NZ : Day 5

~~~day 5 was packed. we left taupo & headed to rotorua. we always wanted to leave the hostel by 8am sharp, but would be delayed by 1/2 hour. last minute packing lah, toilet lah, pangsai lah...
~~~first stop was at Waiotapu Thermal Village. we wanted to leave early today because we didnt want to miss the eruption of the Lady Knox Geyser at 10.15am. we reached earlier than we expected. we headed straight to the geyser before we walked around the thermal village.
~~~the man who was standing at the entrance of the geyser informed us that lady knox wont erupt until 10.15. since there were still 20 minutes more, he asked us to proceed to the mud pool & came back later. we obeyed, and didnt pay much attention at the mud pool. eyes were on the watch, making sure that we would be back to lady knox 10 minutes before eruption.


#1 : Lady Knox Geyser
~~~erupt it did at 10.15am. (there is more story behind this lady. if you plan to go, i shall not explain further). after lady knox, we took our time discovering the thermal village, a place that has the world famous champagne pool, geysers, bubbling mud, steaming ground, expansive vistas, huge volcanic craters and sinter terrace formations. oh, and smell of rotten egg throughout the walk! hahahaa. there were 3 routes for us to choose.
walk 1 = 1.5km (30mins)
walk 2 = 2km (40mins)
walk 3 = 3km (75mins)


#2 : artist palate


#3 : the different colours of minerals

#4 : steamy background from the thermal pool..

#5 : professional photographer wanna-bee

~~~of course, we chose walk 3. paid the entrance fee already. might as well covered the entire village, right?? (the kiasu in me). by the time we finished our 3km walk, it was already noon. hunger! hunger striked!! we didnt prepare lunch, hence we stopped at McD. we picked the set meal that we could not find in malaysia.

#6 : cripsy chicken deluxe with bacon. delicious!

~~~next in the itinerary, The Buried Village. timing was perfect on day 5. after we bought the tickets, we were informed that we could joined the guided tour which just started. we quickly walked & found the guide. so, instead of reading from the information boards that could be found along the pathway, we just listened. a very soft spoken tour guide.

~~~the villagers of Te Wairoa was shattered by an outpouring of the Earth's fury. Mt. Tarawera erupted on 10 June, 1886 & the eruption was New Zealand's greatest natural disaster. the eruption destroyed the pink & white Terraces (which was the 8th wonder of the world) and buried Te Wairoa and two smaller villages under hot heavy ash and mud. more than 150 lives were lost.

#7 : actual house. ashes covered half of it.

#8 : always love sunshine

#9 : wairere falls along the scenic pathway in buried village

#9 : us at Waitoharuru Valley

~~~once we completed the tour outside, we went back inside the museum for more photos of the past. and we saw the famous sewing machine that was hanging on top of a tree inside the museum, instead of outside in the village. according to the caretaker, the tree was uprooted & brought inside the museum for safekeeping.

#10 : the sewing machine tree

~~~we left the village when it closed for business at 4.30pm. and we stopped for photo session at The Blue and Green Lakes (Lake Rotokakahi and Lake Tikitapu). look at the photo below. the bluish line nearest to the "forest" was not the reflection of the sky. it was the colour of the lake. amazing!

#11 : The Blue and Green Lakes (Lake Rotokakahi and Lake Tikitapu).

~~~tiring day. we made our way to our hostel in rotorua, central backpackers. this hostel has pretty decoration inside the room. 4 of us in a room, and the other 3 shared a room. the snorers were grouped together. no need to mention who! the bed sheets & pillow cases were so colourful. in our room there was a board painted with flowers, to cover the fire place which was no longer used. most importantly, the room has heater! ah... warm night.

#12 : looked like i was stepping on the board, but i was not.

~~~and we went grocery shopping as usual. we went to PAK'nSAVE.

"We ask you to pack your own groceries, as we know that you don’t want to pay for added extras hidden in the price of the goods. You won’t find yourself shopping in a luxurious (and costly!) supermarket environment, when you would rather it was practical and functional. In fact, everything we do that delivers the PAK’nSAVE experience in our store, we do to save you money."

............ meaning? we have to bring our own bag. and the best part, we FORGOTTEN!

then how? we bought so much that day until all hands were holding something. lesson learnt. bring your own bag!

#13 : kid you not, our food supply..