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| pohutu geyser in the background |
It was a
very cloudy morning as we woke up and chilly too and this combination usually
makes a person too lazy to get up from the bed and that’s what exactly happened
to us. After half an hour or so of snoozing we finally managed to pull our
bones together and started freshening up. The breakfast was ready in the
restaurant down and we would have only 10 minutes to gulp the wonderful spread
down as the shuttle would arrive at 0750 according to the itinerary. A grand
continental breakfast and a few Indian tourists in the restaurant was quite
warm reception. There was a family of sardars and a family from Bangalore along
with us and we would all travel in the same shuttle for the sightseeing.
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| kiwi replica @ rainbow springs |
The shuttle was on time as usual and we got
into it .it was much smaller than the coaches we had travelled till now but
nonetheless was as luxurious and comfortable as the other mercs. The first
destination was just a 10 minute drive to the TE PUIA GEOTHERMAL RESERVE. The
drive was beautiful as we crossed a few golf clubs and geysers and mud pools on
the way. It started raining heavily as we got off the coach and the wind made
it worse and we were shivering like nuts!! We ran into the memoirs shop and
bought some utility disposable plastic raincoats . the te puia reserve is a protected area which
has a lot of maori historical objects, photographs and cultural things alongwith
boiling mudpools and cascading Pohutu geyser, one of the biggest natural
geysers in New Zealand. The guide explained us a lot about the maori culture,
how they came there, difficulties they faced , culture they follow and also
showed us some rare pictures of their ancestors who were famous for their
existence. Then we took a walk around the reserve and saw the natural boiling
mudpool. A half an hour session of sitting in that pool supposedly detoxifies
the skin and protects it for many years.
The rain was getting harder and the wind faster but the enthusiasm to
see the geyser kept us going as we reached Pohutu. It’s a natural geyser which
shoots up around 25 feet in the air and the sight is just breathtaking to say
the least. Maori arts and crafts institute
a part of the reserve itself
showcased some amazing sculptural
architectures and wooden carvings and there were people live at work.
Some sight that was the speed and precision the men had would make even a plastic surgeon jealous. We were given 10
minutes to shop some of the goodies they had.
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| @agrodome |
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| maori arts and crafts institute |
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| lunch @ skyline restaurant |
Our next
destination was the agrodome which was a 20 minute drive to the outer part of
the town. Here we had an entertaining show featuring sheep dog demonstrations,
cow milking and an introduction to the stars of the sheep industry. Different
breeds of sheep and their wool etc were on display and here again we could shop
for any memorabilia to take back home. Next stop was 10 minute drive to the
Rainbow springs which is a protected are for conservation of wildlife and
fishes and birds. A huge nature park with all resident birds including the soon
to be extinct kiwi birds and some rare
insects and animals was definitely worth seeing. After clicking photos with
some of the wildlife we decided to see off the coach and hung around to go to
skyline restaurant which was based on a hill and a gondola aka cable car would
take us up the hill giving us a eye popping view of the city !! and the light
drizzle just made the setting out of the world. Once atop the mountain we were
amazed to see the things to do there. We first watched a 4d movie in a theatre
..the movie was the count Dracula. And then we went for LUGE which is a must do
for anyone who will visit rotorua. Its basically a lastic platform to sit on
with wheels under it and a handle to maneouvre. There is no engine whatsoever.
And the journey is downhill. Gravity is your accelerator, if u pull the handle
up the luge moves and if u push it down it stops because of ur weight. We had
an amazing time doing it and once downhill we are brought up the mountain via a
open cable car. Absolutely adrenaline racing activity it was. Once up ,we went
to the skyline restaurant and bought tickets for the awesome buffet that was
spread there. There were 80 different things to eat in that and had everything
from egg to fish to mussels to chicken to lamb to ham to beef and of course
some veg as well. One and half hours and 10 plates down I felt a little heavier
as I went to get the desserts . 20 odd desserts one better than the other meant
another 5 kg increase in weight. Who cares!! I ate till I could only breathe ,
any mention of food from there on would mean puke out of my mouth. We dragged
ourselves to the gondola to go down the mountain now. And once down we asked
for a cab which arrived in no time and we got back to the hotel to take some
much needed rest. After a good 3 hours sleep we got up in the evening and took
the hotel shuttle to the city center and then walked around to explore the city
and look around a few shops and restaurants and some pubs. We were accompanied
by the bangalorean family as well and we chatted the whole time till we found
the restaurant we were planning to go to. It was called the Indian star and bangalorean family wanted to try thai so
they went elsewhere. We had a wonderful kabab platter with some steamed rice and butter chicken
with some coke. We then returned to the city center and waited for the hotel
coach to arrive. The coach did arrive
finally after a 10 minute wait and we got back to the hotel and slept to glory
…..
