NZ Roadtrip north island day 9-12

Rotorua, Whakarewarewa, White island, Taupo and Bungee

Day 9: Unfortunately, a rainy day. We drive to Rotorua via Taupo. With us is a traveler that we met in New Plymouth and who asked us to take him with us to Rotorua. Unfortunately, the weather prevents us from really going out to see Taupo’s highlights (the lake and the Huka falls). We arrive very early in Rotorua, where it is starting to clear up. In the afternoon we walk around the village. Rotorua is a geothermal area and various hot (mud-)pools and hot gas vents are found around the town. In the Maori village of Ohinemutu, which is surrounded by Rotorua, there is steam everywhere. A really beautiful sight is Kuirau park where a small hot lake leaves steam over the water. The bedding of the lake is different colors from the hot water algae that live there and the muddy soil. The smell of sulpher is in the air everywhere and it smells a bit bad like an egg that has gone bad.

Day 10: Next to Rotorua is another Maori village, Whakarewarewa (wiki: reduced version of Te Whakarewarewatanga O Te Ope Taua A Wahiao, meaning The gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao, often abbreviated to Whaka by locals), the geothermal village. They harness the heat from the volcanic activity for everyday life. We get a very nice tour around their village and a cultural show showing their heritage, such as the haka wardance. We lunch with a hangi, food cooked on a steam vent in the ground where food is cooked in all it’s own juices. Very tasty!

Day 11: At 8am we get a call that our cruise to White island will go on (it might be cancelled due to bad weather) and we drive to Whakatane. From there a boat takes us to White Island, an active volcano out at sea. Unfortunately the sea is a bit rough and throughout the travel to the island, I think half of the people on board got seasick. Michael was one of the first to feel bad, but he did not throw up (his face was unhappy though). Many other people did get sick and the crew was running around with vomit bags all the time for about 1.5 hour. This made me feel a bit uncomfortable but walking around the boat and talking to the crew kept me from really feeling bad. The first sights of the volcano, which is a level 1-2 (out of 1 to 5, 5 being lava spewing madness) active volcano, were impressive. After landing on the volcano we had a big tour around the main crater as the guides explained about the volcano. We were given compulsory hard hats (helmets) and gas masks that we could use in case of a steam cloud. These steam clouds contain sulphuric acid and are therefore aggressive to the airways and may be uncomfortable, as we noticed. The tour was really cool as we got to see the main crater bubble up its muddy center. Back on the boat we had lunch before going back. The sea had calmed down and the ride back was much smoother. We even encountered a group of dolphins who decided to swim with us at the bow of the boat. This adventure got me hungry, so after we got back I got myself a nice piece of salmon.

Day 12: Via Bookme.co.nz we had taken a cheap offer to go bungee jumping. Since it was so cheap (70% off) the reasons not to do it had greatly decreased. So this morning we went back to Taupo. Michael went first and got his head dipped in the water pretty good. When it was my turn I felt less nervous than I had expected. But when I looked down just before the jump I really thought “why am I doing this?”, just before I jumped. The feeling is crazy! Just before the cord pulled me back up I got to touch the water. That was a pretty awesome feeling! Next to the bungee they also have a giant swing. We had booked that for tomorrow, but they told us we could go now. So we did! The coordinator pulled the safety pin that held us, but told us it failed. This joke shocked Michael a bit but another pull dropped us about 10 meters before swinging us through the canyon. Crazy people who invented this sort of “fun” stuff! We got the certificates (and our videos) to prove it btw. In the afternoon we went to the Huka falls, not far from Taupo. This raging river and a big waterfall are very impressive to see.

Tomorrow (18th Jan) we go to Hobbitton to drink with the Hobbits before going to Tauranga!