Gettin' Down Out of Town

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Mark had to work another 5-shift week this past week, so we apologize if the blog has gotten short shrift lately. Several of the nurses at work recommended The Luge near Rotorua as a good kid-friendly activity, so with a day off we headed south to see the sights there. Rotorua is about an hour inland from Tauranga, but it's still considered part of the Bay of Plenty. It's most famous for it's geothermal activity and numerous hot springs (every motel seems to have one) which are said to have healing properties, although some find the sulfur smell in town disagreeable. The whole area is one big ancient volcanic caldera, which has filled with water creating Lake Rotorua, with Mokoia Island in the middle that used to be the cone.

Boarding the gondola at Skyline Skyrides

At the western edge of the lake is the town of Ngongotaha, where there are a bunch of touristy attractions - including the first-of-it's-kind Luge (several more have been built worldwide since). There's a gondola that you take up to the top of the mountain, which has great views of it's own, but nothing beats sneaking a peak at the beautiful scenery as you're trying not to crash in the sharp curves on the luge track. Saying Ro was in his "happy place" on the luge is an understatement - he was absolutely giddy...and just a little bit petrified. Unfortunately, you have to be six years old to ride alone, so we were restricted to tandem rides. Probably just as well, as it takes a fair bit of arm strength and coordination to control the thing just right. Of course, you can just ride the brakes all the way down, but that's no fun, is it? Mark and Ro got braver with each successive run, passing people at will by the end; Ro had to be taught not to taunt people as we passed them...lol. You have to start on the "Scenic" (i.e. beginner) track if you've never done it before to learn the ropes, but after our first run, Ro was all about the Intermediate track which is steeper, with banked turns for higher speed, and a few stomach-churning drops. Tandem riders aren't allowed on the Advanced track. Ro also enjoyed riding the ski lift back to the top, even though he didn't quite get the concept of hopping on and off the thing at the right time. Sherry, meanwhile, was content to savor some precious quiet time alone, sunning herself on the balcony overlooking the track, sipping on a "flat white" coffee, and doing a little shopping in the gift shop. We've finally gotten around to buying postcards and stamps for our wedding thank-you notes...now we just have to find the time to write them.

Sherry with Ro enjoying his first gondola ride

Ro ready to fly down the mountain

Ro on the ski lift between luge runs

Mark & Ro finishing a run. Sherry bought this one

Sherry with her boys. Lake Rotorua in the background

None of the pics Mark tried to take on the luge really came out well due to the vibration and jostling (and need to constantly pull back on the handlebars to make the thing go), so for an idea of what it's like in action, see link: http://www.skylineskyrides.co.nz/rotorua/

After taking the gondola back down to lake level, we drove into Rotorua to see the famous hot bubbling mud pools and steaming sulfur ponds. Californians, imagine the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles times ten. No fake prehistoric creatures here, though. There had to be at least 20 or so "hot spots" that were fenced off around the park, some big enough to cover a baseball infield, and others not much bigger than a manhole. About half of them were actively bubbling and steaming (and stinking, as Ro kept pointing out), and apparently the active ones change every day with new ones cropping up all the time (a few were only fenced off with plastic netting and orange safety cones).

Sherry at a boiling lake in Kuirau Park, Rotorua

Ro & Sherry ambling through Kuirau Park

Ro & Mark at a "hot spot" in Kuirau Park

Across the road from the hot spots were a kiddy splash pool and some free public hot pools that you could actually dip your feet in without burning them off. Imagine the hottest hot tub you've ever been in, then add five degrees. Needless to say, they were a little too toasty for Ro's liking. The Maori families sitting around the edge of the hot pool cracked up at Ro's reaction upon sticking his feet in the water.

Ro realizing this isn't a regular swimming pool

After an impromptu "shortcut" through some very rural, picturesque forestland, complete with winding gravel roads and one-lane bridges, we finally got home around dinner time. Too tired to cook, we finally tried the Chinese "takeaway" place down the street. Alas, there's no such thing as Sesame Chicken around here, much to Sherry's dismay, but she and Ro contented themselves with some fairly decent pork fried rice. Mark enjoyed what was roughly the equivalent of House Lo Mein, only the noodles were somewhat different. Television options are pretty limited here (Mark is in college hoops withdrawal), so we found ourselves watching the New Zealand vs India cricket match after dinner - our "Black Caps" won!