After saying goodbye to Myriam and Bryan for the last time, Dana and I got a quick lift from the guesthouse to the nearest crossroad. From there, we litteraly waited 2 minutes before a nice man picked us up and our countless bags. He was driving towards a city about an hour further, so we got very lucky very fast. He stopped on the way to show us a pretty view of Lake Taupo and told us a bit about the area. The vegetation was particular and you could tell that there was some sort of a micro-climate over there. Cold weather but jungle like forrests and trees.
We had to wait a bit longer for the next ride, about 20 minutes, but it's still not much when you think about it. The young man was very kind and told us a little bit about his family and past trips he had made. He had been to Scotland for work in his twentys and had travelled all over Europe. He was used to pick up hitch hikers like us, but more in the summer time, not the winter. He left us off in Taupo, a touristy town but the spot was not hte best for other cars to stop and pick us up after. We were forced to walk up a hill with all our luggage and tried desperately to get yet another ride. Finally, after we had started to think it was the worst and most dangerous curve to lift our thumbs, somebody was kind enough to stop and bring us 10 minutes from there, at a nice crossroad. There, another very generous and helpful man, Bill, picked us up and drove the last stretch all the way to Rotorua. He stopped to show us some places where we could see the volcanic activity of the area. The smell of sulfure was everywhere and we got to see some steamy mud puddles, with bubbles bursting constantly. It was a strange sight as it makes you wonder when will lava start coming out for good and swallow the surroundings.
We arrived at the Bed and Breakfast of John and Virginia in the afternoon and got a nice room to stay in for the 5 days we stayed there. They were pretty nice but asked us to work 5 hours a day, which was not the usual way to operate with the HelpX program. We didn't have much to argue but were a bit disappointed we couldn't use more time every day to visit the surroundings. We started by scraping paint off the walls of a a bedroom, which needed some fresh coating after years of service. It took Dana and I the first three days to work on 2 walls and all the tiny windows. The house was one of the oldest in Rotorua and it was actually part of the heritage of the town. Old style windows, very high ceilings, it looked really good I must say.
We then cleaned some fans and a bathroom, and I helped John go get a matress from a neirby warehouse. In our free time, we managed to go walk along the river, and take a good look (and smells!) at the numerous bubbly mud pools. Man the smell of sulfure was strong! Some rich people used to go take a bath in those "pools" back in the days and it must've been dangerous with the very high temperatures and boiling water.
We also took a gondola to take an overview of the city and its surroundings, and decided to treat ouslves by paying 35$ for 5 runs of downhill luge. I have to admit, the speed we reached at times was awesome and the 2 different courses were nice. I only had Dana to race against, but we made it fun for both of us. I managed to frighten a lady by passing her Dale Earnhardt style, but I had to entertain myself a bit too!!
Finally, we wanted to do another activity pretty famous in Rotorua, called the Zorg, but the disappointment was total; a 15 second roll inside a giant air cushioned ball, for 35$!! We thought that for that price, we could have a few runs and a longer track, but the thing is a real joke and we mutually agreed on the futility of doing it. We walked through the town a few times and realized our time in New Zealand was coming to an end...
We bought one last bus ticket for Auckland and said goodbye to our hosts. 4 hours later, we were taking our lasts pictures of the Sky tower and the rest of Auckland, a bit sad to leave the country we had been in for the last 3 months and a half, but happy to go back home see our family and friends.
Thank you to all the great people we met during our lovely time spent all over New Zealand, and to all of you who took the time to read my blog at least once in a while ;)
It has been a great adventure me and Dana will never forget.
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