Rotorua
This weekend I stayed on the North Island. Fifteen of us decided to go to the volcanic region of Rotorua that is about a six hour drive North of Wellington near the center of the island. We rented three cars and began driving on Thursday after lunch.
We stayed at this awesome hostel in Rotorua. It's called Cactus Jack's, and has the theme of an old Mexican town. The fifteen of us were in two rooms with lots of bunk beds, but did not have to stay with anyone we didn't know which was nice. The hostel had a small Mexican village where we could hang out and a hot tub filled with hot springs water for us to relax in.
On Friday morning we all went zorbing. Zorbing is getting in a big plastic ball and rolling down a hill. It sounds pretty simple, but it is so much fun. The ball is about a foot thick so it is padded and before you get in they add a little water inside. Katie, Blake, and I all went in the zorb at the same time because it was cheaper that way and a lot more fun. After diving through the hole in the ball Superman style they zip you in and send you down the hill. There is no possibility of standing so you just slosh around in the water and tangle with your friends on the way down the hill. I hear there are plans to open up a zorb site in America, and if it ever happens you have to go!
After zorbing we went on the white water rafting trip we had booked for the afternoon. I have been rafting in America before, but this was a pretty unique experience. This stretch of river had a lot more waterfalls than rapids like I was used to. This is a picture of my raft going vertical on the largest raftable waterfall in the world (23 feet or so). At the bottom the raft becomes completely submerged; it's a pretty wild ride. After such a busy day we all headed back to Cactus Jack's and hot tubbed before going out to some local bars.
The next morning we drove to Waitomo about two hours away. The Waitomo region is full of over 300 complex caves. I went on this caving adventure that included three abseiling (rappelling) pitches on the way down, some crawling under holes at the bottom, and a little rock climbing on the way back up. Two of the abseils were through waterfalls like this one. Part of the fame of these caves comes from the glow worms that can be found on some of it's walls. When you turn out your headlamp you can see little green lights on the walls and ceiling.
Like I mentioned before, Rotorua is part of New Zealand's volcanic region. It's kind of like their own miniature Yellowstone. On Sunday morning before returning to Wellington we went to the Geothermal Wonderland to check out the sites. It is definitely small in comparison to Yellowstone and does not have good geysers, but it did have a few very cool sights. This is Katie and I in front of the devil's bath. I don't think the picture shows just how weird a color this water was. It almost looked like the nuclear waste you would see in a movie and was extremely bright.
This is another pool at the geothermal wonderland. It is known as the champagne pool, and it is just stunning. It goes from orange around the edges to green to blue, and has steam constantly coming off of it. I wish I could have got a better picture, but the wind kept blowing steam in the way of the brilliant colors.
On the drive back to Wellington my car stopped at one of the coolest playgrounds I have ever seen to take a break. It had an obstacle course, a zipline, a trampoline and all sorts of fun things to play on. This is me about to eat it on the hamster wheel. A few minutes after this I broke my toe while racing Blake through the obstacle course. It's all taped up and hopefully rapidly healing now, because Wellington is definitely a city that demands lots of walking. I'm back at the Weir house now, actually doing a little school work, sadly. This weekend we have a field trip to Taupo for geology as a class. It should be a cool place to visit, but I'm not sure the professors know how to structure a fun day like fifteen college kids do. Hopefully when I get back I'll have pictures of both Taupo and Wellington to post.
We stayed at this awesome hostel in Rotorua. It's called Cactus Jack's, and has the theme of an old Mexican town. The fifteen of us were in two rooms with lots of bunk beds, but did not have to stay with anyone we didn't know which was nice. The hostel had a small Mexican village where we could hang out and a hot tub filled with hot springs water for us to relax in.
On Friday morning we all went zorbing. Zorbing is getting in a big plastic ball and rolling down a hill. It sounds pretty simple, but it is so much fun. The ball is about a foot thick so it is padded and before you get in they add a little water inside. Katie, Blake, and I all went in the zorb at the same time because it was cheaper that way and a lot more fun. After diving through the hole in the ball Superman style they zip you in and send you down the hill. There is no possibility of standing so you just slosh around in the water and tangle with your friends on the way down the hill. I hear there are plans to open up a zorb site in America, and if it ever happens you have to go!
After zorbing we went on the white water rafting trip we had booked for the afternoon. I have been rafting in America before, but this was a pretty unique experience. This stretch of river had a lot more waterfalls than rapids like I was used to. This is a picture of my raft going vertical on the largest raftable waterfall in the world (23 feet or so). At the bottom the raft becomes completely submerged; it's a pretty wild ride. After such a busy day we all headed back to Cactus Jack's and hot tubbed before going out to some local bars.
The next morning we drove to Waitomo about two hours away. The Waitomo region is full of over 300 complex caves. I went on this caving adventure that included three abseiling (rappelling) pitches on the way down, some crawling under holes at the bottom, and a little rock climbing on the way back up. Two of the abseils were through waterfalls like this one. Part of the fame of these caves comes from the glow worms that can be found on some of it's walls. When you turn out your headlamp you can see little green lights on the walls and ceiling.
Like I mentioned before, Rotorua is part of New Zealand's volcanic region. It's kind of like their own miniature Yellowstone. On Sunday morning before returning to Wellington we went to the Geothermal Wonderland to check out the sites. It is definitely small in comparison to Yellowstone and does not have good geysers, but it did have a few very cool sights. This is Katie and I in front of the devil's bath. I don't think the picture shows just how weird a color this water was. It almost looked like the nuclear waste you would see in a movie and was extremely bright.
This is another pool at the geothermal wonderland. It is known as the champagne pool, and it is just stunning. It goes from orange around the edges to green to blue, and has steam constantly coming off of it. I wish I could have got a better picture, but the wind kept blowing steam in the way of the brilliant colors.
On the drive back to Wellington my car stopped at one of the coolest playgrounds I have ever seen to take a break. It had an obstacle course, a zipline, a trampoline and all sorts of fun things to play on. This is me about to eat it on the hamster wheel. A few minutes after this I broke my toe while racing Blake through the obstacle course. It's all taped up and hopefully rapidly healing now, because Wellington is definitely a city that demands lots of walking. I'm back at the Weir house now, actually doing a little school work, sadly. This weekend we have a field trip to Taupo for geology as a class. It should be a cool place to visit, but I'm not sure the professors know how to structure a fun day like fifteen college kids do. Hopefully when I get back I'll have pictures of both Taupo and Wellington to post.
posted by Patrick at 7:47 PM
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