Rotorua

With the guys heading off for a long weekend to Lake Taupo, it was time for us to hit the road again too. Three roads go down to the Southern tip of the North Island, to Wellington:
1. Middle - Who could pass up the volcanoes and geysers of Rotorua? Not us!
2. East - It's a beautiful coast and we were willing to back-track to sample some wines.
3. West - It was too bad we would miss out on Mt Taranaki. We later heard it's just as spectacular.

We quickly bypassed Matamata, where Hobbiton (the Shire, from Lord of the Rings) still exists. Crazy tourist prices and hoards of people quickly turned us off that idea.

Adrenaline sports also draw many people. So we stopped in at Kaituna Cascades, just to view, people going down white-water rapids. Even from high and dry, watching the 7m drop by the rubber boats made your stomach churn. A boat would creep up through the dark trees, slip over the edge, and disappear under the white foam of the falls. Then, it, along with all its passengers, popped back out of the water.

The steep cliffs surrounding the pool were actually used by Maori in case of a tribal battle. Women and children would be let down with ropes to hide in the caves. Nowadays, a steep staircase chiselled in the rocks lets you see the gloomy caves for yourself.

We drove on to Rotorua, the center of volcanic activity. Both figuratively, from a tourist perspective, and literally as hot mud, steam and sulphur gases bubble out of the ground in all of the parks in town. We walked around to see, hear, smell and even feel the hot steam wafting over the grassy central park.

The town itself was really cute. It took a bit after an Austrian mountain village. A large government building stood out, despite the (actual) lawn-bowling lanes leading up to the entrance. A rose garden to the side provided a nice breath of fragrant air and some bright colours compared to the gray volcanic mud.Read more