Rotorua, N. Island - updated
After a couple of days in Taupo, our next stop was an hours drive North to the town of Rotorua, New Zealands most thermally active town! Unfortunately, due to all the thermal activity spurting out hydrogen sulphide gas everywhere, there's an uncanny smell of rotten eggs everywhere you go!
Our first night found us at the famous Polynesian Spa, which is where you can relax in all the sulphur pools! This was all very well except for after you get out, you too, smell of rotten eggs! Fortunately in this town it doesn't matter since everyone else smells just as bad!
The next day we took a trip to a place called Wai-O-Tapu, one of the towns thermal parks, which is full of hot springs, geysers, boiling mud pools, sulphur pools etc. Apparently it was formed thousands of years ago from a huge volcanic eruption. That's what they tell you anyway!
Later in the afternoon we took a trip back to Taupo to do our skydive! Fortunately the weather was looking better and the skydive was going ahead. Upon arriving we put on all the gear and headed out to the aircraft with our instructors. After a scenic 20minute flight, the plane door opened and woosh, out we went!!! I had a trainee camera man on mine and it was quite mad freefalling at 200Km per hour and joining hands while getting filmed! Utter madness!!
Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Reserve
Us about to jump out of an aeroplane!
After our skydive and upon leaving Rotorua, we stopped on the way for a spot of Zorbing! For those of you that are confused, this is nothing short of a big, round, enclosed bouncy ball in which you enter inside and roll down a big hill in a variety of ways. We opted for two runs - the first being where you're harnessed inside and roll down (extremely sickening) and the second where you're loose inside the ball with nothing except a few bucket-fulls of water (AKA the HydroZorb!)
Our first night found us at the famous Polynesian Spa, which is where you can relax in all the sulphur pools! This was all very well except for after you get out, you too, smell of rotten eggs! Fortunately in this town it doesn't matter since everyone else smells just as bad!
The next day we took a trip to a place called Wai-O-Tapu, one of the towns thermal parks, which is full of hot springs, geysers, boiling mud pools, sulphur pools etc. Apparently it was formed thousands of years ago from a huge volcanic eruption. That's what they tell you anyway!
Later in the afternoon we took a trip back to Taupo to do our skydive! Fortunately the weather was looking better and the skydive was going ahead. Upon arriving we put on all the gear and headed out to the aircraft with our instructors. After a scenic 20minute flight, the plane door opened and woosh, out we went!!! I had a trainee camera man on mine and it was quite mad freefalling at 200Km per hour and joining hands while getting filmed! Utter madness!!
Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Reserve
Us about to jump out of an aeroplane!
After our skydive and upon leaving Rotorua, we stopped on the way for a spot of Zorbing! For those of you that are confused, this is nothing short of a big, round, enclosed bouncy ball in which you enter inside and roll down a big hill in a variety of ways. We opted for two runs - the first being where you're harnessed inside and roll down (extremely sickening) and the second where you're loose inside the ball with nothing except a few bucket-fulls of water (AKA the HydroZorb!)
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