Our weekend getaway continued with a 2 day stay in Rotorua. 

But first, get excited, we made a stop along the way at the Otorohanga Kiwi House. Have you seen a kiwi?  These are goofy looking birds but they are also very entertaining. So round, so fluffy, and bigger than I expected, the Great Spotted species of kiwi birds is about the size of a basketball.  They’re nocturnal animals, so the room was very dark and no flash allowed.  They’re also surprisingly fast and this is the best pic I have. Thanks for the memories you crazy little bird.

Heading on toward Rotorua to our Airbnb, we pulled up to a view we couldn’t believe was ours. Didn’t mind the friendly goats and free-range chickens on the property either.  We bought groceries, made dinner, then laid low for the night and enjoyed our surroundings with a glass of wine. Sigh…

We had big plans for Sunday and started at Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland.  The active geothermal park has a well marked 3km path that takes you around some of the most incredible natural sights I’ve ever seen. We had the GoPro with us and Kevin got some awesome pictures.

Oh yes, it all stunk like rotten eggs due to the sulfur, but oh man are the views worth it. Maybe trying to drink coffee while getting pummeled by clouds of egg-smoke was a bad idea, but nobody told us.

Aside from drinking your coffee inside the shop, our other tip would be to hit the trail right before the geyser eruption. Off the main trail and about a 10-minute drive away is a small geyser that is part of the park and erupts at about 10:15 daily. We asked a few of the employees if it was worth seeing, and they were honest enough with us to say “not really.” With all the other park visitors distracted by the geyser, we had some of these awesome sights all to ourselves and it made the experience a little more magical.

The day wasn’t over after the geothermal park, and I was pumped for part 2.  With Kaitiaki Adventures you can raft the Kaituna river and the highest commercially raftable waterfall in the world – a 7 meter fall!  There is tons of action on this 1 hour trip.  As you go your guide is constantly instructing you on which direction to paddle, to get down and hang on tight, or to shift over to the right or left to flip the raft.  Flipping was for fun of course, and so was when he had me sit facing forward on the front of the raft and ride it over a few rapids with one arm up like I was at a rodeo.  Kevin said I was smiling ear to ear from the minute our boat hit the water and he was probably right.  It was a blast and just dangerous enough to be a really, really, REALLY good time.

Although they had photographers posted up at two or three points on the river to take photos you could purchase, Kevin and I were in the two back rows of the raft and honestly you could only see our faces in one of the pictures and it wasn’t great because I was halfway underwater.  A classic gasping-for-air face. The memories of the experience are enough for us,but I’m sorry we don’t have any pictures to share with you. I snagged a few off the Kaitiaki site so you get the gist.

Near our Airbnb was the Hamurana Spring, a natural spring that provides the drinking water for the locals as well as feeding into Lake Rotorua. You can visit the crystal clear spring source with a relaxing 20 minute hike right from the road. The redwoods lining the trail are beautiful and actually from California.

We made dinner and talked about how great the day, and the whole month in New Zealand, has been.  We ate on the patio so we could really soak in our last New Zealand sunset.  

Tomorrow we drive back to Auckland and fly to Australia.  Sydney here we come!