From Auckland we drove to Rotorua where I was set on going Zorbing.Zorbing was invented in New Zealand and I had wanted to do it as soon as I heard of it.Basically you get into a giant ball, and it rolls down a hill.I had wanted to do the dry zorb out of sheer laziness of not wanting to get wet and bother with changing but they only offered the hydro-Zorb in Rotorua. In a hydro-Zorb you aren’t strapped in in any way, like for the dry one, and bounce around in the ball. The water has to be there because otherwise your skin may stick to the ball and you would most likely get injured. My boyfriend also wanted to go, but our other friends didn’t, so at least we had someone to take pictures. We had wanted to go in one zorb together but we were also advised not to since Hendrik is bigger than me and we would probably flail and fall all over each other and I would get hurt.  Also because you cannot go down the zig-zag course with 2 people, so we both went down the zig-zag course by ourselves.

As we rode up in the ratty van and I mean really ratty the seats were totally falling apart up the hill one of the other guys which was going up as well asked me if I was scared.I wasn’t scared at all.Usually I get scared before roller coasters but this didn’t seem too scary at all.Once it was my turn I had some trouble getting into the ball, but once I was in I didn’t have to do anything.As it rolled I was flailed all around to the right, left, up, down, and it was very scary.Instantly, I was disoriented and the whole way down I screamed.Even though it was over fast it was still crazy fun, and nothing like I’ve done before.

Who knew mud could be so fun!

After that activity we had lunch where we voted on which thermal park to go to and Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) Thermal Wonderland unanimously won.Following our GPS it directed us to a building on some empty road, which was clearly not Wai-O-Tapu, but we stopped in the parking lot anyway and then realized we had to use our own devices.Finding the park wasn’t hard at all once we turned the GPS off.We first saw the mud pools and after we got over the stench of rotting eggs, which was everywhere around Rotorua, we were completely mesmerized by them.I’d never seen boiling mud before bubbling right in front of me, and we spent a lot of time just staring at it and trying to take pictures right as a mound would burst.

Champagne Pool

The park itself had lots of spectacular sights, including the famous Champagne Pool, which is a famous landmark for New Zealand with its orange rim.Unfortunately the wind was working against us and kept blowing steam in our direction so we couldn’t get a clear photo of the pool.Other sites included the Sulfur Caves and Mounds since sufur is abundant in the areas of thermal activity, and one of my favorites, Devil’s Bath, which is a pool of water that was neon green at least when we were there.  I had never seen nature in such odd colors and formations, and it was spectacular.

Me in front of Devil’s Bath

The next day we had a tour booked for White Island but I couldn’t find accommodation in Wakatane so I booked one in Kawerau, the Kawerau Thermal Motel, which was only a half an hour away.  The hotel was on the main road but we couldn’t find it as we drove back and forth trough the tiny factory town. Our GPS kept sending us onto closed roads and into the factory where they processed wood. Kawerau is a logging town and we found ourselves on roads that only loggers were supposed to use.The GPS hadn’t navigated us well anywhere yet so it fondly received the nickname of many curse words.  Finally I spotted the motel, since the sign was overgrown and we were taken aback that this was it.It looked pretty dumpy and I was asked if I had paid for it yet, I hadn’t so we could still run.We braved the office though, and a talkative friendly man checked us in ASAP and poured us a jug of milk to take with us to our room as we stood there thinking if we really did want to stay there.

Even though it looked run down from the outside it was better inside though both could use a face lift, but it would do.  We were excited about the pool but when we saw it we were also disappointed since it seemed small and unkempt and we decided we probably wouldn’t go swimming.We went to get dinner in town but seeing only 2 take away grease fast-food places we decided to buy food in the grocery store. Even though Kawerau is the size of a Wal-Mart, they had a decent supermarket.  We bought pasta to cook in our room and when we returned to the motel the owner asked us if we wanted to go to Karaoke with him and some others.   We didn’t because we were hungry and because its Karaoke, but we thought he was very nice.I just wondered where he was going to find Karaoke in Kawerau.

