Rotorua and Taupo: Take Two

The first time I went to Rotorua, I spent the afternoon in Hobbiton, the evening at the Tamaki Cultural Village, and the following morning at the Wai-o-Tapu Geothermal Reserve. It made for a very exciting 24 hours, but I really didn't get to see the town itself. It wasn't until my return to Rotorua yesterday that I even realized the town is cradled by a lake.

Rotorua is the hub of New Zealand's geothermal activity, so the main park in the town is full of fenced off hot pools, steaming lakes, and boiling mud. The drains in the street have a constant flow of steam coming out of them, which reminds me of the unbearably cold days at home when the water vapours in the sewers condense as fog. The smell of sulphur lingers in the air and every once in a while a breeze blows that pungent rotten egg scent towards you. After we Ogo-ed, Danna and I went for a walk to check out these natural wonders, and then came back to the hostel to soak in the geothermally heated hot tub. Awesome.

During my first day in Taupo, I went skydiving, bee-lined it to town for a much needed dinner, then ended up in Mulligans Irish Pub and stayed there for the rest of the evening. On the way back north, our bus broke down and so we didn't get into Taupo until 7:30, at which time we went for a much needed dinner then ended up in Mulligans for the rest of the evening. This time, I was determined to see more of the town than just the pub. We arrived in Taupo, and Matt, our bus driver, offered us a ride to the thermal pools outside of town. There's a natural hot spot that releases boiling water into the Waikato River, which is freezing cold. Normally, the river is quite high, so if you jump into this unique little spot, you have a nice warm pool to splash around in. Apparently, the river was about a metre lower than normal, which meant we were reduced to sitting down in about 10 centimetres of water, trying to avoid the waves of frigid water that came in from the river. According to Matt, the springs were not showing their best, but I still really enjoyed it. In the evening, Danna wanted to go to Mulligans for the backpacker's special (beer and a burger for 12 dollars). My resolve to see more of Taupo was apparently not that strong, so I joined the group from the Magic Bus and headed to Mulligans where I stayed for the rest of the night. I really don't understand what it is about this pub. It just sucks me in.