Hey folks
I actually drafted this post before all the drama back home happened, but never posted as I was dealing with it all. Sorry for the delay. :)
Hey all!
Had a really cool weekend up at Whakapapa ski field on Mt Ruapehu. Learned the basics of skiing (or at least, how to get down a relatively steep hill with all of my limbs intact) and now want to learn a bit more. The girls and I are planning another trip before the season's over in a few weeks.
Will have some photos from our trip in a couple of days...
Now back to the recap of "Mike's Excellent Adventure"...
Where were we?
Oh yes, in Rotorua! The morning after the Tamaki Tour, my mom flew back to Wellington and Mike and I stayed another day. That morning, after breakfast, we walked around Lake Rotorua:
Had a really cool weekend up at Whakapapa ski field on Mt Ruapehu. Learned the basics of skiing (or at least, how to get down a relatively steep hill with all of my limbs intact) and now want to learn a bit more. The girls and I are planning another trip before the season's over in a few weeks.
Will have some photos from our trip in a couple of days...
Now back to the recap of "Mike's Excellent Adventure"...
Where were we?
Oh yes, in Rotorua! The morning after the Tamaki Tour, my mom flew back to Wellington and Mike and I stayed another day. That morning, after breakfast, we walked around Lake Rotorua:
From there Mike and walked over to Ohinemutu, the home to the Ngati Whakaue tribe for hundreds of years. A feature of Ohinemutu is St. Faiths Church, built in Tudor style in 1910. Its interior is richly decorated in woven and painted wall hangings and decorations. A window looking out over the lake shows a Maori Christ, in a traditional Maori cloak, who appears to be walking on the water. (source)
Ohinemutu is also home to Rotorua's paramount marae. Te Papaiouru Marae, home of Tamatekapua ancestral house. Tamatekapua was the captain of the Arawa canoe which brought the ancestors of this tribe to Aotearoa NZ, circa 1350AD.
me in front of Tamatekapua.
Rotorua is part of a volcanic environment, and because of this is a hotbed of thermal activity. "From the moment people arrive in Rotorua they know they're somewhere quite different. There is a scent of sulphur in the air, and at nearby geothermal hotspots there are spouting geysers, acrid-smelling mud pools bubbling and belching, and warm geothermal pools and ponds that create a kaleidoscope of colour." (Source)
Basically, everywhere you go in Rotorua, you're bound to run into thermal areas. They're in people's front yards, back yards...everywhere. When you realize that this is its first exposure to life outside of a volcano, it's pretty incredible (once you get used to the rotten egg smell) to experience.
After Ohinemutu, we stopped for lunch and then headed to the Visitor's Centre, where we caught a shuttle to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. No, it's not an amusement park, but an area of stunning geothermal activity. The day was warm, the sky was blue, and we had an absolutely AMAZING time wandering around and checking out all of the natural wonder.
Our first stop were the mudpools:
Then into Wai-O-Tapu:
Devil's Home (believe me, it smelled like it)
The orange is residue left on the plantlife from the geothermal activity
"Artist's Palette"
Lake Ngakoro
Champagne Pool
Kinda the most perfect landscape shot you can get in NZ.
Oops! no NOW it's perfect.
After Wai-O-Tapu, we went back to central Rotorua and grabbed dinner at a great pub. The only drawback was that they showed mountain bike coverage the entire time. Ah well.
After dinner we got a couple of bottles of wine and some beer and decided to hang out in the motel's pool, which was heated and outdoors and GLORIOUS! Relaxing in the warm pool with some wine and beer, while the stars are looking over you is an experience never to be missed.
Snail that had crawled onto Mike's glass while we were swimming.
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