Rotorua

!@)(#*!)@($&!(~!#$&!*#%~!  <time machine to February 5...

So I'm in Rotorua. The first thing you notice about this lovely place is the smell. It literally whacks you in the face as soon as you get off the bus. And then you think you get used to it, but it occasionally just sneaks up on you again and....BAM. What's that smell you're asking? Sulfur. Rotorua is a "hotspot for geothermal activity" so you get the lovely smell that comes along with it. It does make some cool hot springs, boiling mud pits, and steam thingys though.

I had a day and a half in Rotorua and it kind of ended up jam packed. I wandered (my standard whenever I arrived somewhere new....I found it was the best way for me to have any idea where I was, as maps are only semi-helpful)), then went to church, then tea (dinner). The full day I had was Waitangi Day. A national holiday similar to July 4th in the States. It celebrates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which guaranteed rights and land to the Maori people. (If you would like further info go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_Day) Ya, I am basically like educational and entertaining....tell all your friends. kidding:) But anyways....so the town kind of shut down, but I went to a picnic with some contacts I had there. They proceeded to take me on a 6km walk that almost killed me. Soooo steep but it provided pretty spectacular views of the lake so 4 weeks later, now that I have recovered from the soreness and can breathe normally again, I can say it was worth it:)

View from my hostel...

Some schweet random graffiti, that they probably don't appreciate, but  I do.

And people wonder why I'm scared of birds....

A hot spring. They have like parks in the middle of town just full of them. And more on the lake. And more if you drive. And basically they're EVERYWHERE.

Walking along the lake. It literally was hard to breathe while taking this pic. It smelled.so.bad.

Me. not breathing.

You can see the steam? maybe?

And more....

Whaa?? no TOMs?? weird I know.

Steam across the lake.

Trying to get rid of that awful smell.

Please tell me we have one of these back home??

Their fabulous looking museum.

View of the lake after my 6km walk!!!

gorgeous.

Some friends in Rotorua.

After that, there still was heaps to do in Rotorua. As this was the home of my much-awaited ZORB ride. I had driven past it on the bus ride into town and honestly it doesn't look like much. Giant plastic bubbles rolling down a hill. Yep. But I felt a weird compulsion to do it since I had already told everyone I would and its like one of the only places in the world to do it (according to their PR department....) They drive you up the hill. I hopped in my giant bubble (well more like flopped....it's hard to do so gracefully, or maybe just hard for me). I chose the dry option...mostly because I had forgotten my swim suit. So they strap you in and just tip you down the hill. After about 1/2 a roll you can't tell which way is up or down. Super disorientating and thankfully I don't get motion sickness or I might have ended up doing a wet ride anyways... 3 minutes later your hopping out at the bottom! It actually was a lot of fun and I'm super glad I did it.

yep.

so clever:)

Me and my bubble:)

This is someone else....but mine looked exactly the same.

But wait there is more....next I decided to BUNGY!!!! I had been planning to bungy in Queenstown, but they had a place to do it here and it was like half the price. Since it was for 2 minutes of my life, and I wasn't sure I wouldn't barf/hate it/have a panic attack I thought it was probably okay that this one was slightly less awesome. With this one they have like almost a crane with a platform attached to the end. So they lower it, you hop on, take you up, then you jump (or if your me ....kind of fall) off. The guy was trying to keep me chatting as I'm sure he is used to people thinking too much about it and freaking. But everything I said, he  just said was "choice" their equivalent of awesome. (I dare someone to start it in the states. ready.go.) And I was doing fine until we got to the very top and I had to start walking to the edge. At that point I was like what the heck am I doing. But I walked to the edge and basically didn't stop. I looked at the view for maybe 2 seconds then just leaned forward annnnndddd down I went. I screamed solid until the bungy caught me, but after that it's just amazing!!!!! I absolutely LOVED it and would for sure go again!

The bungy tower from far away...the crane looking arm on the far right is it. 43m up:)

Me and the "choice" dude....I think he looks like a hun from Mulan in this pic....

Freaking out at the top!

I was going to just put up a few, but how could I possible choose?? so you get them all. I'll spare you from the video though.

Here goes...

best.face.ever.

Still screaming my head off at this point.

Yes it caught me, and yes I'm sooo glad it didn't break.

I think this is the point at which I start actually enjoying it.

Just bouncing. you know. normal stuff:)

Hello.adrenaline high.

 Thank goodness Mavis (see cute lady below) was awesome and took me to some mud pits and a hot spring, which they cool a bit and then run into pools. It was a lovely way to end my crazy adrenaline filled day.

Boiling mud....no we didn't get in this one.

So cool.

Mavis...my Rotorua grandma:)

Sorry for the picture overload and the out of order/time machine jazz. Just think only 6 cities left in NZ!!! and then just try and imagine me doing all of that in 2 weeks. Ya. dumb idea:)