Our first day in Rotorua started at the local museum. It was housed in this neat old building that use to be a thermal bath house.
They had a small cafe near the entrance where we grabbed a light breakfast.
The museum featured a lot of Maori artifacts and history. There was also a large section on the Maori's contributions during both of the World Wars. Being that it was Anzac day in New Zealand the exhibit was especially appropriate. Unfortunately most of the exhibits were off limits to photography so what we are left with is some pretty lame stuff.
Most of the Maori stuff was pretty good but they had this horrible exhibit on the top floor that featured 'artwork' constructed from that stuff that use to be on Slurpee cups where you could see two images that changed based on the viewing angle. We both agreed it was super lame. After some turrable art we headed to the car. On the way we saw directions to the local all night party but decided to pass this time.
We drove out of town a bit to a local redwood forest that was featured in Lord of the Rings.
Peter loved it.
The 5k loop was pretty neat and featured some nice thermal pools of death.
After our hike Peter decided he wanted to try driving on the left side of the road. He thought a spaceman costume would be appropriate for this momentous occasion.
We drove around some lakes that were in the area. Lacking swim suits we just admired them from the shore.
Lunch time crawled around and we went back into town for some nourishment. It was a bit late so a lot of the places were closing but we found a modern Italian place that would serve us. I got the cumin and blue cheese soup. I had never had anything like it but it was quite good.
Having exhausted enough funds for the day we decided to take a stroll in the local park that featured a number of thermal pools. Our favorites tended to be the rather muddy holes. Watching them engulf leaves and sticks appealed to our younger side.
The pictures look kind of lame but there were some pretty cool sights. Pools of all sizes and varying temperatures were present. At the edge of the park we found a pretty awesome playground that we took advantage of. New Zealand has amazing playground equipment all over the place, I want to play on it all. Maybe that's why their kids are not fat.
We walked back through downtown to get back to our hostel. In the time we were at the park a street market had popped up. These Kiwis move fast. It was complete with street food, home made goods, crappy art, fresh produce, and kitschy home things.
We also ran across this. Not sure why a shop is needed for this industry...
After some downtime we headed out to a local pub called the pig and whistle for some dinner and drinks. I ordered the steak sandwich which turned out to be quite ridiculous. Steak fillet with onion relish, tomato jam, lettuce, tomato, cheese, aioli, and a fried egg between two pieces of focaccia bread.
We were lucky enough to score a table right in front of the rugby games going on which provided our entertainment. Somehow the local team managed to snap a long loosing streak while also remaining undefeated. crazy foreign sports.
