Kia Ora! Hello from Rotorua. We arrived here today after spending 3 nights in rainy Taupo. I don’t think it actually stopped raining once in the whole time we were there and it’s looking the same way here too! The rain, along with our cramped, damp little ‘tree house’ room in the hostel in Taupo made it difficult to get motivated, get the rain jackets on and get out and see the sites! Well, fair play to us, we made the effort and ventured out to check out the local area. Unfortunately the famous Tongariro crossing was inacessible due to weather conditions – seems to be a recurring theme at this stage. Maybe winter isn’t the best time to be visiting New Zealand!?
Anyway, we headed out to ‘Orakei Korako’, a geothermal area with hot pools, geysers, mud pools and a very cool cave. It was a really amazing place.

photo credit: wellington264

The following day, we ventured out on a boat cruise on Lake Taupo to see the Maori carvings. The carvings were pretty impressive and we stared at them in wonder and amazement until the skipper told us that they dated from 1970!!! 1970!? talk about inventing a money spinner tourist attraction! They could at least pretend they are ancient. Anyway, it got us out and about for the day, albeit in the cold and rain!

photo credit: whistler1984

We went to see the beautiful Huka falls this morning before leaving for Rotorua. So, we’ve spent the rest of the day roaming about the shops. Rotorua looks like a cool town. We’ve already found the Irish bar, which is a good start

photo credit: nim