Where I've Ben: Rotorua

Sunday, April 16, 2023

Rotorua

After playing on the black sand beach at Karioitahi Beach, we headed off to Rotorua.

On my previous trip to New Zealand, our group had stopped in Tirau on our way from Auckland to Rotorua. The town has a population of 804.

On the Main Road of Tirau, there are 2 corrugated iron buildings constructed in the shapes of a sheepdog and sheep.

They are a huge tourist attraction. We stopped and availed ourselves of the public restrooms. While there, traffic on the road was constantly stopping for passersby to lean out the windows and take pictures.

On to Rotorua, known locally as RotoVegas!

Rotorua lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua. Rotorua is a major tourist destination. It is known for its geothermal activity and features geysers and hot mud pools. As you drive through town, there are little parks with steam venting up from the ground.

We stayed at the Novotel Rotorua Lakeside. The Novotel Rotorua Lakeside is in a different class than the Hilton Auckland but then Rotorua is in a different class than Auckland.

The Novotel is in a perfect location. Rotorua is a relatively small city and the Novotel is right in the center with a wonderful park between it and Lake Rotorua.

Across the street in the other direction in Eat Streat [not a typo] with a wide choice of restaurants.

Anything you want to do is just a few minutes away.

We started the next day with the girls rolling down Mt. Ngongotaha in ZORB's gigantic balls.

We intended to go to Te Puia, a geothermal park, and the adjoining Whakarewarewa, a Maori village. When we showed up the parking lot was full of tour buses. The earliest we could get in was the afternoon of the next day. A quick call to my friend in Auckland pointed us to Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. Another serendipitous event.

Unlike the structured and busy environment at Te Puia, Waiotapu was laid back, almost feeling like it was family run. Admission was US$44 per senior.

We started with lunch at the snack bar and then started our walk with the provided map.

The Champagne Pool at Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland.

The Devil's Bath at Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. This pool has a strong sulfur smell and contains enough acid to slough your skin.

There is a geyser that goes off daily at 10.15 AM. We missed that.

Our last stop of the day was Skyline.

To get to Skyline, you take a gondola up the hill.

Everybody enjoyed the luge runs down the mountain. Again and again.

Even the return trip after the luge run was fun!

In the background is Mokoia Island in the center of Lake Rotorua. By the way, Lake Rotorua is from a volcano that erupted about 240,000 years ago. Think about how BIG that volcano was!

The next day we took a lazy morning and played in the park by Loke Rotorua.

Cressey - "I’m going to miss this when I get home."

Auckland's airport is about 2 1/2 hours away to the northwest.

Overview:

New Zealand 2023

Sunday, March 26, 2023

New Zealand 2023

Way back in 2000, I visited New Zealand for work. I returned home and told my wife what I had seen. It became her #1 bucket list destination. We worked with some of my former co-workers on an itinerary. When I shared our plans with our daughter, she said we weren't going without her so she and our granddaughters went with us.

There is no Memphis to Auckland flight scheduled so we had to get creative. With a 13-hour flight in front of us, we took a night in Los Angeles. Just by coincidence, the Four Seasons hotel was full of celebrities getting ready for the Oscars.

New Zealand's North Island has been ravaged lately. First, in January the Auckland area received an entire summer's worth of rain within one day. The airport was flooded. Below is the Immigration area.

That was just the start.

Cyclone Gabrielle hit the North Island mid-February. The damage was widespread and particularly hit one of our planned destinations.

We re-swizzled our plans and actually got a couple of bonuses from that.

We picked up a Kia Carnival van and headed into Auckland's Harbour area. We checked into the Hilton Auckland on Princes Wharf.

In Auckland, we took the ferry to Devenport and climbed Mt. Victoria.

We visited the Sky Tower, the second tallest freestanding structure in the Southern Hemisphere.

Our daughter and oldest granddaughter took the Sky Walk on the outside of the 53rd floor.

We spent a morning at the Auckland Zoo where we saw kiwis.

We climbed One Tree Hill, a 600 ft. volcanic peak.

SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium had the best penguin exhibit we've seen.

Afterwards, all three girls took the Harbour Bridge Climb.

We hit the jackpot with our plans to ride horses on the black sand beach. There's a lot to that story. Notice that there's no one else on the beach.

Our time in Auckland was up and we headed south. Our first stop was Karioitahi Beach, another black sand beach.

On toward Rotorua, we passed through Tirua.

In Rotorua, the girls resumed their dare-devil activities at ZORB.

And Skyline's luges.

We also visited Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.

After a 12-hour flight and 2 Sundays, we made it back to Los Angeles and spent the night at Hermosa Beach.

This is just an overview of our trip. I will be updating this post and adding more posts with much more detail.