I arrived in Rotorua yesterday morning and had a cool day. I went to the Fat Dog Cafe for lunch and bumped into an English girl. We ended up having lunch together and spent the afternoon wandering around Rotorua. I went back to my hostel, the Funky Green Voyager, and cooked tea. I got talking with a couple guys, and I talked way into the evening with this guy Mark. It turns out we're both geeky about Vic and Bob and we even dueted the infamous Baked Potato song. It was beautiful.
I had a lie in this morning till about half eight, and went back to the Fat Dog cafe for a slice of chocolate cake (it had caught my eye yesterday) and a flat white. Then, SPA!! I spent a couple hours in the pools, some of which were incredibly hot. They were right next to Lake Rotorua and it was quite a spectacular view of the surrounding hills. Then I walked back to the hostel and I'm just going to chill for the rest of the day.
To be honest, Rotorua is pretty rubbish. Personally, from walking around the town, it's just a bit of a non-town, with no nice architecture and you have to spend loads of money to do any of the good stuff. There are Maori concerts in the hotels, but I get the impression they're just a watered down pathetic version of a beautiful tradition. This place is unbelievably touristy. It's mainly built up of souvenir shops and hotels, and I honestly can't see why people make such a big deal about the place. I leave tomorrow morning, for Taupo, and it won't come too soon.
Nice hostel though! The owner guy said I had beautiful skin. Random :)
..NZ is the proud host of a fair few "non-towns" and if you're looking for architecture to admire you might be a bit hard pressed! That said, it's pretty good at showcasing nature at her best!
ReplyDeleteagree with you about Rotorua - try to check out some thermal sites on the way to Taupo. Wai-o-Tapu is a goody. Taupo's a nice place - not great architecture but still a nice setting on the lake. Huka Falls are worth a look. Huka Jet boat is fun if you can spare the cash :-)
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