Two weekends ago, my family and I headed south to check out the town of Rotorua, in central North Island. Rotorua itself is a pretty cool place, it's a geothermal hotspot, featuring lot's of cool geothermal parks and hot spring areas, however it smells like poo everywhere as well. But the smell fades away after a day or so of being there.
The first thing we did when we got there was Zorb. The Zorb itself is pretty much a giant hamster-ball for humans that is filled with water. You jump in and are pushed down a designated course that twists and turns down the side of a hill. The whole thing is crazy! You're being flipped upside down and tossed in every direction, and when you come out of the Zorb, soaked in water and dizzy, it feels like you've been born again, sorta.
The long weekend in Rotorua continued with checking out the Kiwi bird preserve. my assumptions of kiwi's were that they would probably be really small little balls of feathers. However, they're actually really big. About a foot and a half tall with absolutely huge feet, and a huge beak. They're really cool, beautiful birds and it's just awesome to see them up close without a cage surrounding them. I'm just glad i've gotten to see the symbol of NZ in my time here, the Kiwi people themselves are extremely proud of the bird, strange it may seem, it represents a lot to them, and now, i see why, because it's just a really awesome, beautiful bird, and unfortunately there aren't that many left in NZ.
Our last day in Rotorua, my host dad and I tramped to a awesome place out in the Rotorua country called Kerosene Creek. Being a geothermal area, most of the lakes, and some of the rivers, are pretty much like hot tubs, reaching 100 F. Kerosene Creek was one of those few rivers. It had decent sized waterfalls, and was actually a pretty big river, except it was just like a natural hot tub. And with hardly any people besides ourselves, this secluded area was awesome! It is definitely one of the coolest things I've done in NZ, maybe ever.
After Rotorua we stopped over at Raglan to check if there was any surf. Unlike last time, there was, and the day couldn't have been prettier. Blue skies, warm, glassy water, solid shoulder-high surf that was breaking into flawless machine-perfect lefts, with surprisingly few people, made it a picture-perfect surf day. And, after getting my fill on waves, we headed back to West Auckland.
Otherwise, NZ has been awesome, and is now my home. Term 1 has ended for school, and it seems that i'm halfway through my stay here. It's sad, but then again i think i'll miss my home until the day i get back there. But i love it here. My friends, my family, everything is just so fun.
Tomorrow i'm headed to the South Island for 10 days to check out what it has offer. I'm so excited, and i'm not going to forget my camera.
