Me the boys and our rental car El Cheapo set off for the trek just four hours south of Auckland to the geothermal wonder that is Rotorua. You smell the town before you get there and the sulfur is thick in the air, you get used to it pretty quickly and its worth it for the steaming mud pools and natural hot springs. Its weird even the drains smoke.
We stayed at the downtown backpackers and quickly made friends with the locals so headed off to the pub for a taste of the local night life - there is lots of night life in Rotorua although small its packed with things to do and see. We need to go back to see more as we ran out of time.
But we did manage to squeeze in
The Geothermal Highway
The local park with lots of geothermal pools and mud springs
The luge, for someone who is terrified of heights this caught me off guard! I had no idea what a Gondola was well now I know. You go up the mountain on the Gondola, kind of like a box with seats suspended above the mountain by steel cables. I closed my eyes and hoped things would get better. Then we saw the chair lifts ha ha.
You only get the Gondola once then its the chair lift an open bench suspended in mid air. The luge itself is awesome you race down hill in little carts in a twisting and turning course. There are three levels easy, intermediate and advanced.
After the first ride down I decided to woos out and not take the chair lift instead I had to trek up the mountain as it turns out the only way down is the Gondola from the top of the course. Great views though.
I recommend the luge its great fun and the boys absolutely loved it. My travel buddies laughed at me as you can imagine when they found out I had to climb the mountain.
Then we said cheerio to Rotorua and headed off to Matamata the home of the Shire and Hobbiton. We were a bit late getting there and missed our tour bus but the waiting list was quite short so we were all good after about 10mins we were on our way.
Hobbit holes aplenty, drinks in the Green Dragon and a trip to Bilbo's house were all highlights of the tour. The detail that has gone into the set is phenomenal you feel like your in the film.
What I really want from the Lord of the Rings parts of New Zealand is Mt Doom. We will be there soon to climb the mountain!
So that was the weekend back on the road we go to Auckland and the trek home. Smooth driving well until you get to Auckland and you just sit in traffic for ages. Great weekend with great people in a great place can't wait to see you again Rotorua.
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