We left our Rotorua Airbnb fairly early to go and look at some sights. Rotorua is known for its hot pools and because of that it stinks!
We were told to visit Whakarewarewa because of its geothermal activity and the Maori village. It turned out it was a tourist Maori village which none of us were that keen on and it cost a bomb.
We decided instead to go to the Redwoods forest which was awesome. Like most cases here in NZ, the pictures don't do it justice.
Got to try this out when we're back in the UK.
We went to check out blue lake and came just at the right time. LOOK AT THIS...
Jack and Andy wanted a quick pee break so we pulled over to find two sofas...
...and this pretty spectacular waterfall.
We all decided it would be rude not to try out a thermal pool. We stopped off at one called Kerosene creek. This place was awesome as it was just basically a spring in the forest. You just park up, walk through the forest and swim.
Unfortunately, it had numerous terrible reviews of break ins and thefts and with all of our belongings in the car we decided against it.
So instead we went to Waikite Valley thermal pools. Not quite as cool as jumping into a river in the forest but it was still awesome!
Jack found a sign.
Our next destination and stop over, Taupo. Home of the Huka Falls which is a pretty unreal place.
Take a look at this video. The amount and speed of the water is incredible and it's like this all year round.
In the centre of Taupo waiting to check into our Airbnb. Irish bar, pool and beer.
Because it's quite pricey to eat out in NZ and me and jack (even though we had earned) couldn't afford to pretend to be rich. So we went to a Chinese takeaway and it was goooooood.
Jacks came last. Hah. I look drunk.
A few pictures from our Airbnb place in Taupo...and the cats!!
The next morning we headed for Napier with a stop off a the Arataki honey shop. As im sure I've mentioned before, honey is massive in NZ and Arataki is one the main brands, so we had to go to the honey farm.
This was a cool place, they explained each type of honey and the process etc with TASTERS YES!
So many tasters. No surprise, Manuka honey was our favourite. Although when we did a taste test in the Kerikeri honey shop, we preferred Pohutukawa honey!
And trying on kiwi themed things and asking me to take pictures...
On route to the Napier town, we stopped off for lunch on the beach and Andy (no surprises here) walked over to some randomers and started talking. They were fishing using a torpedo machine thing...he was facinated.
Napier botanical gardens.
In 1931, there was a huge earthquake in Napier. They decided to rebuild Napier as an Art Deco town and its awesome!
Pania of the Reef...being tweaked.
The sunken gardens.
Andy got SUPER excited every time there was a massive truck. There are quite a lot of massive trucks in NZ. Can you see it behind him...? Weirdo.
The Art Deco shop.
We had to try hats on.
Looking fine.
This is the Hawkes Bay Museum. Hawkes Bay is the region that Napier falls in. Lots of wine made here. The whole side of the museum is studded with massive pins...
The Speights bar. YES A SPEIGHTS BAR there are like 10 different types of speights.
This is the weird guy we stayed with that night. Weird.
I offered to make food...because I love cooking and it's cheaper to eat in. So we bought the ingredients and I made good old Spag Bol. He questioned everything I did, asking why I wasn't using a Spaghetti Bolognese seasoning packet, then he basically took over and ate half of the whole lot! And he kept telling me off for biting my nails and saying how he liked women with nice hands...creeeeeeeeepy.
Anyway it was still fun.
Next stop...Wellington.
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