Earthquake?!
We fell asleep the night before with the TV on and woke up the next morning to breaking news of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake near Kaikoura on the South Island. Strong aftershocks continued to impact the South Island. There was also a tsunami warning all along the east coast of NZ for both islands. The earthquake affected everywhere between Christchurch up to Wellington with major damages to infrastructure. Besides when I lived in Japan, this was the closest I had been to a major earthquake.
Needless to say, our phones pinged nonstop that day with messages of concern. Supposedly the shaking was felt all the way up to Auckland, but we slept right through it all. We were uncertain how this would impact the rest of the trip, but it seemed the situation was quickly controlled. So we carried on to Rotorua!
Rotorua – The Sulfur City
As soon as we entered the city, the distinctive sulfur smell hit our noses. Our destination of the day was Te Puia, a geothermal park and Maori cultural center. We had booked the Day Tour which included a lunch cooked by the thermal steam. While the geysers and thermal vents were cool, and the steamed chicken and vegetables were tasty, I was disappointed by the culture half of the tour. Honestly, I learned more about the Maori culture at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. (Secretly, I was also constantly worried about the live volcano nearby that was potentially agitated by the recent earthquakes.)
Side note – You are not supposed to take photos of an actual Maori meeting house because all the carvings depict stories of real people from the local tribe. The one at the cultural center was built specifically for tourism purposes (i.e. the carvings were of nonsense…) so we were able to take photos.
Lake Taupo
A short drive took us to the lake town of Taupo. The lake was massive and a beautiful moody turquoise under the overcast sky (the photo was taken later in the day, so the light wasn’t ideal). But the focus that day was not the lake, but up in the sky. Yes, the inevitable was finally here. If I were ever to jump out of a plane, you can bet it would be over somewhere gorgeous!
You would think waking up to a 7.8 earthquake was the adrenaline peak of the day, but my heart had been working a crescendo all day in anticipation of skydiving. We drove through town and headed straight to the Taupo Tandem Skydiving. Because of the potential for rain, we had been in contact with them all day for weather checking, never getting a confirmed go/no-go.
Unfortunately (fortunately?) the planes couldn’t fly that day due to low clouds, even though the rain held up. So we had to reschedule for the next morning, hoping the weather would be better. It wasn’t, and our skydiving box was not able to be checked off. We decided to try again later on the trip.
Sam booked us a cabin at the Taupo DeBretts for the night. It’s an establishment with hot thermal pools and a water park. Our cabin was essentially a trailer home with a view to the lake. It had everything a traveler would need but the mattress left a lot to be desired…
After checking in, we studied the Taupo area tourist map, and decided to visit the local honey store called the Huke Bee Hive. One of my desires for the trip was to buy Manuka Honey as well as honey and bee venom skincare. They had the largest selection of honey and honey related products I had ever seen! But since we were still so early in the trip, I didn’t want to drag all that extra stuff with us for the next two week.
We shared an amazing roasted pork hock for dinner at “Dixie Browns” and took a leisurely stroll along the lake. The water was unbelievably clear. We could see straight to the bottom of the lake even though we were a good distance away from the water. We waved goodnight at some black swans and ended the day with a relaxing soak in the hot pools. We didn’t take advantage of the water park, but it was definitely a cool place for all types of travelers.
The day threw a lot of surprises at us, but hey, that’s what happens on a trip!
C.