Rotorua and Whakarewarewa
The house we're in is super spacious, has more beds than we need, has two floors, a shower and a huge tub, and feels like it's made out of cardboard. Every step creaks and groans, every wall seems flimsy and paper thin. I think we lucked out, anyway, since quality isn't the top of our list, but space, comfort, and separating wiggly children definitely is.
As per tradition, I find a highly rated cafe in the towns we visit and make my way there in the morning to get coffee for Eli. Today I chose a Parisian cafe, but, knowing we're staying in a tourist trap in New Zealand, about as far from France as it's possible to get, I wasn't expecting much. I was sorely mistaken. The cafe we visited was authentic, we got crepes made by a woman obviously from France, and I even spoke to her and ordered in French. Ms. Gamboni would be so proud. The Pain at Chocolat was stellar, the crepes delectable, if you find yourself in Rotorua, don't hesitate.
We had to stay out of the city center in order to afford our hotel, so we were actually closer to the geysers and hot pools than we would have been otherwise. This meant that when we walked out our door to explore the steaming valley, we quickly found ourselves in one of the Maori villages. This one, Whakarewarewa was a "living" village, with people actually living their lives there, supposedly similarly to how they did when the village was founded.
Practicing our scary faces before the Maori performance
Some facets of the village do seem authentic. The cemetery has to be above ground because otherwise they'd be digging into the geyser pool and cooking the dead. Similarly, they made us a lunch that was steamed by the geyser. It's a little surreal to think that they have an essentially infinite source of heat. The major difference in the village is the number of souvenir shops. It's hard to imagine how much of a difference tourism must have had on their lifestyle. If all of your money comes from performance of your lifestyle, does that cheapen the effect? I'm not sure.
The entire village is built on a crazy sulfur hot spring. Hot water seeps out of the ground, leaving plumes of steam coming out of mud, sand, even rocks. The ground is warm to the touch almost everywhere in the village.
We went to Cobb & Co for dinner, which, as far as I can tell, is just a Red Robin with small changes and more focus on kids. The kids loved it, colored, got sugary drinks and toys, and in general caused mayhem. I ate a burger. Eli had a Bloody Mary.
We managed to get our kids to take naps during the day so We felt confident that we'd be able to handle the first nighttime activity of the trip. People had recommended to us that we check out the redwood tree bridges just outside of Rotorua. I was curious how redwoods even got to New Zealand in the first place, and the nighttime brochure seemed super cool. We got on our rain jackets, just in case, and drove out to the site.
The first hiccup was that only people able to walk the whole circuit could be allowed to go on the bridges. Our youngest is definitely a toddler, but we weren't sure he could make the mile plus trip with no trouble. We decided to chance it and took him anyway. He was the champion of the night. He eagerly did the whole walk and was sad when we had to stop. The trees were gorgeous, they had lanterns set up high in the canopy and the bridges seemed super stable and high-quality.
We finished the whole thing and they even explained that in the 1900s when people first starting logging seriously, they worried that slow growing trees native to New Zealand wouldn't survive or produce enough timber to satisfy the industry Instead, they imported over 50 different fast growing species, one of which was redwood. They apparently grow better in New Zealand than they do in California, thanks to the incessant fog and rain the coated provides.
We headed back to our creaky, squeaky home (seriously, even the toilet squeaks like crazy). We're looking forward to some well-deserved sleep, ready for our trip to Taupo tomorrow morning. Its a very short drive, so I hope we'll be refreshed and maybe even able to do something in the afternoon after we arrive.