Day 5: Rotorua - Bruised Egos and Chicken Chips

48 hours. That’s how long it took for me to cause my first bit of damage to the campervan. Immediately prior to the incident, I was feeling pretty proud of myself, what with managing the left hand driving, stickshift, and maneuvering the largeness of the vehicle with relative ease. But, alas, my downfall has always been parking lots and driving in reverse and Monday was no exception. We were preparing to refill the water for the first time, and as I was backing into the stall I turned right into a wood post. The point of impact was the driver’s side door, which yes, should have been the least likely place I would run into something, but hey, when you’re busy worrying about your giant rear end, sometimes you forget to watch what’s right under your nose. The post was undamaged, the door survived with a somewhat minor dent, but it’s my pride that took the brunt of the impact. Perhaps the universe took note of my puffed up ego and decided to issue a swift correction.


Thank goodness for insurance



Our luck did not improve much the rest of the day, part of which was spent fighting the wind on a kayak in the Bay of Islands. We then headed on to Opononi to try boogie boarding down a giant sand dune into the bay, but arrived 40 minutes too late…no thanks to the guidebook or the company’s own website that made no mention of a last call. We finally made it to our campground which was GORGEOUS, and we thought our streak of misfortune was over. Situated in a verdant valley, surrounded on three sides by a river, and delightfully equipped (trampoline, zip line, etc.), we thought the day’s tribulations were all worth it to end up at such a lovely place. Andy, being the lover of lazy rivers that he is, thought he would seize the opportunity to tube down the river a bit, so I tagged along. Long story short, the river was shallow, fast and rocky and we were woefully unprepared for the rapids we encountered. We ended up almost losing the keys to the van, sacrificing my glasses to the river gods, and took home a variety of bumps and bruises. By then, the message was quite clear. The universe was telling us to sit down, enjoy a glass of wine, and tuck in for the day. Did we listen? No! Instead we did a nighttime guided bush walk in attempts to spot a wild kiwi bird. No such luck, but really at that point our hopes were pretty low. I’m just glad we both made it out without further injury.



Under a trickling waterfall at Cathedral Cove



We spent yesterday driving for over 12 hours over twisty coastal roads that were at times just wide enough to accommodate our width. The trip also included an extended stretch of gravel road, apparently not an uncommon thing here in New Zealand. And did I mention that it rained non-stop? The extended driving time was due in no small part to my insistence that we see Cathedral Cove. It did not disappoint, and I can see why it’s used in so many travel brochures. We made it to Rotorua just in time to spend a few minutes soaking in a thermal pool, which is filled with fresh water fed by a geothermal spring. We spent the night in the campground just outside the pool complex, so we were able to enjoy the pools properly early this morning before they opened to the public, so we had the complex all to ourselves.

Today, refreshed from our soak and a bit more wise from our troubles on Monday, we took in a show at the Agrodome, featuring sheep shearing and dog herding demonstrations. Andy even got called up on stage to bottle feed a 3 day old lamb. Too, too cute. We toured the working farm and got to hand feed sheep, alpaca, deer, and cows. We tried some kiwi fruit wine, fulfilled our recommended daily allotment of cuteness with all the tiny lambs, and then headed over to do the number one thing everyone has asked us about—the Zorb. Andy opted out, since he’s still recovering from his tumble down the river a couple days ago. I opted for the wet ride down the zig zag track. It really is fun, more fun than it looks.  We’re now just biding time until we get picked up for a traditional hangi dinner and show, similar to a Hawaiian luau, but for the Maori.

Delicious, I mean precious lambs and a baby goat trying to eat my shirt

We may have gotten off to a rocky start the first few days as we were finding our groove, but this trip is shaping up to be pretty special. Our first impressions of New Zealand— everything is green as far as the eye can see. New Zealanders are super friendly, and seem like genuinely happy people. Everything is expensive here. A single bag of microwave popcorn at the large chain grocery store was over $2. There seems to be very minimal safety precautions in this country and we are enjoying the lack of “please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle” announcements. Kiwis love their chicken flavored chips, and so do we. We need these back home, for realsies. Until then, we will continue to enjoy this beautiful country!