Kia Ora Taupo!

Day 4 (Wed, 23 Nov 2011)

Rotorua to Porirua (just before Wellington): 444km

We had a long drive ahead of us so we started out nice and early. However, driving on State Highway 1 turned out to be a breeze. The road conditions are excellent and we made great time.

We made a stop at Lake Taupo, about one hour on. At 616 square kilometres, Lake Taupo is the largest lake in NZ - almost the size of Singapore! We stopped at a scenic lookout to view Huka Falls.

Also at the Lake Taupo area is the Huka Honey Hive. Here, we tasted all types of local honey. Our favourite was the Rewarewa Honey - it's creamy and thick and not too sweet. I imagine it would taste heavenly on toast, better than kaya.

It's never too cold for ice-cream! This one is honey flavoured, of course.

We stopped at a little cafe at Turangi for lunch. It's a tiny town and they obviously don't get many tourists as we received many stares. We love their cafes. All their pies, quiches and cakes are twice the size of those back home and appetisingly displayed in glass shelves.

Steak pies, sandwiches, burgers and chips are common fare. For dessert, we're also discovering that the New Zealanders love caramel and meringues. You can find chocolate caramel flavours in cookies, cakes, chocolate, muffins and fudge. Pavlovas too, make frequent appearances.

Then it was more driving through very scenic countryside. When we stopped at a scenic lookout along the way, a tour bus rolled up and some tourists alighted. Then we heard, "Hello Chief!" It was one of the tourists from the Te Puia group yesterday!

We saw this scene where half the sky was bright blue and the other half was white. It's like God took a paintbrush and hadn't finished painting in the blue portion.

Our next pit stop was at another little town called Bulls and we were so glad we stopped there cos it's just so darn cute! The townsfolk played with the image of the bull and even the word Bulls throughout the town.

The signposts are simply hilarious!

We made it to our motel just outside Wellington, 2 hours ahead of schedule. We stayed at AAA Mana Motel in a little town of Porirua which is just before Wellington city. We had a 1-bedroom apartment that was very clean, comfortable and spacious. What we didn't know though was that it was next to a railway line so every now and then, we would hear the rumbling of the train.

It didn't really bother us though. We were out like a light that night!

The NZ experience Part 2: Maoris, geysers and a Haka chief

Day 3 (Tue, 22 Nov 2011): Evening activity

In the evening, we took a trip out to Te Puia, a geothermal valley. Thermal activity is at the heart of Rotorua's tourism - mud pools, geysers and spas.

We bought the Family Pass for the combo package, which includes a day tour and a dinner programme. Here, we learnt about history, traditions and cultural heritage of the Maoris.

We visited the School of Carving...

and the School of Weaving. These are the "skirts" won by the Maoris.

Then we were taken on a tour of the grounds. Saw the bubbling mud pools which take place when steam pushes out from beneath the thinnest layers of earth.

Rotorua mud (which is actually kaolin clay) is sold as a beauty product throughout the country, it's supposed to have cosmetic benefits. I'm sure you've heard of clay or mud masks.

Next, we went to see the Pohutu Geyser. Intense heat from molten rock below boils seeping rainwater, turning it into steam. Pressure increases until it is strong enough to shoot water and steam up to 15m into the air.

Some geysers in Rotorua are manually triggered to erupt but the one in Te Puia is all natural. It goes off 2-3 times every hour. We could see the geyser all the way from our hotel, a 5-minute drive away. An amazing sight.

These are the hot springs. Some tourist spots in Rotorua offer thermally heated spa baths and hot pools, similar to the ones in Japan (except you don't have to bathe in the nude!)

As we were headed out to the cultural show, the host picked Kenneth out to act as the "chief" of our group of tourists, to accept the peace offering from the Maori chief, much to his embarrassment.

As chief, he also had to learn the Haka (Maori warrior dance), together with several other men from our group. For most of the men, the combination of enthusiasm plus bad hand-eye coordination makes for very comedic entertainment. I saw some wives laughing so hard, I swear they were crying. I'm sure Kenneth is relieved I can't post videos here.


