easiest things to burn while you're traveling), and I look forward to my next journey.

I suppose, finally, it is time to start my reading. Cheers!