Rotorua

I had been to, or through, Rotorua a couple of times before but had not taken the time to do most of the “touristey” attractions. It was one of the preferred major stops on the list for my sister so I figured it was a good opportunity to finally explore the city a bit. Rotorua is the geo-thermal capital of New Zealand. My handy-dandy Lonely Planet guidebook of NZ says it has a “unique egg-ey smell,” which can be translated to “it stinks of sulphur.” But in spite ot the smell, I did appreciate that the place where we spent two nights had a nice natural hot pool, as well as the random hot pools you could stumble on around the city which were great for relaxing while soaking your feet.

We spend the first morning there exploring the city park and the redwood forest. The park offered a variety of mud and steam pools you could view. The forest was a cool, clean-smelling option for later morning that proved to be a nice contrast for getting out of the sun. The forest had excellent trails so we meandered down a few and admired the trees until we were ready to settle under a nice big one by the visitor center for a picnic lunch. The afternoon we spent as any good vacationer does, enjoying the hot pool, cooling off in the regular pool, and a kiwi BBQ for supper.

Steam pool at the park

A nice hot pool in the park where we relaxed for quite awhile

Mmmm, boiling mud

Tree men? Entrance to the Redwood forest

When we were in the planning stages of the trip, we had made an impressive list of activities and sights we wanted to do and see while in Rotorua. But the remainder of our time there was largely devoted to catching up from too long in different countries, relaxing by a lake or in the spa pool, and enjoying cups of coffee. As we prepped to leave, due to the pending storm from Hurricane Pam, we changed our original plans of heading to the Coromandel Peninsula and visited Taupo en route to returning to Taranaki for further exploration of my current stomping grounds in order to avoid the severe weather. 

Blue lake

Green lake

Huka Falls (Lake Taupo)

Waitomo Caves

After our lovely morning out in the sun for the hobbit tour, we spent the afternoon in caves. The Waitomo district is full of caves, and some of them have been turned into attractions which offer tours, mainly for the purpose of viewing glow worms. Those who want a bit more of an extreme experience can go black-water rafting, or absailing. Last year when my brother visited we did the black-water rafting, which was absolutely a new, but fun, experience for me. I have not yet worked up the enthusiasm for absailing. Maybe one day J

The tour we selected was for the Spellbound caves. The tours are small, limited to 12 people, and include an experience in two vastly different caves, with a nice tea break in between to warm you up.

The first cave we went into was to see glow worms. We all had hard-hats with lights on them, which provided the only illumination (other than that from the glow worms), once you had gone deep in enough that you could no longer see the entrance. The bed of the cave was largely covered in water, so we meandered down a built-in walkway until the water was deep enough to support a raft. Once we reached that point we boarded the raft and our guide took us up and down the canal inside the cave so we could view the worms. I have decided that I am not crazy about being inside of caves, but I do enjoy seeing the worms. They tend to be green-ish, so once the caves are dark (as our guide had everyone turn off their head-lamps), it is like being outside on a very dark night with lots of green stars J

So what is a glow worm? They are essentially just cool maggots. Glow worms are the larvae of a certain species of fly called a fungus gnat. They are able to use one of their organs to create a glowing light, which attracts food. The food gets stuck in “fishing lines,” sticky silk threads hanging from the ceiling of the cave where the glow worm is hibernating throughout the larvae stage. Once food is trapped, the larvae pulls the thread up with its mouth and enjoys its dinner. Once the larvae stage ends, it forms a hard shell and becomes an adult fly. Once an adult, it can no longer feed as it has no mouth so they live only a few days.

Unfortunately the darkness of the cave is not good for photography, so I have no photos to share. I simply recommend you come visit me and we can go to the caves so you can see for yourself!

The second cave we went in was probably the more traditional cave that most people picture. It was full of stalagmites and stalactites, and had water dripping from the ceiling, and was just a bit damp and cold in general. The formations were impressive though, and it was fascinating to see the different varieties of formations and science-y things. My sister, who enjoys caves a lot more than I do, said she has not seen anything nearly that good in Arkansas at the places she has visited. I enjoyed her knowledge of caves because it gave much more meaning and understanding to what I was seeing.

Hairy Feet Hobbit Tour

After allowing a couple of days for my sister and brother-in-law to adjust to New Zealand time and weather, and see a bit of Taranaki, we headed out for some adventuring around the North Island. Our first stop was one of the Hobbit tours on this island. The tour location was just outside the town of Piopio, at the Denize Bluffs.  The bluffs are part of a large family-owned sheep farm. Prior to the filming of the Hobbit movies, the official Hobbit site scout stumbled on their farm and asked the family whether they could use the bluffs in some of the scenes; the family agreed. What this meant for Peter Jackson was that he had a natural landscape to enhance his films. What this meant for the family was they had constant coming and going on their farm for months; they had to build parking lots, put up tents and construct extra fences to keep sheep away from filming areas; and they had to find ways to avoid nosey questions from a small community used to know everything happening with everyone.