As part of the programme, we were invited to a traditional Maori feast, the Hangi. It consists of a buffet of seafood and generous servings of pork, chicken and beef, ending with a dessert buffet. The food is delicious, especially the seafood, which I found exceptionally fresh.

To end a perfect evening, after dinner when the sun had set, the host took us on a stroll to the geyser again to see it at night. He even provided hot chocolate so we could warm ourselves while admiring the scene. We were, however, so stuffed we couldn't eat or drink anymore.

Even though the night air was chilly, we didn't need any warming up anyway as the stone steps near the geyser were naturally heated by the hot springs. They are so hot we couldn't sit down for a long period at a time, lest we burnt our butts!

We were very fortunate to catch the geyser blowing for just 5 minutes or so before it stopped. Amidst the night sky, it was spectacular beyond words.

The NZ experience Part 1: Sheep, kiwi fruit and the Zorb!

Day 3 (Tue, 22 Nov 2011): Day activity

Today, we packed a full load of quintessential NZ experiences into one day at Rotorua. I have too many great photos to squeeze into one post so I'm going to put them into 2 separate posts.

Because we had a full day of activity, we decided to have a good breakfast. Rydges is very family friendly in that they don't charge for kids. We paid for 2 adult buffet breakfasts and the kids ate for free.

We then headed out bright and early to the Agrodome. Few shows are more signature NZ than the sheep show - since NZ has 40 million sheep, with 10 sheep to every 1 person.

We were shown 14 different species of sheep, the most valuable being the Merino (right on top) as it has the thickest and most luxe wool.

The host then proceeded to shear a sheep.

Gus, the sheepdog.

Petting the spring lambs.

The indoor show was followed by an outdoor show to display the sheepdog's skills at herding sheep.

Following that, we went on an organic farm tour, in the same location. The farm contains kiwi fruit vines and olive trees. Interestingly enough, the kiwi fruit is not native to NZ. It originated from China where it's known as the gooseberry. China also grows more kiwi fruit than NZ. Betcha didn't know that!

This is a kiwi fruit plant.

Also got to try kiwi fruit wine and kiwi fruit juice.

The farm now also rears alpacas for their wool. Apparently, alpaca wool is far more valuable than sheep wool as it's softer. Alpaca wool sells for $35-45 per kg while sheep wool goes for about $4 per kg.

Feeding the alpacas.

Here's our host showing us it's not all work on the farm!

The farm also rears cows. The one on the left is a beef cow and the one on the right, a milk cow.

It was an exciting morning but the best was yet to come. Across from the Agrodome is an adventure park they call Agroventures. NZ is known as the adventure capital and they have so many uniquely exciting activities for thrill seekers (in case you didn't know, the bungy was invented in NZ).

Andre, being the adrenaline junkie in our family, went on 2 rides. One was the Agrojet. It's a jetboat that skims over shallow water. The driver goes round the course 3 times and does spins so it's pretty fun. I wanted to upload the video but I have limited wifi bandwidth in NZ, so only pictures for now.

The other ride Andre went on was the Shweeb which is basically horizontal cycling in an enclosed cylinder. Wacky! You can either race against another rider or pit your best time.

This was Andre's time for 4 rounds. He would have been faster if he didn't obligingly slow down in the last lap for photos.

We then headed to the next adventure ride which was only a 3-minute drive away - the Zorb! Here in Rotorua, this is the flagship site and one of the only 2 locations in NZ which feature the Zorb. If you haven't heard of the Zorb, shame on you!

You get into this giant globe which is pushed down a hill. Trust the New Zealanders to come up with the human version of the hamster ball. Again, I got a video but can only post photos here.

First you get into a van which takes you up the hill.

Then you get into a monster ball and down the hill you go!


Experiences are not cheap in NZ - eg it costs $70 for the 2 of them to go on the Zorb. That's a very costly 2 minutes! But these are unique experiences and there's a likelihood we may never get the chance to visit NZ again, so we're going to try everything we want to.

We concluded a very meaningful morning with lunch at the Agrodome cafe. Al fresco in the garden seating, very pretty.

Part 2 of the day continues in the next post.