November 17th & 18th - Days 9 & 10 - Kia Ora!

On the road again...

And we're off on our much anticipated road trip with our JCDV fully loaded up!
Travel mugs of coffee in hand, Rotorua bound.  Still on the North Island, about 2.5 hours from Auckland, Rotorua is filled with Maori culture, towering Redwood forests, hot springs and geothermal mud pools. Every time we tell someone that we're going to Rotorua, they say "oh it's amazing once you get past the smell."  Sulphur!

We were only on the main Highway for a bit until the main Highway becomes very remote, tons of sheep and cows.  I say Sheep,  Ryan says Bahh ahh ahh....  I say cow, Ryan says Moooo...  I say Pterodactyl,  Ryan says "Dead"

We've had JCDV for 5 days and I've yet to drive him.  It was just easier to let Ryan drive because he drove in Australia and it would be quick for him to get used to driving on the left again.   But now its my turn.   :)
After we stopped at the Big Pink Cafe for a steak n cheese pie, Ryan handed over control...  errr... I mean he handed over the keys.

         

Honestly, the only awkward part was sitting on the right side to drive. The foot peddles were the same but the gear shifter, signals, lights, wipers and rear-view mirror were all opposite to what my brain was used to.   Driving on the left seemed oddly normal and comfortable for me.   I only turned the windshield wipers on once instead of my left turn signal, and I'm getting used to looking up to the left instead of the right for the rear-view mirror. 

 

Once in Rotorua, which you smelled immediately because of the sulfur from the geothermal mud, we found The Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park.  Apparently the World Rafting Championships were being held here for 2 weeks and the camp site was almost full.  Many countries were there including Canada, Russia, France, Italy, Germany...  Because all the cabins were taken we were going to attempt to sleep in the back of JCDV but we quickly realized that the back of the van was full of all our crap and if we wanted to sleep in the van we would have to somehow move everything either outside or up to the front.  It was jammed, wall to wall!

So we decided that we should go to The Warehouse to buy a cheap tent & some groceries.

And so we had our tasks, Ryan would put up the tent and I would take care of dinner.  It only took him a few minutes to get the tent up and dinner wasn't much longer as I only had to heat up our Lamb Stew with some beef tortellini.  It was pretty decent with some cold beer!  :)




This camp ground had full kitchen facilities but I didn't realize that until I went to use the washroom.  And what I mean by that is they had 4 separate stations each equipped with a sink, stove-top and oven, and an electrical outlet. There was also 2 communal fridges which you could put your groceries in as well as a microwave and a hot water station for coffee and tea.  People seem to camp here for very different reasons than we do back home.  Mostly for traveling briefly through towns or because it's cheaper than a hotel.

The birds are soooo crazy constant and loud here but I quite like waking up to them.  Breakfast was streaky bacon, eggs and coffee and then I dropped Ryan off at the Redwoods Bike Park because he was itching and it was about time we did our own thing because I too was itching and learned about the Polynesian Spa!  

Wow!  This place was like a dream.  My Mud Wrap was amazing, and the out door hot springs were relaxing and beautiful.  I arrived about 90 minutes early and they gave me this super soft dark blue plush robe and advised that I could spend the next hour or so in the hot springs pools and that there were 3 to choose from.  Starting from the left they are warm, hot and then really hot.  Naturally I chose the warm one which was perfect because I pretty much had it to myself as most people like the hotter pools.

 

After about 2.5 hours of soaking in a hot spring, being scrubbed with manuka honey & walnuts; caked in geothermal mud and then wrapped up like a mummy to enjoy a scalp massage; I was advised to shower and I would then be moisturized.  I felt like I was walking on a cloud when I left there and it was well worth the cost of the treatment.  For any of you ladies who have ever been to the Ancient Cedars Spa at the Wick in Tofino, you'll understand when I say that this place was right up there and may have even gone slightly above!  A must do if you're ever in Rotorua!

Just in time, as I'm driving out of the parking lot, Ryan texts me that he's ready and I head off to pick him up so we can get ready for the Tamaki Maori Village Show and Buffet Dinner.  This was a recommendation from Ryan's cousin Sarah (as was the Spa) so we didn't want to miss it.  This too is a must-do in Rotorua.  An amazing cultural experience that moved us many times throughout the evening.  There was of course the Haka which Ryan got to participate in twice before the evening ended but unfortunately both of our phones were dead so not too many pics.  Guess you'll have to check it out yourselves when you visit us here!  :)

The cost of the tickets were $105 each and that includes pick-up and drop off at your hotel or campground. Our bus driver/tour guide was phenomenal.  He was funny, sarcastic and super smart as he explained what "Kia Ora" meant in no less than 30 languages while he drove.  (Kia ora is a Maori greeting which means literally "be well/healthy" and is translated as an informal "hi")  He is also a die-hard All Blacks fan and didn't hesitate to state it many times throughout the evening.   "The All Blacks are the best looking and most awesome team ever to have played Rugby, from now and forever!!!"  

The nice thing about this experience was that it wasn't just about the food and drink and entertainment, it was a way to learn about the Maori culture, history and how they taught their children about the Warrior ways through games, instilling these thoughts and techniques at a young age, but they didn't realize at the time that all these fun games were life lessons for survival and growth.

     

And we can't forget about the Hangi - traditional Māori cooked food in a pit under the ground in ovens called ‘hangi’.  Māori were aware that the earth was the giver of all life, from the soil came food and that same food was cooked beneath the earth.   (Chicken, lamb & root veg like Kumara sweet potato)
This was quite good and went well with our bottle of red wine.  We met a father and son couple from Australia while eating our dinner and hopefully they got some pics of Ryan doing the Haka, they said they'd email it to me once they got back home.  Dessert was Sticky Pudding as well as Pavlova with passionfruit.
We had the same bus driver for the ride home and it was pouring by that time.  We were so worried that our tent was going to be soaked and we'd be sleeping in the rain but his constant humor and wit kept our minds occupied until we got home.  As luck would have it, we didn't get a drop of rain the whole night at the campground, apparently it only rained 20 km away. Just fine with us!  :)

Such a great day!!!
p.s. Hope you had a great birthday Mary!  :)  xoxo