Rotorua

We got to Rotorua on Tuesday evening and checked into the Sudima Hotel. It is right along the lake and we could smell the sulphur smell quite well. Lake Rotorua is a big thermal area. One can see steam vapors in many places. The hotel is close to the central business area so we walked to dinner every night. We stocked the mini fridge with snacks and breakfast foods. In the mornings it was handy to eat breakfast in our room.

On Wednesday, Tom headed to his 3-day work conference. Dennis and I headed to the gondola and luge at Skyline Skyrides (top left). The gondola took us to the top of the hill. We put on our helmets and were given instructions on how to stop the luge cars. They are low to the ground with bicycle handlebars. First we took the scenic path that was about 2 km long. It was fun! Dennis was eager to go again. We had to ride a chair lift to get back to the top of the hill. In all we made three trips; twice on the scenic path and once on the 1.6 km intermediate path. We finished up with an early lunch at the cafe on top the hill where we got to see the panoramic view of Rotorua and the lake.

In the afternoon we soaked in the hotel's bath-water temperature pool. Dennis and I had it all to ourselves. The pool was semi-enclosed so we heard the noisy seagulls along the lake shore. The sulphur smell was strong. Dennis called it "pong," a British term he picked up from a library book about a stinky dog.

On Thursday, Dennis and I did more tourist must-dos. In the morning we checked out the Agrodome and saw the sheep show (bottom left). Dennis got to pet the sheep and dogs. I learned about sheep in a short time. In the afternoon we went to the Polynesian Spa and soaked in the pools there. We went to the Family Spa and Dennis found some kids to play with.

On Friday, we drove by one of the Maori style churches (top right). Tom got off early so all three of us went to the Redwoods in the Whakarewarewa Forest. The forest has 15 acres of Californian Redwoods that were planted in 1901 as part of an experiment to find out what trees could be grown for timber in the area. We followed the red path and admired the Redwoods for half and hour in the rain (bottom right).

We ended our time in Rotorua with dinner at a Latin American restaurant called Sabroso. Mexican restaurants are few in NZ, so some familiar chips, salsa, quesadillas and chimichanga were welcome. The salsa was sweet and mild since the restaurant is catering to the Kiwi palate. The chocolate dessert with a dash of cayenne pepper was superb.

We didn't get to a hangi dinner and concert which is a Maori cultural experience. That's something we will have to do some other time.

On Saturday it was time to drive back to Wellington. We left at 8:00 a.m. and got back home at 3:30 p.m. On the way we drove through Palmerston North. Along highway 57 in a town called Tokomaru we stopped for lunch at a cafe off the beaten path. Bent Horseshoe Cafe is a converted small school building. The school slide is still there as well as outdoor seating. We sipped our lattes while we viewed spring green hills with two creeks at the foot of them. What a delightful discovery!