At Rotorua!! - Day 2

This was the second day of the trip. On the second day, we had to drive for a long time, about a 6-hour drive. It was quite boring on the way. But if you want to read more, read this...

We woke up at 6:00 am. At 6:30 am we left Palmerston North and drove to Rotorua.

On the way to Rotorua...

Mt Ruapehu

We passed heaps of towns on the way and the most I remembered was Ruapehu.

At State Highway 5 or the Dessert Road, we saw Mt Ruapehu covered with snow. As we get closer we get more view of Mt Ruapehu. In Google Maps it said that it would reach about 2 hours to reach Taupo. I was excited.

When we reached near Taupo, there was the smell coming out from outside. It was the smell from Rotorua.

At Taupo...

When we arrived at Taupo we first went to the visitor centre. We walked two streets and we reached at the visitor centre. I saw heaps of brochures of places to go. There were contents of the places in the North Island (Auckland, Waikato, Hamilton, Rotorua, Taupo, Wellington, and the South Island). I first got the brochures that we planned to go. We saw things to do at Taupo. There was the Huka Falls River cruise. There wasn't anything else because of the wet rain. That time it was raining. At the counter, they said that Huka Falls was at the end of Taupo. The cruise was booked at half past 12. It takes 15 minutes to reach there. There were 25 minutes left until the cruise departs. We left straight away.

At Huka Falls River Cruise...
Well, the bridge was far away from where we were going to depart. There was the Aratiatia Dam.

This photo of Huka Falls River Cruise is courtesy of TripAdvisor

50 Billion Dollars

At 12:30 pm the cruise departed. On the ceiling, there were currencies from all over the world. There were from New Zealand, Australia, United States, Canada, Fiji, Samoa, Iran, India, England (some countries from Europe), Zimbabwe, Singapore, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, China, Phillippines, Ghana, Cambodia, South Africa, and more. There were heaps of Currencies that I remembered some of them! I saw a 50 billion Zimbabwean dollar. I was in shock! "How would there be a note of 50 billion Zimbabwean Dollars." I thought. This was because its currency was corrupted, by a famous Zimbabwean person. Now they use US dollars. I think that the passengers had donated money to the driver.

After the driver departed the cruise we were far away because of its speed. The driver was telling us what was in that spot. There was a part where the driver said that there is a sensor branch that tells the temperature to the council and they can change it anytime. That time the water near the branch was steamy. When we were near Huka Falls the driver opened the outdoor view. There were some metal bars to help us stay steady. My Dad and I went up on the steps and took the fresh air and saw Huka Falls. The light blue and white colour of the water made it stand out. The view was outstanding! Far away there were people on the bridge and on the viewing area looking at the cruise and us. The driver made the cruise go near the falls. The cruise was going up and down because of the waterfall. After the driver u-turned back and went back to the fall again. He had done it a few times. After watching the falls we turned back at full speed and went back where we came from. The driver said that when we arrive back we would see the Aratiatia Dam open its gate. It took around 5 minutes to reach back. When we reached at the dam we heard a siren ring. We thought that the dam gate is going to open. But every few minutes the siren rings, but the gates don't open. I thought every time the siren rings that the gate is going to open. Then after, there was a siren that rang for more than before. But it didn't open.

One minute later...

The gate opened. There was a force of water coming to the Waikato River. The water level was increasing really fast. We crossed the road and saw the water go past the rocks and go really far away. But after a few minutes later we left the dam and went to the Lava Glass cafe to eat some food. We went to the cafe and ordered nachos and guacamole. The nachos were yum and tasty. After an hour later we went straight to Rotorua.

Middle of Taupo and Rotorua...

We saw a sign called '1.6 km to Wai-O-Tapu'. After 1.6 km we turned to Waiotapu Loop Road. A minute later we saw the visitor centre. We wanted to see the mud pools, so we went further. There were arrows going straight, then the arrow said to turn right, but we didn't turn right we went straight. We wanted to find out what was over there, so we u-turned back. There were cars parked over there and the gate was closed. We asked where is the mud pools, he said to go straight all the way and turn right when there is a sign named 'Mud Pools'. There was a 1-minute drive after turning to the mud pools. When we parked at the parking there was the smell of the mud pools. We went to the viewpoint and saw the mud pools, bubble. The bubbles were going on and on. We went around to see more. On the right side was all bubbly and on the other side was mostly dry. After watching the mud pools we decided to come back and see the other parts, so we continued to drive to Rotorua.

At Rotorua...

After we parked, I smelt the smell of Rotorua, yuck! (not trying to be mean) We arrived at Baden Lodge, in the City Centre. At that time it was 5:45 pm. We got our luggage and went to our rooms. It was a 2 story house. I said, "Wow", I just wanted to sleep. I went to see upstairs to see what's up there. Downstairs was a spa beside the bathroom, but the spa was outdoor. Before going to sleep we ate dinner. After dinner, I went to sleep. Tomorrow let's see what's going to happen.  Hope you like my post. Comment down if you like my post. Have a cool day!! Bye!!