Rotorua

On the way from Whitianga we made a stop off at a place renamed 'Hobbiton' which was the loaction used in the first LOTR film, although we never went to the set and just saw a stupid info place which was basically a little brick building that had rubbish painting on it and a bit of grass on top which looked completely unauthentic it was laughable.

We then got dropped off at the Wharewarera Thermal Reserve where we were met with a distint smell, namely Sulphur. The whole of Rotorua smelt like this and it isnt the nicest odour in the world. We took a guided tour around the Thermal Reserve which lasted around 1 hour where we saw geysers, bubbling mud, kiwis (the birds) and smaples of the local culture which was quite interesting. The geysers were really impressive and the bubbling mud looked wikkid.

Luging was our next stop and this was really good fun. You took a Gondola to the top of the hill which was really big and then chose on the the three luge tracks to go down. A luge is a bit like a go-kart without an engine, three wheels and handlebars! To go you pulled the handlebars back slightly to get it out of park and then pulled back all the way to brake. The three tracks were scenic, intermediate, and advanced. First timers had to start on the scenic route but after that we all had a go on the advanced track and both were really good fun.

When we got to our hostel in Rotorua (Hot Rocks) we found out that the woman from Baywatch in Whitiange had rang up and said we had made a mess there etc so the manager from the hostel came up for a word which was quite amusing haha. We then just went for a wander around the town and made bangers and mash for dinner yum yum. In the evening me and Justin went to see Star Wars at the cinema which I though was amazing and topped off the day!! Once we got back to the hostel I realised my wallet was missing and must have dropped out of my pocket in the cinema where I was sitting so raced back so try and find it. After a good few minutes looking around without any luck I spotted it underneath the cleaners hoover who had co-incidently put his equipment on the seat I was sitting on (I though I was sitting on the row in front which Is why I couldnt see it!) That was a relief anyway and I went to get a well needed beer back at the hostel.

On our second day in Rotorua we decided to have a relaxing day and spent it at the Polynesian Spa which was really nice. After we had spent a good few hours there we went and did some shopping to get food supplies before watching the Lions game in the evening.

Day three was a bit more action packed as Me and Justin went Zorbing! Zorbing is a fairly recent invention to the world of extreme sports and basically you are inside a big ball while rolling down a hill. I went for the wet option and the zig zag route so there was water inside the ball when I got in. This made it impossible to stand up and I spent all my time slipping around on my back not knowing which direction I was heading as you couldnt see out of the ball but It was really good fun. Luckily the next Kiwi bus turned up at the Zorbing place so we grabbed a lift off them down the the Luge again as that was there next stop and we fancied going again as it was so much fun. As we were on the Kiwi bus we got a special rate for 2 rides but the ticket let us go on as many times as we wanted which was awesome :D