Post: Road Trip to Rotorua

Rotorua is one of the biggest tourist destinations in New Zealand. On the North Island, it is an area of active geothermal activity, so people come for the spas, and the fun of seeing geysers and boiling med pits. It has a Māori craft school and cultural center. We were here a month ago, and are happy to be back. A month ago we were fresh off the flight and getting use to the time change and the country. We’d had a wonderful time, but it doesn’t seem boring to be back again.The point of today though, was to drive from Auckland to Rotorua. We had several stops along the way at roadside attractions; all were new to us.

Outside of Hamilton we read historical displays, including one that explained the great pavlova debate. The ballerina came to NZ first, so the dessert was invented here— not in Australia as they claim. The toilets very courteously translated their names into many euphemisms, some that were new to me:

We had a barbeque and buffet lunch under the trees at Rosemont, a function room run by a Māori family I tried a fish called hoki, which I’d never heard of. Dessert included pavlova, and anzac biscuits which are oatmeal cookies with a little coconut. They shipped well during the Great War so were a favorite in care packages.

After lunch we headed off to the Waitomo Caves, which feature the main attraction: glow worms! We descended into the cave, heard about stalactites and stalagmites, and then sat in a boat while were were pulled through the cave’s river, in darkness, looking up a dense clusters of light. This cave had a multitude of the larvae. The boat’s exit from the cave was the original entrance. No photos are allowed on the trip, so I only have a picture of us at the exit.

Finally came the suspension bridge. Originally built to provide a commuting route for workers who build the hydroelectric dam, it’s now just fun. It was long! We’ve crossed several suspension bridges on our travels this month, and this was the longest and highest.

We pulled into the hotel and did a quick refresh before dinner. Due to the goethermal activity, the hotel has a near constant smell of sulfur dioxide. We are happy to be on a higher floor and a little further removed from the scent.