We were the only members of the tour scheduled for the time we had booked, so we had the pleasure of a three hour personal tour from the lady of the farm. She explained that after the movies were released, her and her husband chose to allow tours on the farm once they realized how interested people were in viewing the site and learning about what took place there. I could not possibly relate even half of the information she shared with us, but will try to cover the highlights (mostly with pictures).

Due to special effects and the amount of scenery constructed in the Weta Workshop, a good portion of the movies was filmed in-house. But for the bits which were filmed in another location, the bluffs received the most amount of time. The troll and campfire scenes from the first movie in the Hobbit trilogy was filmed on the farm, as well as the moment when Bilbo found his sword, "Sting," and the start of the chase through the forest when the Wargs appeared. With the exception of a few rocks, the abandoned farmhouse, and a couple of shrubs, the scenery found on the farm was left un-changed in the filming for the movie.

Before we set off on tour, we got to play at sword fights and wielding Wizard staffs:

The bluffs, the backdrop for the abandoned farmhouse and troll scene (the actual Trolls were constructed in Wellington and filmed there in Weta Workshop):

The location of the farmhouse, which was made out of polystyrene

Erosion in the rocks from years of water run-off

The rock where Thorin went to sulk (I mean think) after a heated discussion

A neighbouring rock, which was not as comfortable as it
looked, but definitely made an excellent photo opportunity

 The cave where Bilbo found "Sting" (the camera-men were reportedly laying on their bellies wedged under the lowest part of this giant rock, and used computer enhancements to make it seem as large as it appeared on-screen):

We got to re-enact the moment the Wargs' presence was realized:

The forest used to film the start of the chase by the Wargs:

And just for grins:

Our mad dash out of the forest

A last look at the scenery before the tour ended and we enjoyed
a picnic lunch

Happy Easter

New Zealand is not an overly religious country, but does recognize important dates such as
Christmas and Easter. The Friday before and Monday after Easter are public holidays, which means a four day weekend off from work. The commercial aspect of Easter eggs and chocolate sales in
general are present, but in a lesser presence than what you find in America. Possibly one of the
biggest atmospheric differences I have perceived is seasonal. Growing up as a Christian American,
part of Easter is the idea of new life since it is spring time, which means green grass and trees,
flowers and chirping birds, and warm enough weather to start easing out of the winter wardrobe. In
New Zealand, since the seasons are backwards, Easter marks the start of wearing jackets and winter
boots instead of sandals and summer dresses.

In addition to yummy Cadbury’s eggs, bakeries sell hot cross buns at Easter-time. Fun fact about me,
the first actual song I learned to play on the piano was “Hot Cross Buns.” At that time so many years
ago, I hadn’t the faintest idea what a hot cross bun might be, but now that I have enjoyed a healthy
amount over the last week, I can tell you they are delicious. Hot cross buns are a sweet bun with
spices and raisins. The less traditional options include chocolate or banana flavors. The top of the
bun is marked with a cross, traditionally made from pastry. Historically in the UK and possibly some
other European countries (must be honest and say I did not do too much research on it!), plain
rolls/buns were order of the day from Ash Wednesday until Good Friday. Midday Good Friday when
Lent was coming to a close was time for something tastier, in the form of hot cross buns. There seem
to be several superstitions or folk tales around the buns. They seem to be considered a bit of a good
luck token such that if given to someone who is ill that person will recover or if taken on a ship
voyage, they will guard against shipwreck. Among a few others listed, my favorite was that if hung in the kitchen, they would keep fires away and ensure all other breads turned out well.

Chocolate hot cross buns

Since I am not a church musician here, I had the joy of choosing when and where I wanted to attend
an Easter service. I settled on a sunrise service because it was at the beach. It was a beautiful service,
both because of the setting and the way it was done. It was a simple, laid-back service that focused
on rejoicing. Two people were baptized, and I must say while it must be an incredible feeling to get
baptized in the sea, I also know the water was cold! A beachside service was a first for me, and one
of my favorite parts was that the Anglican priest leading the service was wearing his vestments over
a wetsuit  :)

At the start of the service it was not quite getting light, and there was a gorgeous full moon right
over the port and Mt. Paritutu. By the end of the service, we were witnessing a beautiful sunrise.
The only clouds in the sky were along the horizon, but they turned pink, orange, and yellow and the
sun came up bright and beautiful. It was a lovely way to celebrate the day. When I got home I
warmed up with a cup of tea (it was about 60 degrees, but my toes got a bit cold after an hour of
standing on wet sand), and then made French toast, yum!


I was invited to a lovely Easter dinner with friends, which was an excellent way to end the day. Hope
your Easter was as enjoyable as mine!