Rotorua

Day 29

Rotorua, Skyline and Rip Off

View From Skyline Gondola

It was a good start to the day as it was not raining! Soon we headed to the Rotorua Skyline adventure complex.  The main activity being the luge.  This is essentially was a downhill cart that you pulled back on the handlebars to slow down.  Trust me you built up some serious speed, I nearly flipped the thing going round a corner.  This would have lead to some serious road rash,  there was also a nice jump on the advanced (whatever) track.

I was trying to snapchat while going downhill! Not recommended, nearly crashed as it takes both hands to steer and break. It was great fun though.

After 7 runs down we headed on a little nature trail around the top the hill, where we got some good views of the bay.

After a morning of racing, we decided to head out into the countryside and see some of New Zealand's natural wonders.  Mainly the geothermal pools and geysers.  However, you can not just wander around the New Zealand countryside, they charge for everything.  If there is something worth seeing then there will be a charge and it is not cheap.  You are talking between 35 - 50 dollars per person to walk round a 2k park.  Maybe I am just use to England having all of the countryside open to walk round.  If you are thinking of visiting Waimangu or Pohutu then be prepared to pay a lot of money.  I still cant believe areas of natural beauty are cornered off from the general public and tourists.

Anyway we headed to Kuirau Park just over the road where there are multiple sulphur and mud pools as well as spring fed foot baths.  This surprisingly was free and was actually very good.

There was also a great children's (adults) playground that we messed around on, it was great fun!!!

In the early evening we went to the local night market, where there was a ton of nice food on offer. There was a english guy selling home made cornish pasties. I was really tempted to get one they looked great, pies and pastries are not as good abroad they just cant make them the same. He was selling loads of them!

Rotorua Market