New Zealand Part 6, Rotorua and Going Home

June 25, Wednesday

We had to get up by 4:30 AM today so we could make it to our tour. The pick up time was 6:15 AM at the SO/ hotel across the street, but we got down there by 6:05 AM. He thanked us for being early. He had a hard time collecting some of the people that were in the wrong place but he gathered everybody and we were on the road. There were nine of us today. It took about 2 1/2 hours to get to Rotorua. We had a bathroom stop in Tirau. They had a funny building with toilets that was shaped like a dog. Next-door there was a store shaped like a sheep and next to that was one shaped like a ram. It was pretty funny.

He told us some fun facts on the drive.  There are 6 million cows and 25 million sheep but only 5 million people. They export 95% of their milk to China and the US in the form of milk powder.

They call these little hills "pimples." They were formed by underground gases. 

If you look closely at this picture, you can see the steam coming up out of the ground.

For the tour, different people did different things today so when we got to Rotorua, he dropped some people off at the Polynesian Spa and other people off at Te Puia. Then he drove us to Wai-O-Tapu. We could smell the sulfur as soon as he dropped the people off at the spa. It was pretty strong! 

These trees were planted by drones in perfect rows.

He was pretty excited that we were going make it on time to see a geyser go off. It was called the Lady Knox geyser and we made it right in time for their presentation. Then a lady went up to the geyser with a bag of environmentally friendly soap and that made it go off very shortly after. 

Our guide had told us to leave as soon as that was over so we all booked it out of there and went to the van and he took us to Wai-O-Tapu. They have trails you can walk around and it takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes depending on how far you go. It was self-guided and we loved it. We stopped at so many places to take pictures. There were craters and pools and bubbling mud and they were all so cool. 

There was a family who had specifically all worn a white shirt to get a family picture by a pool that was this pretty green color. We happened to be right near them when they were getting ready for their picture and they asked us to take it so Emily did that for them. Then they offered to do the same for us. It was a mom and her five adult children. 

We did the walking tour that takes an hour. We could've gone a little bit further but we wanted to have enough time to eat. We really enjoyed our walk and then went to the café get some food. We didn't have a lot of time but we had enough time to eat our lunch.

More caramel slices and meat pies 

More drone-planted trees

I bought a Rotorua Champagne Pool magnet and then our tour guide Aled came in to gather us and take us to Te Puia. For that one, we had a guided tour. They split us up into a smaller group so there was only nine of us. 

First, he took us to the school areas. They had a woodworking shop and weaving school. So, we got to see them at work. He explained some of the carvings and one of them had been there since the 1800s. 

We also went to their gallery. They had a wall of purses that was pretty cool. A handwoven purse would've been about $300. 

After that, we switched over to the tour of their thermal areas. The first place we went, though, was the kiwi habitat. You can't use your phone in there and they keep it dark like it's nighttime because they're nocturnal animals. We saw the father kiwi bird but we couldn't see the new baby. 

Then we did some more walking around and saw some amazing mud pools and geysers. Then the tour guide gave us some time to walk around and then we were going to meet up at the tram to take it back to the main visitor center. 

Emily showed us that there were some stones to sit on and they were hot. That was so weird. We got on the tram and Emily and I had a good laugh because they called the tram the People Mover, which is one of our favorite rides at Magic Kingdom in Disney World. It took us back to the visitor center.

I had mentioned to Emily that we could go back to the kiwi habitat and try to see the baby. She was excited to see one today because she didn't get to see one when she went to the Auckland Zoo. We saw the dad again then we were able to see the baby, as well. Then Emily and I went in the gift shop. I found a cute coaster with a pretty teal stone design. Then I went to pay for that and then I saw that they had some jewelry too. 

Before we got back on the road back to Auckland, the driver took us to Sulfur Point next to Lake Rotorua to walk around for about five minutes. The lake water is white in one section because of the sulfur and you can see the line where it changes to dark blue. 

He also drove us past Government Gardens. They have a big beautiful building called the Bathhouse. Apparently, it's over 100 years old. But they had an earthquake in another place in New Zealand in 2016 called Kaikoura and they realized they needed to secure the foundation of the building so they had a ton of scaffolding around it, kind of like they do at the Salt Lake Temple. 

