Rotorua

I had a very sociable time in Taupo, which is what I needed because I was starting to get pretty lonely and homesick. It definitely takes some time to get used to traveling like a backpacker, especially after having a stable life. It’s a skill that I think is good to have in life: learning how to be independent, finding your way around in a foreign country, and making friends with fellow travelers.

For the first part of my adventure down here, I was shy and intimidated at the hostels, but now I feel like I’m getting the hang of it and am able to enjoy myself and meet people very easily. Most people I’ve met are traveling alone and they are very outgoing and friendly. The hostels in NZ are generally clean, cost around $20/night, and are a great social gathering place. I’m enjoying being free: free of obligation, free of waking up for work, and free of the US rat race. I’m living my dream!

I’m now in Rotorua, which is the smelly, but lovely tourist capital of the North Island. The whole town of Rotorua smells of sulfur because of the large amounts of geothermal activity. I’ve never seen a place so volcanically active before! You walk down the streets and see steam escaping from between bricks on the sidewalk, hot pools in the town center, bubbling hot water in shafts covered by grates. It seems everywhere there is a geyser, spa or mud bath. There’s not shortage of hot water in Rotorua. This place is really unique!

(Lake Rotorua)

(A Maori village in Rotorua)

(Government gardens and Hot Springs)

On Monday I went to a thermal park called Wai-O-Tapu, 30 km South of Rotorua. This was a geothermal park filled with bubbling mud pots, geysers, boiling lakes filled with color created by different minerals, and lots of smells. Its neat too because its not just visually stimulating; You hear hissing and bubbling, smell the sulphur and gases, and feel the hot steam. The highlight in this park was a crater called Champagne Pool, which is the perfect name because the surface is bubbling up with golden colored bubbles which really look like Champange! The banks of this pool are vibrant orange and the water is turquoise. The pool is about 30m (90 ft) in diameter, and 30m (90ft) deep. The temperature on the surface is 75C (xxF) and up to 300C (xxxF) at the bottom! This park was really remarkable and was money will spent.

(Boiling Mud Pots)

(Artist's Palette)

(Devil's Bath)

(Champagne Pool)

Tuesday night a Kiwi guy showed me and a few people from the hostel this hot river called Kerosene Creek (because of the smell). It is off of the beaten path and not really known by tourists. It’s the perfect hot tub temperature and we all soaked our bones the natural way before bed…ahhh.

Rotorua has so much to do! I ended up staying 3 nights here instead of 2 and tomorrow I’m off to Mt. Maunganui near Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty - on the North coast and filled with sun and surfers, see ya there!