Rotorua

Hello everyone. I've now officially made my way out of the shadows of Auckland City. On the 18th I took the NakedBus, a very low-cost long distance bus, down to Rotorua. NZ's first tourist town, it is about a 3 1/2 hour ride from Auckland, located in the center of the north island. I decided to check it out because of the geothermal activity, geysers, and natural hot springs in the area. I underestimated how much of a tourist town it was though, everything related to the hot springs was ridiculously expensive and catered towards the older tourist crowd. It reminded me a lot of Branson, MO, look they even have DUCKS!


Arriving around noon in town, I made my way to the hostel, the Funky Green Voyager, where I checked in and then looked for cheaper/free things to do. After some bus confusion, I made it out to Whakarewarewa Forest National Park southeast of town and hiked a path there for 5 hours or so. It was a tough beginning, rising 500m within the first hour, but the view over the city and Lake Rotorua was worth it. The park was called The Redwoods, but only a small portion of the park was redwoods, there were a lot of European trees mixed with the native foliage. It was a nice day, very relaxing.

I'm glad I took the bottom bunk at the hostel because the girl above me woke up with some kind of insect bites all over her face. She looked miserable, blotchy and red. I didn't use a hostel blanket, maybe that was the difference?

Anyways, the next day I walked to the north of town and the formal Government Gardens situated on the south shore of Lake Rotorua. They were pretty, in the center of them were several yards where aged people were playing lawn bowling and croquet. I sat and watched lawn bowling for a little while, and it just seemed like madness, I couldn't make sense of it. I walked around the lake and saw some neat sights, and some geothermal activity on the beach and across the lake. Tired of Rotorua, I caught the earlier bus back to Auckland and rested before I went to the pub with my friend Rachel from TN, whom I met at the hostel. We went to Shakespeare's Brewery downtown and tried some of their house brews. They were very delicious and strong, it was a long walk back to my apartment and I was out as soon as I hit the bed. Cheers all.