What was supposed to be a relatively cheap weekend trip to Rotorua, the North Islands most popular tourist destination, turned into a fairy pricey excursion... (all due to my carelessness so I can't complain too loudly). Cést la vie! I was super excited to go to Rotorua because of the sulphur smell throughout the city, mineral hot pools, steaming thermal activity, and white water rafting!
The first pricey “oopsie” occurred Saturday morning after I arrived at the airport. I presented my ticket to the agent and after a minute of studying my reservation, she looked at me funny and said, "You booked your trip backwards... You booked Rotorua to Wellington and back". OH NO!! The really stink thing is that I booked a cheap grab a seat flight which means no changes or cancellations. Grr... I debated going home and not even going on the trip anymore but I decided to suck it up and buy another FULL price ticket (after a few tears). Things happen. The next flight was a few hours later in the morning so my 5am start (to jam as much as I could into a three day trip) was useless already.
So I was chilling in the departure lounge waiting for my boarding call which was now at 8:10am. Near the time, I looked at the tv screen showing the flight's status. It still said "Go to departure lounge" at 8:15am. I wasn't sure if it was running late so I decided to wait a few more minutes. All of a sudden the screen flashes "Last Call". What!! So then I kinda freaked out and trotted off to the gate (behind a few really slow flight attendants and pilots blocking the entire hallway) thinking things couldn't get worse... I made it to the gate and ran out to the plane.
Yes, this plane is so small you had to walk outside and just climb up the steps into it. The plane also had propellers instead of jet engines which you don't see much of anymore (well, I don't anyway). There were about 20 rows of seats, 4 people across. I'm pretty nervous at the take off of any plane ride because the acceleration is so hard but as we took off from the ground and sailed into the air, I almost lost my brekkie. The wind is so crazy in Wellington that flying into/out of the airport is an experience in itself. For about 5 minutes the plane was getting so bumped around, I thought we were going to crash into the ocean. The peep beside and in front of me also looked green which didn't help. Finally everything settled down and the rest of the flight was uneventful.
After remembering to grab my luggage when I landed in Rotorua, I registered for my car hire. I remembered to get the extra insurance marked off on my rental agreement and thought I had paid for it in the $101, but in actual fact, I got it for free. I considered this $30 discount a bonus to lessen the impact of the morning’s hassle but little did I know how handy it would become (dun dun dun).
I acquainted myself with sitting on the right side of the car and off I went. I thought the driving went well though it was all backwards from what I’m used to. I'm a quick learner (at some things). I went to the first thermal park, Orakei Korako, to get the furthest one out of the way (45 minutes south of Rotorua) and then I could make my way back to the city. It was raining and cloudy but it made the hot pools more steamy and creepy. All the thermal parks I visited (Wai-o-tapu and Waimangu) had something different to offer so I’m glad I visited all of them. My favourite part of visiting them was seeing the colourful pools of water (the neon green and champagne pool in Wai-o-tapu, turquoise in Waimangu). Unfortunately, I don’t think my pictures do them justice.
I checked into my hostel late afternoon and then checked out the visitor centre to book my rafting trip for Sunday morning. Luckily, I was able to get a rafting trip for Sunday noon! After that was sorted, I went to the Polynesia Spa to soak in the hot pools after a chilly, wet day of sightseeing. The spa was really pretty because it was dark and there were lanterns and lights around all the 7 different pools you could soak in (varied by temperature). The spa pools overlooked the Rotorua lake. After that, I was in bed by 8pm.
I was up at 6am Sunday to take a quick drive around the lake front before taking my rental car back to the airport. The lake front was pretty… reminded me of our cottage view a bit. Very peaceful in the morning and saw a few more thermal areas steaming in the dawn. I grabbed some brekkie and then stopped at the grocery store to buy more batteries before heading out to the green and blue lakes. As I walked back to my car, I noticed that a piece of my front bumper was MISSING!!! OH NO!!! As if I was having MORE issues with this silly trip. Well, you can imagine I had a few more tears and finally said, “Stuff it, let’s go”. I had no clue where my bumper went … or if I indeed lost it – maybe it was like that when I left (although I doubt it very much)? So, yes mom and dad, I am still careless despite braving a new world all by my lonesome for a year. I am still waiting on my VISA statement to show some signs of the repercussion of this incident. Just lump this trip into the category of “one big ooopsie”.
After drying my tear and vowing to be more careful, I made my way to the blue and green lakes which I promptly missed the turn off to and ended up back at the airport. I was on a tight timeframe as it was already 8:30am and I had to return the car by 10am so I made some noises and turned around. I finally found the turn off and continued on my way. The sign indicated the lookout point would be 8km but after 20 minutes of driving I was getting frustrated, even more so when I hit the DEAD END. Grrr. I turn around and figured it wasn’t meant to be – I can’t read maps. My consolation was that the drive to the dead end was around Lake Tawera and it was absolutely stunning views (not that I was looking at anything but the road!) Reminded me again of our cottage, but the lake was so blue and the red and orange trees were so nice mixed in with the green pines. Anyway, as luck would have it, I found the turn off to the lookout point but honestly, it took me a good 10 minutes to wander forward on walking path and down to the lakeside thinking, “This can’t be it”, before I realized that the lookout point between the two lakes was 10 steps BEHIND me when I parked in the car park. Well, at least I found it.
Drove back to the airport and chilled there for a few hours (too cheap to buy a cab back to the city) before I was picked up for my rafting trip. The rafting was awesome!!! We got a quick lesson before heading off into the Kaituna River. It was a quick 45min white water trip – Grade 5 because of the 7 foot waterfall we would be braving. There were actually three waterfalls in all (3ft, 1ft, 7ft) and the whole ride was really cool. I was even sitting in the front of the raft! How’s that for bravery!! hehe. Small world – my rafting guide’s girlfriend who is working on her residency for NZ is actually from Woodstock.
After the raft adventure I went back to my hostel and took a nap because I was exhausted. Getting lost all morning really tires one out. After I work up, it was nearing darkness and I couldn’t be tempted to go out wandering in the dark and because of all my previous misfortunes – who knows what would have happened to me!
Woke up the next morning and wandered around the free geothermal park (Kuirau Park) beside the hostel before grabbing a shuttle back to the airport and back to home (Wellington). On the flight home I was treated to some amazing sights. Firstly, I just caught the top of Mount Rupahu which is an active volcano in Taupo, just south of Rotorua. I didn’t have time to grab my camera and get a pick but it was a grey mound with a big hole in the centre of grey stuff… similar to bubbling mud pools I saw in the thermal parks. Secondly, as we were nearing Wellington I got awesome view of the South Island of Nz. It was absolutely breathtaking from the air because I could see the southern alps waaay down at the bottom of the island. It was gorgeous! I couldn’t get a picture because of the way the plane was facing… but I am super excited now to do my Kiwi tour bus of the south in a few weeks and get up close to all those snow covered mountains.
