This weekend was the first of many grand adventures of my New Zealand side getaways. I took a three day weekend trip to Rotorua, Taupo, and Waitomo. And boy did I get to see the many wonders that these places had to share. Through Mana Tours, 16 of us took on the role of a backpacker as we adventured through these lands on a large bus, while sleeping in our international hostel accommodation for two nights.
Waiotaupo Thermal Park
Friday, Day 1: Left Auckland around 2:30 p.m. and arrived in Rotorua at YHA International Hostel around 6:15 p.m. to get settled and then head out for some dinner at “Pizza Hell”, a delicious pizza restaurant near our accommodation.
Lucky for me, I made a great group of friends with 3 German Au Pairs who signed up for the trip by way of Aupairlink just as I had. Sometimes I find it scary signing up for long trips alone, but then i remind myself…well I came to a brand new country all alone and i’ve been doing great so far, so there’s that! It worked in my favor, and the four of us shared a two-bunk hostel room and then shared dinner together that night.
Later on we visited the Polynesian Hot Pools in Rotorua and had a few hours to relax as we dipped into the 42C hot pools that overlooked the lake.
Polynesian Spa Hot Pools taken from trenzblog.com
Saturday, Day 2: We began our day with breakfast at the accommodation in our private kitchen up the stairs from our rooms. After fueling up, we ventured on to:
– Waiotapu Thermal Park
– Rotorua Lake
– Gondola and Luge
– Redwoods
– Green Lake and Blue Lake
– Mauri Village for Cultural Show and Dinner
We ended our long day back at the hostel, stuffed full of food and ready for a hot shower and a bed. However, Fee (one of the German au pairs) and I decided to get a taste of the night life in Rotorua and walked over to “Lava Bar” for a couple of drinks. We didn’t stay very long, seeing as how as soon as we got there, we could barely keep our eyes open another second and the loud EDM music and energized fellow backpackers were on a much different level than we were, and we just couldn’t level up for the night.
Sunday, Day 3: Had our final breakfast at the accommodation and checked out at the early time of 8:00 a.m. First stop was:
– Taupo Bungee Jump
And the rest of the day continued with:
– Large Prawn Farm
– Huka Falls
– Taupo’s Huka Honey Hive
– Waitomo Caves
And the lovely drive back to Auckland to arrive around 7:00 p.m.
It was an amazing weekend that I can only begin to write down with the utmost detail, but could never fully explain all the adventure that occurred. However, for further details refer to my other posts on my most favorite individual experiences of the weekend 🙂
Joyful Thinking 