Farewell, Sue and Doug

They say that you can smell Rotorua before you see it, and we can now all confirm that this is true. After getting dropped off by the bus at the information center, we hauled our bags across town in search of our hostel. The journey took us right through a big public park that had some thermal areas fenced off. Passing through the steam vents, the smell went from bad to worse and we knew it would be an interesting stay.

With the Cavalier relegated to the junkyard, we found ourselves in Rotorua a slave to public transport. On Saturday morning, we caught a shuttle out to the Wai – O – Tapu thermal wonderland. We thought it would be an express trip, but shortly after boarding, we learned that we would be making a couple of stops.

We made a made a quick stop to check out the Southern Hemisphere’s largest boiling mud pools. All the action there actually made for a pretty interesting show. At times the mini eruptions can be quite violent and the constant soundtrack of bubbling mud was pretty funny if nothing else.

Next up was the Lady Know geyser, which gives you a pretty good picture of what would happen if Old Faithful sold out. As the park rangers describe it, they give mother nature “a little help out”. Every morning at 10:15, with heaps of people look on, they dump a soap mixture into the artificially built up geyser, eventually forcing the water to erupt. It’s not a bad show at all, but it feels a little like cheating.

The thermal wonderland itself had some interesting sights, highlighted by the famous Champagne Pool, but with the overcast weather we figured we’d spend the rest of the day just doing some souvenir shopping. The city is small enough that we were able to walk around and hit some shops while trying to avoid the raindrops. The afternoon was highlighted by the successful completion of Sue’s three week long quest to find some wine from the Tohu winery. We finished the day with a quick soak in the hostel’s thermal pool and taco night!

Sunday brought Chris’ birthday and after a great start with a delicious egg scramble breakfast, we walked into town to pick up a rental car. (I know. Too soon right? We are so cold hearted.) With our sweet new ride, we tackled the final leg of Sue and Doug’s trip with a short drive back to Auckland. By the time we arrived everyone was starved so we found a good reliable Kebab place in the center of town. Our previous Kebab experience was disastrous and we didn’t want Doug leaving with the wrong idea. Of course we had to fight the crowds of Chinese who filled the streets and sidewalks honking horns, waving flags, and causing general mayhem all in the name of the Olympic spirit. We found it somewhat questionable.

We had another rainy day and we were pressed for something to do. Of course we have no problems entertaining ourselves when we’re out in the sticks, but throw us into the country’s largest city and we have a hard time. Eventually we settled on the Minus 5 bar, made (almost) completely out of ice. The bartop, chairs, the glasses, chandelier, everything is made completely out if ice. As Doug astutely noted, it would probably we cold. After the staff fixed us up with some appropriate dress, we were allowed 25 minutes and 1 free drink in the bar. We all sampled some interesting selections including a Frisky Penguin, a Santa’s Sleigh, a Kool Kiwi and a Pina Coolada.

After all the ice, we needed to heat up a little bit, so we set off in search of a Thai restaurant. We’ve dinned out three times previously on this trip. Two were Thai, the other was terrible, so we figured we would stick with the safe option. As expected, the Grasshopper was fantastic and no one left disappointed. Instead of the traditional birthday cake, we opted to hit the convenience store from the ice cream. None of us could resist the Big Bikkie which as there advert implies is Choka Full of cookies.

The only question that remained was if we would have room for some birthday beer. Chris had been eyeing the Occidental Belgian Beer Café since January, so we were long overdue for a visit. He didn’t really know what he was in for when he ordered the large Hoegaarden, but is there really such a thing as too much Hoegaarden? After just one of these monsters and a supplemental Leffe, it was time to call it a night.

We are very sad to be sending Sue and Doug off tomorrow. It’s been an amazing three weeks. As we’ve said all along, the trip has been perfect except for Doug and Jen getting sick, not having ketchup for our chicken balls, losing a golf disc, and oh yeah, that minor car issue. With all the great things we saw, we really can’t complain.

Rom Bots Dancing on Ice