Day 25 Auckland to Rotorua

Day 25 Auckland to Rotorua

After breakfast we packed up the minivan and said farewell to Auckland….The rain followed us down North Island and caught up with us at our reststop just south of Hobbiton at Tirau - a village that is working on becoming the ‘corrugated iron capital’ of the world.  There were strange sculptures of corrugated iron…a dog, a sheep and a half –finished owl.  

We had a coffee and bought sandwiches for lunch then carried on for another hour to Rotorua.  Rob and I were glad that we had done the tour to Hobbiton as we had learned a lot about the area through which we passed – our lovely Exodus guides were much less chatty than Dion…

The rain was quite heavy by the time we reached Rotorua….we drove through the town but ate our lunch in the minivan overlooking a lovely lake.  

We braved the downpour to walk the 5km around the lake….the trip  notes and guides called it ‘Green Lake’ – but I’m sure the signposts said Blue Lake – whatever…It was a lovely walk despite the rain and we learned about some of the indigenous plants – such as the soft and hard ferns, the leaf that feels like 3-ply toilet paper and can be used as writing paper, NZ stinging nettles and a tall grass that is very similar to Pampas grass and used as a broom.

Now that we were all wet, we decided to go for another short walk through a small Maori village with its traditional features – and the first Anglican Church in New Zealand.  It looked a bit Disneyesque….but is apparently a working Maori community….just well-kept for tourists.  We also walked around the village’s thermal pools before dripping all over the minivan on the short ride to our hotel.  We dried off and warmed up – then set out for our feast and entertainment at a Maori ceremonial ground – called a Marae – in Te Pui.

It was still pouring so the traditional welcome ceremony was held inside the meeting house – we then saw an excellent show of Maori traditional songs, dances and games. I got to try out the ‘Poi’ dance and Rob had a go at the Hakka.  

The meal was excellent – ‘hangi’- cooked meats and fish with a range of interesting salads, vegetables and desserts.  Our Maori host explained the traditions and foods – and we finished with a tour of the geyser fields, reportedly the only active geysers in the southern hemisphere. With all the rain (that had thankfully stopped for the tour), the geysers – particularly the huge Pohutu geyser – put on quite a show.  I was careful not to take too many photos – remembering my dad’s endeavours when we visited Old Faithful in Yellowstone….3 rolls of film later – it’s still a family joke! 

We strolled through the geyser fields with a hot chocolate in hand and then sat on the ‘hot rocks’ to listen to our host’s explanation of the geysers’ place in Maori mythology.  Several of our group then went to the thermal spa – but given my skin’s reaction the last 2 times it was exposed to sulphurous water, I passed and settled for a hot bubble bath instead!