Written by: Nadine

We have a busy schedule planned for today.  After some early morning shopping and breakfast in Auckland, we picked up our rental car for the drive to Rotorua.  The drive would take about 3.5 hours, and would be our first experience with a right-hand drive vehicle.

Below are a few photos of the drive.

The landscapes we drove through include rolling hills, lots of trees, lots of cows and a few sheep.  We are hoping to see more sheep in the South Island.  We took many of the photos through the car windows, so it does not do justice to how beautiful this place is.

We stopped here for a quick break.  The stream was cold.  I dipped my feet in, and while it was cold and slimy, it was still fun.  Not as cold as Georgian Bay, but cold enough.  Dave did not go in the water.

Mom wanted to know what kind of car we got; it’s a Ford Territory (shown below).  It was conveniently large for our luggage and very comfortable.  We ordered the SUV so we could have a comfortable trip, and also so we could get better views of the many sights we would pass along the way.

We got the hang of driving here pretty quickly.  Dave did most of the driving in Auckland because I was too chicken to try to drive in the city or the motorway.  But once on the open road, I took over and it is not too bad.  We had an argument over me missing the roundabout turn and Dave making sound effects because I got caught off guard with all the roundabouts here.  But I am a pro now. 

A good part of the drive from Auckland to Rotorua had a canopy of trees over the road. 

The speed limit was 100 km/h.  The roads were twisty and at times very narrow.  But there were a lot of viewpoints to stop and check out the surroundings.  This place is really a beautiful country.  And, by the way, the people are also amazingly convivial.

I mean it.  I can drive the other side now! 

Getting into Rotorua.  We are starting to smell the sulphur in the air, but our hotel is in a sulphur fume free zone so it does not smell too much.

We attended one of the cultural experience shows put on by the local Maori.  It was basically a feast (hangi) cooked the old fashion way with … I don’t really remember but it was cool!

Below the ‘chief’ unveiled the food, cooked in a big pit in the ground, which consisted of chicken, lamb, stuffing, potatoes and sweet potatoes.

The food was OK, but I expected more spice.  The lamb was very tender and the sweet potatoes had a really nice smoke flavour… But I was underwhelmed… I expected something different.  They catered too much to the tourist’s taste I think.

A simulation of the Maori warriors coming down the river.  The photos does not really do the entire experience justice because it was dark, the sounds of the forest were spooky and everyone seemed very quiet.  It was well done, but a little too much waiting around, especially in the cold night temperatures.

We got to see the glow-worms and kiwis.  Dave and I actually saw 2 kiwis.  What really surprised Dave was how large kiwis really are.  I did not have any expectations so …. I thought they were weird and very interesting.

Unfortunately, because our tour through the nature park was at night, which was a fabulous way to see the park, we could not get any good photos.