Journals #21 and #22: Rotorua
3/22/16-3/23/16
Cover Photo: “It’s Getting Hot in Herrr”
Sheep Spotted: At least 5000 (lost count)

It takes roughly 7 hours to bus from Wellington to Rotorua and along the way you pass beautiful fields of…well mostly sheep.

As I may or may not have mentioned before (hops does that to you) New Zealand consists of two main islands- North and South (apologies to William Stewart)- and I am moving South to North. Wellington is on the Southern tip of the North Island, and Rotorua is roughly in the middle of the Northern Island.

The Northern Island is known for its volcanic activity and Rotorua is right in the center of that activity, sitting on top of a volcano called “The Rotorua Caldera.” As a result, the area is full of large geothermal craters or “mud pools” that are full of boiling liquid.

Quick point of clarification: these are not the type of thermal pools that a fine gentleman in his swimming trunks can casually take in dip in, for they are in fact boiling. You could however make a nice pot of tea or coffee in them, provided you had a large enough teabag or coffee filter.

Anyways my intention today- as you loyal readers know-was to hike the “Tongariro Crossing” otherwise known as “Mordor” in the Lord of the Rings movies. Tongariro is roughly 2.5 hours south of Rotorua (yes- I know, my itinerary doesn’t make much sense- talk to the hand) and unfortunately the entire drive I was fighting torrential rain.

A more rational human being may have turned around, but I was stubborn and drove the entire way, only to find out that not only was the park closed (evidently they get concerned about tourists wandering around giant volcanoes in heavy rain) but there was no way to see any of the three volcanoes (Mt. Doom is called “ Mount Ngauruhoe” and stands at roughly 7500 feet) through the heavy rains.

Tomorrow is supposed to be worse- so unfortunately it looks like I may have to save Tongariro for my next trip to New Zealand ☹.

On the plus side, since I had loads of extra time on my hand, I went to Lake Taupo (today’s photo) and the “Craters of the Moon” which is a large field full of geothermal craters. If you have time in the area- both are definitely worth seeing. If you have car (I did), they are about an hours drive from Rotorua, or if you don’t have car, there are about a thousand shuttles traveling back and forth between Rotorua and Taupo.

Speaking of Rotorua- it is a smallish town of roughly 55,000 people, but due to it’s huge tourist population, there is quite a bit going on here. In fact, Kiwis have started referring to it as “Roto-Vegas” due to the fact that there are often more tourists than locals here.

Although obviously Maori in name, Rotorua continues my previously discussed theme of New Zealand being a very American place. To give you an example: tonight I dined at craft beer bar that only served food with bacon in it (I had a chicken fettuccini alfredo dish where each piece of chicken was wrapped in bacon- the bar is called “CBK” if you’re interesting in finding it).

Speaking of which- after a brief absence- I have some great beer reviews:

Epic “Hob Zombie” Double IPA: Now, after reading my blog you may be wondering: “Exactly what the hell is a Double IPA?” Great question, since brewers generally hate the designation. Generally speaking, Double IPAs (or “Imperial IPAs” as they are also known) run between 8-9% alcohol and contain hop levels higher than a regular IPA (figure between 70-90 IBUs). This particular beer, as far as I can tell, uses 100% New Zealand hops which are more sweet than bitter. The result is a very strong malty beer with a sweet aftertaste. I realize I’ve been shitting on NZ hops for most of this blog’s history, but in large amounts, they are delicious. This beer goes down faster than water- awesome taste, awesome beer.

Good George IPA: A solid NZ Session IPA made by a Hamilton-based brewery (Hamilton is roughly 1.5 hours SW of Rotorua). Decently hoppy, packs a surprisingly decent punch at 5.8% (I had to look up- I guessed low 6s), and goes down relatively easy.

I have one more day in Rotorua before heading to Auckland (NZ’s largest city)- if the weather is clear (unlikely) I may take one more stab at Tongariro, otherwise I will likely explore the area!

Cheers,

-MB