What’s that smell? It smells like rotten eggs. Oh, why, that would be the town of Rotorua, New Zealand! Rotorua is a “thermal hotspot” that has some very unusual geological features such as boiling mud pools, geysers, and steaming pools and the whole entire area smells like sulphur. It has the feel of a tourist trap town- think Gatlinburg or Myrtle Beach that smells like rotten eggs. It is an extreme sport hotspot as well- you can bungee jump (originated in NZ), jetboat, shweeb (not sure what that is- you’ll have to Google it) or go Zorbing (you climb into a giant hamster ball and roll down a mountain).
Our hosts that “billeted” us last night dropped us all back off at Lake Rotorua this morning. (See soon to be posted blog entry for our experiences with host families!) We boarded the bus and went to the Western Heights High School for a Mauri experience. We were treated to a formal welcoming ceremony by the students. They then performed several traditional Mauri songs and dances. The dances involved lots of stomping, hand gestures and very pronounced and distinct facial configurations that essentially all conveyed the message “If you come as our foe we will eat you.” (The Mauri used to be a cannibalistic culture, but luckily for us, they are not anymore. Hooray!)
After watching the Mauri children perform we moved on to more lighthearted entertainment. We rode a gondola to the top of a mountain. At the top of the mountain we had a wonderful panoramic view of Lake Rotarua and the whole town. We were then able to “luge” down the mountain on “roller sleds.” We all enjoyed getting to ride the intermediate and advanced tracks down the mountain and had a chuckle about getting to ride something in NZ on an intermediate or advanced track. (That’s a little eventing joke there for you non-horsey folks.) Only a few of us came to grief on the ride!
A visit to Rotarua wouldn’t be complete without stopping to check out the geothermal features. Our first stop was at Wai-O-Tapu, a boiling mud pit. It was essentially a 1 acre pond that is burping and belching sulphur gas and mud. It was incredible to see such an unusual feature- imagine the sound and sight of someone blowing bubbles into a huge grey milkshake and you have a pretty good idea of what the boiling mud pit looked like. We then moved on to a hot water creek. A few brave souls donned their “togs” (swimsuits) and ventured into the sulphurous creek. The less adventurous among us took off our shoes and waded knee deep into the 85 degree water. (The bus now smells like rotten eggs.)
At the moment Robyn is narrating the bus ride back into town with the bus’ microphone. Our resident tour guide David has apparently run out of things to say so Robyn was recruited to take over. She just informed us that we were going to stop for a “potty break” and none of the other countries knew what this meant- they thought we were stopping for a “pie break.” We are now in the midst of a competition to see what country can come up with the most euphanisms for bathroom breaks. I couldn’t make something like that up.
Tomorrow we supposedly get to ride our group of Nation’s Cup horses and our girls are so ready to ride. They’ve been going a bit stir crazy since they’ve been off a horse for so long. The weather forecast for Saturday looks pretty dismal- lots of rain is expected and the Nation’s Cup at Kihikihi is supposed to take place on grass... Fingers crossed that we’re able to run it, I don’t know what we’ll do if its canceled.
Our hosts that “billeted” us last night dropped us all back off at Lake Rotorua this morning. (See soon to be posted blog entry for our experiences with host families!) We boarded the bus and went to the Western Heights High School for a Mauri experience. We were treated to a formal welcoming ceremony by the students. They then performed several traditional Mauri songs and dances. The dances involved lots of stomping, hand gestures and very pronounced and distinct facial configurations that essentially all conveyed the message “If you come as our foe we will eat you.” (The Mauri used to be a cannibalistic culture, but luckily for us, they are not anymore. Hooray!)
After watching the Mauri children perform we moved on to more lighthearted entertainment. We rode a gondola to the top of a mountain. At the top of the mountain we had a wonderful panoramic view of Lake Rotarua and the whole town. We were then able to “luge” down the mountain on “roller sleds.” We all enjoyed getting to ride the intermediate and advanced tracks down the mountain and had a chuckle about getting to ride something in NZ on an intermediate or advanced track. (That’s a little eventing joke there for you non-horsey folks.) Only a few of us came to grief on the ride!
A visit to Rotarua wouldn’t be complete without stopping to check out the geothermal features. Our first stop was at Wai-O-Tapu, a boiling mud pit. It was essentially a 1 acre pond that is burping and belching sulphur gas and mud. It was incredible to see such an unusual feature- imagine the sound and sight of someone blowing bubbles into a huge grey milkshake and you have a pretty good idea of what the boiling mud pit looked like. We then moved on to a hot water creek. A few brave souls donned their “togs” (swimsuits) and ventured into the sulphurous creek. The less adventurous among us took off our shoes and waded knee deep into the 85 degree water. (The bus now smells like rotten eggs.)
At the moment Robyn is narrating the bus ride back into town with the bus’ microphone. Our resident tour guide David has apparently run out of things to say so Robyn was recruited to take over. She just informed us that we were going to stop for a “potty break” and none of the other countries knew what this meant- they thought we were stopping for a “pie break.” We are now in the midst of a competition to see what country can come up with the most euphanisms for bathroom breaks. I couldn’t make something like that up.
Tomorrow we supposedly get to ride our group of Nation’s Cup horses and our girls are so ready to ride. They’ve been going a bit stir crazy since they’ve been off a horse for so long. The weather forecast for Saturday looks pretty dismal- lots of rain is expected and the Nation’s Cup at Kihikihi is supposed to take place on grass... Fingers crossed that we’re able to run it, I don’t know what we’ll do if its canceled.
No comments:
Post a Comment