Then it was time to start the three-hour drive back to Auckland. After two hours, we stopped in Pokono for a bathroom stop. They had a Tip Top ice cream store but I didn't have time to go there. We decided to get off at Sky City and go to Tony's Steakhouse and Seafood for dinner. Emily was able to make us a reservation online while we were driving back to Auckland. We had left at 3 PM and it was close to 7 PM by the time we arrived. That's when she had made the reservation, for 7 PM, and we were there just a few minutes early. We got dropped off at Sky City with some other people on the tour (they were newlywed teachers from Philadelphia; they had met in Florida and they have a friend who taught at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg where I went) and walked over there. 

It's the cutest restaurant! It was nice to sit and relax and enjoy a meal together. The food was pretty good but not that impressive. Michael got a steak covered in seafood, I got a fillet steak, and Emily got ribs. We ordered calamari for an appetizer. 

We looked up a fun place to get a treat and Emily found Scrunchy Millers which I had already thought was cute and I took a picture of it the other day when they weren't open. She really wanted to go there and try the Snickers ice cream so that's what we did. I got one that was called toffee cup that was amazing but the ones called candy floss and Hokey Pokey were not very good at all. I got a triple scoop in a big cup. The Hokey Pokey there wasn't nearly as good as the one next to our hotel. Emily and I laughed because a Benson Boone song came on over the radio while we were there so we couldn't resist taking a video and I sent it to Jonny the next morning (he actually responded to me so he must have liked it).

Scrunchy Millers

There are some BYU Women's Soccer players on this board. They had just been in Auckland.

After ice cream, we walked to our hotel and it started to rain. It was a really light rain, almost like a mist, and thankfully when you walk down the city streets there is usually an overhang to cover you so we didn't get too wet. Once we got back to the hotel, I told Michael maybe we should just pay for an Uber for Emily to go straight back to her house so we don't have to walk her to the bus and she doesn't have to walk with her suitcase in the rain. As soon as I suggested that, he said that was a fantastic idea and immediately told Emily and she was good with that so that's what we did. She finished packing. We had a prayer and walked her downstairs and she called the Uber and we said our goodbyes. She had a hard time saying goodbye and so did we but I'm so glad we got to see her. Michael and I went back upstairs and got to bed as soon as we could so we could get a really good night’s sleep before we travel tomorrow. It was nice to get confirmation that Emily made it back and then I went right to bed.

Favorite parts of the trip:

Emily: Hobbiton

Michael: Fly cruise fly excursion to Milford Sound

Me: Flying over the mountains. I loved the cruise but I was freezing.

June 26, Thursday

This was the longest day ever! Literally! I had to get up at 7:30 AM so l would have enough time to get ready for the day and get all organized and packed. We got out of the room right at 10 AM which was checkout time.

This room was almost identical to the first one we were in. 

We would definitely stay here again! It was nothing fancy, but the location was great and the price was good.

We called the Uber and it came right away and we got to the airport just fine.

One more picture of those cool trees 

It took us until almost 11:30 AM to get to the airport, check our bags, and get through security. Both Michael and I were stopped for our backpacks at security but they didn't have to dig or anything. We just told them about our batteries. I had set mine in the side pocket in case they questioned it and it was fine. We bought one last caramel slice at a little convenience place and then we went to a restaurant and had a nice lunch. I got chicken schnitzel and ribs to share and I ate too much. 

Our last meal in Auckland

It wasn't much longer after that that it was time to board the plane. 

I am so grateful that we made our flight from San Francisco to Phoenix. We had to go through customs, get our bags, recheck our bags, and go through security again. By the time we got to the gate, it was almost time to board. That could've gone way wrong and I'm so grateful we made it. The flight from Auckland to San Francisco was pretty awful because there was a baby in our cabin that was screaming nonstop for hours. I don't know how long I slept but probably a couple hours. The next flight was fine. Nice and short. The boys were glad to see us. We got home just in time to hug Daniel and then he had to go to work. 

I will never forget this trip. It was absolutely amazing and I'm so grateful that Michael and I were able to go and see Emily and see so many amazing places!