Day 3 - Rotorua

The Grand Hotel reception guy kindly asked us if we wanna ask anything about Rotorua, just ask him. We actually wanted to go to Hobbiton, but the guy said its gonna take us 1/2 day tour to go there & return lagipun its gonna cost us $85/pp , and we couldn't complete the whole list of the activities we wanted to do. Lagipun he said, there's nothing to see at Hobbiton, just the Hobbit's houses only....better take the LOTR south island punya tour.
So, today...Te Puia, Skyline Skyrides & Zorbing. The guy was so helpful, he even tells us which bus to take us to all the places we want to go. coz kami tidak sewa kereta. That is the CityRide Bus (Green Bus) only cost us $2.00/pp per ride. but sya baru found out tadi dorang ada Day Saver pass for $6, kimets kalau tidak save lagi $8...apa bulih buat sudah terlambat..

our breakfast that morning, Me & Gerry share... maka di sebelah meja kami, there was this 2 large moari ladies lagi banyak dari ni, saturang satu piring... sya sama gerry punya takajut.

at the entrance of Te Puia. cost us $35/pp (Includes Guided Tour and Maori Concert). Tapi dalam website $50 pula.


Gerry "mindiha" mau ikut tu wood carving
The thermal valley

mau juga tunjuk..

macam di national park, kundasang kan!!!
Next was the Maori concert. A leader was chosen to represent our 'tribe' - the tourists. The 'powhiri' or 'traditional welcome' started with the Maori warrior - dressed in traditional Maori clothes - doing a war dance. This dance is supposed to scare off enemies. The warrior then placed a leaf on the ground as an offering of peace to our leader. The our leader picked up the leaf as an acceptance of the welcome.
Maori women doing the introductory

welcome song followed by a dance by the entire tribe

Inside the concert hall

The concert included native songs and dances, such as the poi dance where the skillful females moved fibre balls suspended by threads in rapid circular motions, action songs also known as Waiata a Ringa, and stick games known as Tititorea and Ti rakau. A beautiful maori love song called Pokarekare Ana...can view here from someone's youtube, then the Haka - the male war dance.
Then after semua sudah habis, dorang suruh the male tourist lagi buat tu war dance. Berabis sya tolak Gerry naik atas stage, tapi malu-malu lagi, nasib one of the maori guy bawa dia.

di atas stage..



doing the Haka dance, orang serius...senyum-senyum pula dia.

erupting geyser behind...

geyser from siring..

self picture...

Valley of hot geysers

mudpools...macamana tu orang tahan bau tinggal sana hotel belakang tu...?
Then kami naik bus balik lagi town centre mau pigi lunch, lagipun Skyline & Zorb punya jalan, the other way lagi. So kami sampai Skyline skyrides around 2.45pm. We got special price $30/pp for gondola + 2 luge, normally $33. Kami ada tanya juga pasal tu sky swing...tapi dua-dua penakut.

inside gondola...

after our 1st luge, balik to the top guna this double seater chairlift...muka Gerry yang gayat..

woo hooo...!!!

can see the Rotorua city from up here...

no people....sebab time ni hujan...tapi kami tidak peduli, basah pantat pun orang tidak kanal kami sana.

sebab ada orang buang helmet dorang di pokok-pokok.

Gerry's 2nd luge at the Intermediate Track...

my jari sudah kebas, cos sajuk...

one pic with the great view of Rotorua from above... Then we hop to another bus & reached the place where people Zorb. Balik-balik tu bus driver cakap yang kami lambat sudah cos its 4.30pm sudah & the place close at 5pm. Tapi sya mau juga zorb, next day kami jalan pi Palmerston North sudah.
We took the Hydro Zorb for 2person $35 each. Kami tanya if ada yang dry punya, tidak mau baju kami basah, dorang bilang tiada & kena hire baju $2 each. So cepat-cepat lah kami tukar baju, mau catch the last bus at 5.15pm...trus tidak sempat ambil gambar...just this one pic.


just one pic from Zorb... :( yang masa dalam tu bola berteriak-teriak,macam dalam washing machine, hanya tinggal memory...
Kami sempat naik the last bus, itupun berabis kami belari-lari pigi sana depan gate masa kami nampak the bus datang.
Time ni sya tidak pakai bra, me & gerry tidak pakai sansut, sebab kana basah time zorbing. nipis bah tu clothes hire, ternampak lah nipple tu nanti, om sajuk lagi...
Tidak apa juga kalau balik tidak pakai bra...3 juga lapis baju saya. ;-) hehe.