“It smells like someone farted on top of shaved ham,” Deanna says as we drive into Rotorua. As funny as this sounds, this is exactly how this town smells because of all of the mud pools and the geysers that let out steam it smells like rotten eggs. The water underground finds a geyser and pushes up and turns into steam. The whole town smells like poo!! However, you get use to the smell very fast! The locals call the town RottenRora. haha
Rotorua is a good 3 hour drive from Auckland. So we did not arrive until really late on Friday night and just made a quick trip to KFC (In NZ you do not get wedges you get fries with your combo meal) for dinner and settled into our “Holiday House.” It was very nice just relaxing and eating lots of chocolate. We had Cadbury’s Turkish Delight, Whitakers Milk Caramel, Fudge Duets and Honeycomb Tim Tam’s and hot tea and lots of milk!!!
On Saturday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn! The children seriously woke up at 5:30 a.m. We then went to the Skyline and rode up on the gondola to the top of the mountain and then took the luge (almost like go-carts just on a sled). There were three tracks (Scenic, intermediate and advanced) we went on all three tracks. When you get the bottom you then get on a chair lift and it brings you back to the top where you go down again!! After a few hours of the luge we had a New Zealand lunch consisting of Mince Pie, Lolly Cake and of course hot tea.
On the luge with Nick
After we finished at Skyline we then headed to Paradise Valley, a wildlife park nearby. We had the opportunity to pet a lion cub, see live wallabies (almost like Kangaroos), donkey, lamas, goats, sheep, wild pigs and huge mean lions. I felt like I was in the movie Lion King, they were so close to us. When we ventured off to the lions den it sounded like they were having a disagreement. The lions were roaring at each other, it was intense and a little scary. We also fed wild pigs, lamas and lions. The children couldn’t believe it when I told them that I used to feed my own pigs peppermint and circus peanuts. They could not believe that I touched the pigs without fear. Haha. It is crazy how everyone thinks showing livestock is so strange; nobody understands it here in New Zealand.
Feeding the friendly donkey
Paradise Valley
Lions and Tigers and Bears OH MY!!
Baby Kangaroo
After we left the park we then went to Te Puia were we took the cultural tour and experienced mud pools, geysers, and even a cultural show of the Maori people. On the tour we actually had a chance to the see the water underground find a geyser and push up into smelly steam. We had to put our hoods on and run for cover because the mist from the steam was pouring like rain on us. We also saw live kiwis this was neat because they are so rare and almost extinct. We then had dinner at the Lone Star, where I had Mexican food and heard country music for the first time since I have been in New Zealand! I must say, I miss American Mexican food; it is just not the same here in NZ! However, the New Zealand chocolate makes up for the bad Mexican food!
Te Puia
Geyser Explosion
On Sunday we took it easy. It was a very rainy day so we just decided to go to the Agradome, to see the sheep show. It was very interesting and we had the chance to see a variety of different animals. I even ran into one of my students from school at the show. She came and sat with me during the performance, she was real excited to see me in real life and out of the school setting. I felt loved!! We then had lunch at the cafe and then came back to our holiday house and took a Sunday afternoon nap after lunch and ordered “Hell’s Pizza” for dinner and had Trumpet Ice Cream for "pudding" a.k.a DESSERT. We then watched the Whale Rider (A New Zealand Movie). It was a great movie and made a lot more sense now that I am more familiar with the culture and the Maori People.
Bella, one of my students, holding a baby lamb at the Sheep Show!
The friendly sheep showing some love before the show!
Food of the Day: Magnum Almond ice cream, Cadbury berry pancetta, beef mince pie, lolly cakes, Cadbury’s Turkish Delight, Whitakers Milk Caramel, Fudge Duets, Honeycomb Tim Tam’s, and Trumpet Ice Cream Cone
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