We headed toward Rotorua, a town on the southern shore of Lake Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. Initially we were going to a tour of the Lord of the Rings film set of Hobbitin, however it was quite expensive ($50.00 a person), and we decided that we would rather go Read More »
Wow – Sulphur really does stink!! Anyway, following our 500km drive from the Bay of Islands, we arrived in Rotorua which is situated towards the centre of the North Island and is the hub of the geothermal activity in NZ. We left early to get to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland to see the Lady Knox Geyser Read More »
Rotorua is smelly… and I mean rotten egg smelly! Rotorua has a thinner earth crust than anywhere else in the world, and so geothermal activity is aplenty. I’m talking geysers, bubbling pools of mud, the works. It’s pretty cool, but produces a lot of sulphur, and so, again, smelly. Anyway, we heard that there was lots Read More »
Since I was already so far north for the Hamilton match, I decided to take a few days to travel before heading back to Wellington. That is, after all, why I’m in New Zealand. So on Monday morning I caught the bus from Auckland, where my friend and I had gone following the match, to Read More »
It was yet another gloomy looking day when we made our way from Picton onto the ferry bound for the north island. we were a bit concerned that the crossing would be rough (neither of us travel well on boats, with or without stinking hangovers!) but luckily the waters reamined almost eerily calm as we Read More »
Had to be up at early as coach was leaving at 7.15 for Rotorua. Made a stop at place called Karangahake scenic reserve and did cool walk there at Gorge and walked through old railway tunnel, which was pitch black and were also few swing bridges…at first I hadn’t realised and thought I wasn’t feeling Read More »
From Auckland we drove down to Rotorua, about 250 kms. On the way we stopped in Cambridge, a quaint little village founded in 1864. The scenery along the way was beautiful and we really enjoyed the freedom of having our own car. On arriving in Rotorua we stopped at Kuirau Park, a series of hot pools Read More »
Rotorua earned its nickname ‘Rotten-Rua’ as a result of the distinctly eggy smell that lingers around it, owing to the geothermal activity of the area – bubbling mud pools, hot geysers (not you Dan), that type of thing. White water rafting was on today’s agenda, and what better place to do it than on the Read More »
This place absolutely whiffs of rotten eggs – you could fart to your heart’s content here and no one would know (of course I don’t do things like that). People come here to visit areas of thermal activity (hence the sulphur-rich air). Even in the heart of town there are lakes covered in smoke – Read More »
The infamous hydrothermal area of Rotorua was the next destination on our campervan trip around New Zealand. The town was situated near the centre of the North Island, was one of the most visited sights in the country, and was one of the few places in the world where people are able to witness firsthand Read More »
