31/7/03 - 1/8/03
ROTORUA, BAY OF PLENTY
before you even get to rotorua you can smell it coming.
it's hot springs, geysers, bubbling mud, and other geothermal activity
set it apart with the distinct 'rotten egg' smell of hydrogen sulfide.
it is also a key maori cultural center,
where hangis (traditional meals cooked in an earth oven)
and dance performance shows abound.
Rotorua was the first stop on the long journey of Team S.P.A.M. (Sam,
Paul, And Mick).
i wasn't too keen on doing the backpacker bus thing again
(you either get to see a place for 30 minutes or 3 days - no in
between),
so i posted signs in the hostels looking for people to catch a ride
with or rent a car .
Before long, Sam (from Wisconsin) emailed me back.
He had already met Paul (from Surrey,England) at a backpackers'
hostel,
and they had just rented a car.
I was in.
One of our first bonding activities was heading over to Skyline
Skyrides
where we took a gondola ride up Mt. Ngongotaha,
and spent the afternoon on a concrete track luging back down
again.
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smoking ground in the midst of a city park
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bubbling mud on the shores of Lake Rotorua
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mick, sam, and paul at the Lady Knox Geyser
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pretty colors of the hot thermal pools
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Too Much Fun
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super sam!
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luging down the mount
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Maori Culture
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the tattooed body of a warrior
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the wide eyed glance
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