After dinner we discovered that the pool was warm, and therefore, we gave it a shot and surprisingly it was lovely and we spend a few hours in it playing games and relaxing.  Minus the first impressions we ended up having a lot of fun at the motel.

This morning was rough, since the remnants of the wine were not making me or anyone else feel well.We planned on going to Rangitoto so even though I was not looking forward to a hike, we went.We had to take a Ferry to the island and I was curious to see the wharf considering how lovely Sydney’s Ferry wharf was, but I was very disappointed.Plainly, it was a dirty harbour not worth a mention.It was just a place like a bus stop to get on a boat, and fast because there weren’t even any benches to sit on.Auckland was soon becoming an ugly city.

Rangitoto was an inactive volcano from which there were really nice views of Auckland.The climb up would actually not be so bad, but I was feeling miserable so it was close to torture.At the top the crater was less than spectacular and when going through our photos later I was like, “what is that?” because I couldn’t imagine why on earth we had taken a picture of something so dull, and that was the crater.But luckily the highlight was not the crater but the view which was lovely.Auckland can be ugly but New Zealand is all about the nature.The clear blue water and gracefully curved carved islands around the city are gorgeous, and from the distance even Auckland looked pretty.

Going down was much easier than going up and back at shore we had sushi for lunch and then had to prepare for the Belgian party.Everyone was from Belgium and Lissa planned a Belgian party for her friends who had just flown across the globe to get away from Belgium complete with beer and waffles.Hendrik and I were really excited since we have had pretty shit beer in Australia the past year.It was fun and in two days we had already had a wine night and a beer night, so a hard alcohol night was surly in order.

Hendrik and I went on vacation to New Zealand or Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud) in Māori.  We took the bus from the airport to centre city, and the first thing that stuck out in the outskirts of town were cows on a hill. It was a pretty steep hill and it was a curiosity that the cows didn’t just fall off, but they looked as agile as mountain goats grazing on the steep hill. Once we entered the city I hardly knew we were near centre since it seemed like suburbs all the way to Queen St. then when we were on Queen St I saw a Wendy’s, which I pointed out to Hendrik since they don’t have Wendy’s in Australia or Europe so it was odd that it was here. Auckland was the only place I saw a Wendy’s and there was only one. Right next to it was an Oporto, a few steps down was a McDonalds, and then a Burger King, all on one block a few paces away. In all I counted about 5 Burger Kings (which were called Burger King and not Hungry Jack, like in AU) on Queen St alone not to mention all the other burger places and Queen St. really isn’t that long. In conclusion I figured that the Kiwis must really love their burgers and needed the grazing cows to fulfil this need.

We stayed at Hendrik’s friend’s apartment who lived smack in the centre city, and she complained that the nearest grocery store was quite far, but at least she was always only 5 steps away from a burger so she never had to fear starvation. She told us to get off the bus at the giant Santa Clause, that we couldn’t miss him. We were sceptical, but really you can’t miss him. He was huge and creepy. Not only did he look like someone you wouldn’t let your children near he also has one automated finger which moved in a beckoning fashion. Whoever thought that was a good idea for Santa had some issues, but Lissa, our friend assured us he’s there every year.

Then I met Hendrik’s other friends Beata and Simon who would also be travelling with us and we had a wine night. Definitely a bit too much. What we did see of Auckland we came to a one word conclusion, underwhelming. It was way smaller than I thought it would be and nothing that would stand out and be the landmark for the city except for the Santa and possibly burgers. Then of course there is the sky tower which is the most prominent building of the city, but we decided not to go to the top to save money. I didn’t mind because it seemed that the tower was the only building worth looking at anyway. Lissa decided to take us to her office building where she claimed to have great views but as we stood by the door she had forgotten to take her keys, so we had to postpone and wait in anticipation to gaze at the Auckland Skyline.

Wine night in a red bar.