Rotorua

The game plan changed a lot this weekend. Before we left, we (my flatmate Adi and I) decided to skip Hobbiton (since it was raining and was predicted to rain all weekend) and make it a weekend in Rotorua. We learned that Rotorua could definitely be seen in a day, but we found ourselves busy nonetheless which was good. First off about Rotorua: there is lots of geothermal activity, so the place has tons of sulfur. It smells like eggs. It's not a booming city by any means and there are tons of backpacker hostels around, but most things you want to see cost money to get out to. That being said, it was still a really fun weekend.

Friday we boarded the good old Naked Bus (seriously, that's the company's name) and headed to Rotorua. After a quick bus change in Hamilton (not the most impressive city is an understatement - all we saw were car dealerships, motels, and questionable food-fast places) we arrived in Rotorua tired and hungry. Hardly anything was open since it was around 10pm so we walked to the Dominos just past the Visitor's Center. The humorous part about eating there was that there was an alarm going off in the store down the street for the whole time we were at Dominos, yet the police station was just across the street. Oh well. After eating we wandered to find our hostel, Cactus Jacks. I wish I'd taken a picture because right when we walked in there were two different signs with arrows saying if no one was at the window to press an intercom button and someone would come. There was no intercom button to be seen.

Apparently my reservation was messed up but fortunately we were still able to get a 6-bed dorm for the both of us. The owner of Cactus Jacks asked us what we were planning on doing (zorbing, the Buried Village, and Wai-O-Tapu); after we mentioned zorbing the man told us how it was such a rip off because you pay about a dollar a second. He then told us about this deal going on about whitewater rafting - which we ended up doing instead. We wandered our way to our room (did I mention this place used to be a jail? It had a jail/Western/Mexican theme going on.. very interesting) where we woke up the people already sleeping and climbed into - lucky for us - the top bunks which we shared with random people. It was difficult to fall asleep when "Play that Funky Music" is being blasting in through the closed window from a bar nearby while overheating (because the window is closed to block some of the sound) and waking up everytime my bunkmate moved. 7:30am came early the next morning.

But, it was totally worth it. Adi and I cleared out of the room, reserved our spots to go whitewater rafting and headed to Zippy's Cafe for a quick breakfast. (I got my much-needed coffee - so wonderful.) Whitewater rafting was probably my highlight of the weekend. There were 8 of us total in our raft (seven of us plus the instructor). After changing into our swimsuits, wetsuits, and lifejackets, we had a quick lesson before heading onto the actual water. I was definitely panicking when I found out that it was a Grade 5 whitewater rafting experience with a seven meter waterfall. And after hearing what to do if you flip out and get stuck under the waterfall (!) I was good and scared. Adi and I even held hands while walking to the river. But it was SO much fun. The little waterfalls were fun (1m and 3m) and so were the rapids. The 7m waterfall was definitely scary - I think I shut my eyes just as we were barely starting to go over it. Fortunately, the worst thing that happened was I got half the waterfall up my nose - though after looking through the pictures, we really did almost flip. The instructor told me afterwards that I was also the most likely to flip out of the raft since I was at the back. I was very thankful he didn't tell me that beforehand. The raft after us flipped though - I was very happy that we didn't. We also did this thing where we'd go into the bottom of the waterfall and whoever was at the front would get soaked by the front of the raft being pulled under - the instructor sent me (and then Adi and I together) to the front to experience it at the end, which was fun. It was a wonderful way to start out the weekend.

After returning from rafting we went to the Fat Dog Cafe and Bar, where I got some fish and chips. Yum. We walked back to Cactus Jacks after deciding we wanted to go to the Buried Village. However, the shuttle was going to be $20 each - ridiculous. The guy at Cactus Jacks volunteered to drive us for $10 each. I think he felt bad for us because we kept talking to him, trying to figure out what to do. We definitely lucked out on that.

