Nov. 20 - Geysers, Fiji and Bora Bora

Christina and Barbara, both from Germany (let's be honest, if you are traveling in this country you are either German or Asian) spent the entire day together going around all the geothermal national park and swimming in some free hot springs in the middle of nowhere and checking out the mud bad- it was an absolutely fantastic day. It started off on an amusing note. You pay the $30  and everybody goes to watch the geyser erupt at 10:15 everyday.











The geyser looks like a homemade white  volcano for school.  He comes out with a bag full of something like baking soda  and sets it off and it blows in the air- it's the hokiest thing you've ever seen. The day improved much after that.


Bubbling, steaming lava lakes of every colour; black, grey, bright green...there was one regular lake that blew my mind. I felt like I was in Fiji or Bora Bora- the colours were so perfect.  While passing a family with very young girls I heard mom read the sign on a scary cave looking lava pit, casually saying, “ It’s the Devil’s Home darling”. If I were that little girl, I would go no further. I would run in
fear the other direction
.

The sulphur rotten egg stench is gawdawful for most but my sniffer rarely works. Also this is one of only place in world where I can be gassy and still smell better than the environment.

Tired knees hurt and all it takes is a young lady to tell you her mother would never do what I'm doing and suddenly, I have discovered a skip in my step that wasn't there before.
There are even people that went in wedding attire to pose beside the gorgeous lime green lake...in running shoes.


The highlight was going to the natural hot springs.  Omg I was in heaven. There were waterfalls and a river to relax in.

Ended with the traditional ice cream sandwiches and cheese n crackers. They haven’t eaten real cheese in a month. I forget how career travelers deprive themselves of the nicer things in life to afford “”the journey”. I think cheese IS part of the journey. Did some backpacker shoulder massages, rubbed some sore feet, applied some ointments, dispensed some advice doctorily and left to tour the town some more. My work was finished.

I'm trying to convince them to drag me along tomorrow by offering more shoulder massages and foot rubs to their ailing bodies but it might not be meant to be.

When you are a serious procrastinator as I am, you don't have enough time to do the things that you want to do like the Glow worm caves and Hobbittown so when I got a late day invite to drive up past Auckland to go to the north for a day or two and they're going to drive the whole way, I was ecstatic. I'm very excited to be freeloading with people even if they are youngins. For one awkward moment, I asked the quieter German girl whose understanding of English is less, how she felt about an extra freeloader. She kind of shook her head like it was a bad idea so I assured them it was no problem. The other lady jumped in, did some quick translation and suddenly the first girl reassured me she misunderstood and yes of course I should join them. Whew. Doesn't matter if they are only 27 years old, you still feel bad.

NZ is now sunny after weeks of rain. BEST day ever.  Natural hot springs, mini waterfalls, geysers,  boiling springs and mud ponds. NZ is becoming quite memorable.

Walked more at night. I don't know what it is about the water but I am drawn to it and I have to be near it when I'm on vacation. All the black swans and seagulls. Rotorua is beautiful as always. It's funny when I drove up from Sydney to Cairns always so many lakes and beaches  and I was sick of it and here I am doing the same thing again. I can't help myself.

It seems like this city has a tourist Main Street but if you're paying attention and you actually walk around you will come across the secondary Main Street which is the city itself it's absolutely gorgeous and reminds me of Bemidji with the Christmas lights.


Did some grocery shopping for our road trip tomorrow but I made a fatal backpackers mistake...I put my open knapsacks all over my bed earlier in the day and forgot to prepare it before lights out. 6 people in my room and I'm crinkling, banging, dropping things and being an utter pain in the ass.  I feel so guilty. It will only get worse at 530 am when I wake up and start the whole process again and when I have the middle of the night bathroom breaks. Why oh why did I agree to share. I never learned that in kindergarten. ..it didn't exist back then!