Gold Mine & Luge around Rotorua

After checking out of our cosy little tiny house, we stopped for some fuel and I decided it was time for me to have a go at driving. However, my driving experience was rather short-lived as Will relieved me of my driving duties immediately after I gently brushed the inside of a cliff to get out of the way of a jeep that was taking its boat for a rather fast drive down the mountain. No harm was done to us or the car.
To recover from our near death experience (according to Will), we stopped for some super crispy fish and chips in a town called Thames before continuing our journey to our first real stop of the day - the Karangahake gorge, a place where you can see the remains of a gold mine and railway tracks. We did a nice hike around the area that included suspension bridges, tunnels and stunning views of the surrounding area.
Finished exploring, we drove another 2 hours to Rotorua where we just about arrived in time for our next activity the famous Skyline & Luge Rotorua. Disorganised as most of the time we hadn't checked the opening hours and arrived 30 mins before the Luge (sledging place) closed. Luckily it wasn't busy at all, so we jumped on the next gondola that would take us up the mountain to where the Luge station started. After a quick health and safety intro, we raced down the mountain and ended up finishing all of our three pre-booked rides in half an hour. We'd definitely recommend that place it was amazing!
To recover from the adrenaline rush, we checked into our accommodation and tested out the surprise hot tub that we weren't meant to have but gladly took. There's loads of thermal activity in Rotorua so many hotels offer private hot tubs as they can easily be heated using thermal energy.Read more