Flying into and out of my favorite New Zealand city has proven “interesting” for lack of a better word. You guys remember my flight into Wellington (I made the New Zealand Herald but who’s bragging)? Well leaving Wellington was just as “interesting.” First, it was extremely windy. The kind of wind that blows a person of my stature (small) around. And we were boarding the plane from the tarmac, so struggling to get up the stairs to the plane was challenging. I’m sitting on the plane and it’s shaking back and forth…and not in an earthquake-type-of-way…more of a “damn this wind is intense” kind of way. The captain even comes on to tell us that we’re going to experience a lot of turbulence until we get to cruising altitude. Whenever that is because he comes on again to tell us that we have to “vacate the runway because of traffic.” So now I’m getting a first hand tour of the runway because that’s how I’ve been rolling in NZ. We eventually make it into the air (and yes, there was a lot of turbulence but there was also a lot of Xanax, lol). And we land 50 minutes later into Rotorua which has a very unique smell. Translation – it smells like sulfur. Or sulphur. I’m not sure how the Kiwis spell it here. I take a shuttle from the airport to my hostel and the driver was a really nice man (translation – not Aussie). He even drove me to the Redwood Forrest and pointed out some attractions walking distance to my hostel. Kiwis are so nice!
I check in and decide to walk around the city center to get my bearings. It’s a really small town and I must admit, I didn’t get a good feeling. But I thought, you can’t judge a book by its cover and I booked a tour company to take me to Wai-O-Tapu on Monday. They were going to overcharge me for a tour to Whakarewarewa Village (the living and working Maori village). Of course tour companies overcharge. However, before I left, my neighbor Leann gave me a contact in Rotorua (Pererika) and I reached out to see if he had a suggestion for a tour company that wasn’t overcharging. It turns out, he was going to be in town for a meeting at the village and he offered to drive me there and show me around afterwards. So we agreed to meet at 9am.
9am comes and I receive a text that his car has broken down. What are the odds?! But I still walk to meet him because one way or another, we’ll get to the village. We had a nice chat over hot chocolate while we waited for his niece to drop off a spare car and for a tow truck to take his car to the shop. Once were on 4 wheels, he proceeds to drive me around pointing out things of interest and giving me full history of the Maori people – including the folklore (which has always been my favorite parts of history). Those who know me know that I’m not religious at all, but we stopped in a church and even a “heathen” like me can appreciate when something is beautiful. Like this window you can look through while sitting down on a pew in an Anglican Church. He’s really walking on water. 😉
Then we drive to a park where a traditional waka (I think that’s the term for a canoe) is kept. And I’m super lucky because Pererika has keys to unlock the door as he is one of The Guardians. So we pop inside for a closer look!
Afterwards, we head to the village. Please don’t make me type out the name again. It takes forever! I’m treated to free entrance and also a cultural show. Woo hoo knowing the right people! The village has views of 3 geysers that “go off” with a frequency of 45-60 mins. I’m sure I’m not the only person to have exclaimed “thar she blows!”
In this next picture, the bag hanging on with some rope contains corn that is being cooked by the hot, hot, hot water. Really fascinating! 
Finally, our next stop was Waikite thermal pools which was a beautiful drive through the countryside. The pools were amazing and so relaxing. They are said to have medicinal properties and I must admit that my skin felt smoother after soaking for a few hours. If you’re curious, the hottest pool (fed by natural thermal springs) was 41.5 Celsius. I can attest that it was extremely hot!
Pererika dropped me off at my hostel and I was prepared to drink a pint of beer, get photos off my camera, write the blog post you’re now enjoying and call it a day. That is until I met Elle/L/El who was eating dinner in the bar and we started chatting. She is visiting from Australia for a wedding and had rented a car. (Side note: Elle is not Aussie. She’s Filipino and that’s why she was nice). And while she was out hiking Redwood forest, she got a tip from a local to see glow worms at night. I’m gonna call her Elle (Elle/L/El: if you’re reading this, let me know how you spell your name!). So Elle invites me go on a glow worm hunt with her and I’m just curious enough to oblige.
We drive to where the local woman had told her to look for glow worms. It’s pitch black and the wind is blowing the trees so much that it sounds like rushing water. And I’m sure hidden around the corner was either a serial killer, a mountain lion or a witch. Any of those would have been unwelcome. So we head back but at least we can say we tried. If I’m going to be honest, I was pretty damn scared walking in that forrest at night. For our efforts, I rewarded us with a beer at the bar.
Warning: there will be 2 blog posts in one day because I’m a day behind and I saw some cool shit today. Now back to your regular program.
There She Goes... 