Wow! What a crazy ten days it’s been! I’m going to try to catch you up here without overwhelming you…
After an informative session on the second day of our Bridging Cultures Program (BCP), we hit the road to Rotorua! On the way, we stopped at the set where Hobbiton in the Lord of the Rings series was filmed. Guilty admission: I have only ever read The Hobbit before (thanks Miss Denny!), and I haven’t watched any of the movies. I have something to add to my bucket list now, though! I still felt like it was really cool to see, despite not having much familiarity with it.
Side note- they have some really good cider at the Golden Dragon Pub just down the way!
We continued on our way to Rotorua, which was a really cool place despite smelling strongly of sulfur. It’s well known for its geological features, which is the cause of the sulfur smell. After checking into the hotel and grabbing dinner, we went to the hotel next door to relax in its hot spring pools.
Day 3 of the BCP was by far the busiest, but, in my opinion, also the best day! The day started out with some early morning whitewater rafting on the Kaituna river. It. was. AMAZING!!
Most of the ISA group ended up going, which was really cool, but there were only two of us on my raft. That was okay, though, because we got to meet some really cool people from California and Canada!
One of the best parts, however, was going over the world’s highest commercially rafted waterfall. 20+ feet. It was high.
So high, in fact, that our raft went kinda wonky.
This is our raft after going over the waterfall, being completely submerged underwater, and then re-emerging from the water. At the point this was taken, I’m pretty sure I was no longer in the raft…
Miraculously, though, three others and the guide managed to hold on! The guide said he felt the other three of us roll over him as we fell out… It was AWESOME! Would 10/10 recommend.
After that awesome adventure trip, we headed back to the hotel, and a group of us went out to the Redwoods grove in the Whakarewarewa Forest.
Yes, those are California Redwoods! Several decades ago, they apparently were testing out what timber grew best in New Zealand, and redwoods were one that adapted really well.
After an adventure involving trying to get back to the hotel when the public transit bus didn’t show up, the whole ISA group went to Wai-O-Tapu, a very active geothermal area close to Rotorua. I know very little about geology, but we saw some really cool things!
We also got to spend some time in the hot springs, which felt pretty nice.
Afterwards, it was time for a cheap dinner with a few friends. We decided we would rather get up early and see a beautiful sunrise along the harbor than go out, so we hit the hay pretty early!
I’d say it was worth it!
We then packed our bags on the bus and headed out to our last stop before hopping on a plane to the South Island.
Another amazing cultural experience: getting to learn and perform a haka, a traditional war dance performed by the Maori. There’s lots of different versions with different meanings. Ours had a… ahem… rather mature meaning, so I won’t share it here, but it was an amazing experience!
Sadly, this was the last official activity of the BCP, although we were all pretty excited to finally stop lugging around all of our possessions and settle into our new homes! The drive back to Auckland and the flight to Dunedin were pretty uneventful which was good.
This seems like a good place to stop, so I’ll just leave you with a picture from our landing in Dunedin! I’ll hopefully have the next chapter up very soon. Until then, cheers!
Ray of Sunshine Travel 