The Buried Village was pretty cool. It was this village that existed until 1886 when it was buried from the Tarawera volcano explosion. Some of the houses and whatnot were still preserved, and there was a museum devoted to information about it as well as information around the uncovered village. Apparently, before the eruption there were these pink and white terraces considered to be the eighth wonder of the world right next to the village. The village also lead us to Tarawera Falls, which was really pretty. And since it was rainy, we got 30% off of the price! Score.

Adi really wanted to go to this Polynesian Spa so we headed there after the Buried Village. I wasn't too enthused about spending my money on a spa, but it ended up being a nice way to spend a few hours, soaking in the outdoor mineral spa baths overlooking Lake Rotorua. It was still drizzling so it was a good contrast. And afterward, I got some amazingly delicious Indian food.

But seriously, whitewater rafting, Buried Village and the Spa were excellent rainy day activities. I was very happy with the day - and after talking to the guy at Cactus Jacks (again) and talking to three Germans who shared our room at the hostel, we went to bed, exhausted from the day's activities.

Oh, I forgot to mention this: the guy I was [lucky] enough to share a bunk with was a creepy, middle-aged, long-haired blonde (with a receding hairline) Scandinavian dude who liked to be shirtless, smelled, and overall creeped me out. That could have been better about Cactus Jacks.. made for a lot of laughs over the weekend though.

Sunday was our "free" day. Adi and I went to Zippy's again for breakfast and then headed to this park where we could see mud pools and steaming geothermal things. (We were going to go to Wai-O-Tapu, which is basically mud pools and hot springs plus a geyser, but it would have cost $60 including transportation so we nixed that plan and chose the free option instead.) The mud pools were the coolest part, I think. The lovely smell of sulfur at the park was even stronger than in the rest of Rotorua, but ah well. What can you do. I got used to smelling eggs all the time.

We wandered back towards town after a while, and after being caught up at a tacky craft fair, decided we would just walk to the Redwoods Forest rather than take a bus. It ended up being almost an hour-long walk along the freeway, but we finally made it. The redwoods were really cool. It was free as well, which was awesome. The forest smelled wonderful though and I'd never seen trees so massive before. It made me want to go see the Redwoods in California. That and go camping. We took about a 45-minute long walk through the forest and caught the bus back to Rotorua at the end.

The bus ride back to Rotorua was beautiful. This is cliché, but if it is possible to fall in love with a place I have done so with New Zealand, especially its countryside. There is every shade of green imaginable through the grass and trees, with herds of cows and sheep scattered throughout. The rolling hills and mountains are absolutely beautiful, and even though I hate the hills walking to class in Auckland, it is the hills and mountains that make up this beautiful country. No, not beautiful. Breathtaking. And we weren't even going through the most beautiful parts (I've heard) of New Zealand on this bus ride. I cannot even picture how much more beautiful this country can be, but I am really looking forward to it. I spent the whole bus ride gazing out the window, feeling tingly in my spine from how I felt looking at it. I mean, Minnesota is beautiful too but in a different way, a way that doesn't feel breathtaking but instead feels normal. I just love New Zealand.

This weekend gave me an itch to travel. I really want to go someplace this weekend, but as I have two tests next week and a paper I want to write before mid-semester break (which is in ten days.. scary academically/exciting otherwise) I don't know if that will work. I really want it to, though. Maybe it could be a day trip or something instead if need be. Ugh, the school part of study abroad sucks. :( But! We have a meeting tomorrow with IES about the Rarotonga (Cook Islands) trip, which we leave for on April 9th. SO SOON. We get back the 15th from Rarotonga and then I'll be headed to the South Island! Still have to work out the details on that.

It's weird to think that this experience is almost half over, at least academically, but it totally doesn't feel like it. And while I'm looking forward to some planned things over the summer (road trip to Ohio! woot woot), this may be the first time in a long time where I have absolutely no desire to count down the days until I leave. I don't want to know when this is over or how much time I have; I want to live in the moment and take in everything I possibly can. I can't imagine going home yet, and I think that's a good place to be.