#pohutu

Pohutu Geyser Rotorua, NZ

Wegen schlechtem Wetter konnten wir letzten Freitag nicht die geplante Tour durch Rotorua machen, sodass wir nun unseren Aufenthalt in Tauranga um einen Tag verlängert haben um die Geysirtour und Wanderung durch die Redwoods nachzuholen.

Das Wetter in…

The big green bus failed us for the first time on the morning we left Rotorua. Luckily we broke down near Te Puia geyser park where we were headed anyway.

The full name of the park is Te Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawaihio (say that in one and I'll buy you a drink!). It means the gathering place for the war parties of Waihio.

We had a look at the national carving and weaving schools. Some of the things they can do is really impressive. We learnt that the 'tiki' used to be a good luck symbol for fertility and so when our guide sees a man wearing one, it always makes him laugh. The carving was used by the Maori people to record stories as this used to be the only way they could convey what happened. We then looked around a traditional Maori marae. We weren't able to go in as there was a gathering but we looked around a smaller one next door. We had a walk through the geyser park. It was incredible to see the steam come up through the ground and it looked like something from Jurassic Park!

Our guide boiled us eggs in a hot pool (rustic!) - it took about 8 minutes to hard boil them. Apparently, a guy was once saved from jumping into this pool once, mistaking it for a natural jacuzzi! We saw heaps of mud pools - which are boiling hot - if you fall in you'd sink and boil to death, nice!

The main geyser - Pohutu ("The Big Splash" or "Explosion") was spectacular. It erupts up to 20 times a day spraying 30m into the air. We ate the eggs (which were surprisingly really good!) and warmed ourselves up on the naturally heated concrete blocks in front of the geyser. Some of the blocks are too heated so you need to be careful!

Back on the bus we were en route to Taupo. Luckily the bus was in some working condition and we made it there! We stopped off at Huka Falls once we were almost in Taupo and had a look at the amazing water which is a bright, light blue colour (we were pretty blue too - it was definitely getting colder!). NZ has so many different landscapes which is what makes the country so spectacular to visit. Everywhere is different.

Harriet, Annika and I shared the room at the Base hostel in Taupo. It was nice that it was just 3 of us which was just as well as the rooms were tiny! We managed to get it in a right state after two nights there.

That night was one of my best nights out in NZ. It was so much fun! We headed round the corner to a pub that Nancy had recommended. It was pub quiz night (theme of the nights out in NZ) but it was a pub quiz with a twist and it escalated into a really drunken night! My team was Ollie, Will, Adam, Harriet, Alex and me and we SMASHED IT! We might not have won the quiz but throughout the night we won 18 pints and $150 by winning the bar games! The bar games included a clothes swap between Harriet and Will (haha!) and getting the celeb faces round correct (3 teams got it right and Ollie won us $150 by downing a pint the fastest - top lad!) It was a brilliant night which escalated quickly and led to some severe hangovers the next day!

The next day was a bit of a waste. We'd meant to be doing the Tongariro Crossing but the weather meant it wasn't possible which is why we ended up having such a big night! We still had fun that day in Taupo though and wandered around (frequented the McDonalds a couple of times...) and watched a movie at the hostel with the Kiwi bus crew.

We headed through to River Valley the next day. First stop was the Whakapapa area. This is Lord of the Rings territory with "Mount Doom" and the stream where Golem chases the fish (which we walked to - IN THE SNOW!) It was bloody cold but we had fun slipping and sliding our way down to see a cool waterfall. We saw Mount Ruapehu which I remembered climbing 12 years ago.

We then made our way through to River Valley. It's an absolutely beautiful area with spectacular gorges and the river cutting through the cliff faces. We got there about mid afternoon. Most of us had decided to stay in the "Orgy Room" at River Valley Lodge - it's called that because it's a 32 bed dorm and has no bearing on us! Ollie, Eddie, Barry, Harriet, Lorraine and I played "Valleyball". It's basically volleyball played with your feet and you're allowed one bounce of the ball...all was going well until Ollie smacked the ball into Lorraine's face. Not good!