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Rotorua & Taupo
When arriving in Rotorua from Auckland the first thing we noticed was the smell! It smelt VERY strongly of rotten eggs due to it being the thermal region of New Zealand, releasing lots of sulphur! Around Rotorua there are loads of thermal parks which you can walk around for free and see bubbling mud and water pools. There was one right opposite our accommodation so we did this on the first day...it was SO smelly! We also walked to 'Sulphur Point' around Rotorua lake seeing similar things. From here we went to the government gardens which were very pretty, and even these had a few thermal pools!
In the evening we had booked to do the 'Tamaki Maori Experience', where you learn about the origin of the Maori people and their culture, including a performance of the Huka! Very scary... There was lots of dancing, singing and food, including Pavlova which Emily was VERY pleased about!
The next day we got the shuttle bus to the Agrodome to see the famous sheep show. It was really good...we saw 19 different breeds of sheep which were brought up on to the stage, sheep shearing, 4 sheep dogs and lambs! There was a pretend auction which Matt had to go up on stage for as he had 'bought' 5 sheep, and I went up on stage to milk a cow!! It was great fun and very funny... After lunch we headed to Rainbow Springs (wildlife park) where we had a nice walk about. They had a nocturnal enclosure where we saw the Kiwi bird. This made the day!!
After the 2 days in Rotorua we headed to Taupo, our next stop on the magic bus. It was SO SO busy as the Iron Man contest was on so we only stayed here for 1 full day. The Iron Man contestants were very fit, and the town was littered with them for the whole weekend.
On our day in Taupo we booked up the Huka Falls Jet boat ride... this was lots and lots of fun!! It did 360 degree spins along the river, went really close to the edges and went right up to the bottom of the waterfall. We were both in the front seats of the boat, but Emily was on the edge so nearly got thrown out every time there was a spin!!
After our thrilling morning we went for a walk in the afternoon along the Tongariro river. The scenery was beautiful, with forest and mountains in the background. Along the river there was a thermal spring which went into the main channel. It was very hot and made a great place for a dip, only up to our knees though! There were quite a few Iron Men soaking in the water here. On the way back we saw the Taupo Bungy jump... definitely NOT doing one of these!!!!!!
Next stop Wellington on 3rd March 08....
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