The Wellington Layover

25 August 2016

Wellington was not on my destination list. For Angela, it was--but for me, it was simply a necessary stop to get to the South Island.

Arriving in Wellington

It was around 6AM when we arrived in Wellington. The intercity bus from Rotorua dropped us at Wellington station. We knew the city bus was in same place but Wellington station was huge. There’s Bus A, Bus B and Bus C. We asked for directions and found the right bus. So, we were on the right bus, we knew we needed to get off at Courtney Place and now it’s just a matter of knowing if we were already at Courtney Place. One of my difficulties in riding buses is that the bus stop signs are typically too small to read. We usually tell the driver if he could let us know when we’ve reached our destination, they don’t. Fortunately, we saw the street sign reading Courtney Place and left the bus as soon as it made a stop.

We made our way to the hostel to check-in. We knew it was too early to check-in and we were told we can return at 2PM so we just left our bag and went to Burger King, being the only place with seats that was open at this time. My foot was aching terribly and I was limping. Every step I took was a struggle. I took my time eating breakfast since I didn’t want to walk just yet. After a while, we went to Papa Museum and waited for it to open.

Te Papa Museum

Papa Museum was an interactive museum quite suitable for children and adults alike. Perfect for me. The museum seemed to promote unity among the different races. The Maori were one of the first settlers of New Zealand. Then the British occupied the country. Then people from around the world migrated to New Zealand as well. The museum gave us a glimpse of New Zealand’s past and present.

After 3 hours in the museum, we went back to hostel. The hostel was terrible. There was rotten food in the rooms and the sheets were dirty (it had LOTS of hairs!). But I was tired so I placed my towel on the bed and dozed off. We were planned on going to the cable car but we overslept. I didn’t want my foot to evolve from an ache to an actual injury so I figured that resting for the day would be a good investment considering we still had two weeks ahead of us.

Cuba Street

When we woke up at night, we headed toward Cuba Street. We walked along this popular street and ended up eating pizza from a street stall. Later that night, we went to a local place called The Library for some wine although we ended up drinking craft beer. After some waffles, we ended our short day and bid Wellington goodnight.

Kia Ora Rotorua!

24 August 2016

Rotorua is an interesting small town. There were geysers in the middle of the town’s garden park. Obviously, the town had a foul smell from the sulfur of the geysers but after a while, you get used to it.

Maori Haka (war dance)

We arrived in Rotorua the night before. After checking in at our hostel, we left for Eat Streat but ended up having cake and tea at a restaurant called Fat Dog. I had a bad stomach that night so I slept early and popped some pills for the stomach.

In the morning, we walked to the station for the bus to Te Puia. Unlike Europe, buses in New Zealand do not arrive on time. After 5 minutes of waiting from the bus. I was already wondering whether we were on the right stop or if the bus has already left us. Well, the bus was just late and I was just paranoid. The good thing was that the bus stops just right in front of Te Puia.

Te Puia

We bought our tickets at the Matamata i-Site, which was NZD1.10 cheaper although you might even get it at an even cheaper price if you buy online. Our Day Tickets included a free tour in Te Puia. The Maori guide started by saying that the Maori people live modernly just like the rest of us—they dress like everyone else and use modern technology every day. Duh. I guess a lot of tourists have been expecting Maori’s dressing up in feathers and cooking in a Hangi (natural steam vents).

Our first stop was the Pōhutu geyser (Te Waiariki o Pōhutu), which typically erupts every hour. When we went there, it just finished erupting. So, we proceeded to the mud pools (Ngāwhā uku) which looked like, well, boiling mud.

Mud pools (Ngāwhā uku)

We also went to aquarium housing one kiwi. The guide warned us that the dark environment was meant to keep the kiwi comfortable, being nocturnal creatures.  The first time we went to see the kiwi, it was running around and all I could see was blur. The second time around, I got a better look at it but the aquarium was very dark and I still couldn’t see much through the glass. Rest assured, I’m glad Te Puia gave it a good environment (although if I were a kiwi, I’d like to be accompanied by another kiwi).

The tour lasted about 30 minutes and ended just in time when the Maori cultural show started. We didn’t book for the show but they performed a short haka (war dance) for everyone just before they went inside the Marae (a gathering place) for the show.

Short performance in front of the Marae

After that, we went around to see the other geysers and took photos of the Pōhutu geyser (which was the biggest) from different angles. We also went to see the natural steem vent cooker (He hāngi ngāwhā), the weaving and carving shops, and the display of the traditional Maori village.

The weather was cold so it was nice to stay close to the geyser, where its mist was warm. Just before were about to leave the geyser, it started spurting more and more water. We had almost given up seeing the eruption, but luckily, we caught it in all its glory just before we left. It was already 3.30 pm when we left Te Puia and took the bus back to Te Puia i-Site.

Government Gardens

We have already checked out the hotel and we were only allowed to leave our bags at the hostel until 5PM. So, we grabbed our bags before 17:00 and headed towards the government garden. We were planning on walking around the park and see more geysers but it started to rain. We tried waiting but it didn’t stop. We ended up at Fat Dog again and stayed there for 2 hours, having fish and chips and tea.

Popular in New Zealand is the fish and chips

We spent the next two hours waiting at the bus stop, in front of the Rotorua i-Site. It was cold and was like déjà vu of our night at Nice. Worse, the bus was about 30 minutes late and my feet started to pain making it difficult to walk. When the bus finally arrived, most people were taking 2 seats and sleeping. The bus started moving before we could find a seat. It was pitch dark and I stumbled my way to an empty seat. I didn’t know where Angel was. I was on the last seat and it took a couple of minutes before we got connected to the internet and she told me she was on the second row up front. When the bus stopped at Taupo, we moved to the emptied seat in front. We bid Rotorua goodbye and tried to sleep in front with the full view of the road to Wellington.