Rotorua

Once again, I can't upload pictures :( Awoke at 5:30 to walk to Cathedral Cove, which was quite nice, but unfortunately it was overcast (first time since I've arrived), so the photos aren't quite as good as I hoped. I actually ran into a professional photographer on the beach there and he gave me some tips which was nice. Beautiful place, very hard to capture in pictures. And I got nailed by a wave while I was trying to run to the other side of the cove, so it was a bit of a wet walk back :) Gore-tex doesn't withstand a two foot wave crashing down on your feet it turns out.

Breakfast was cold cereal and then we were on the road. The rain held off and we had choices of activity in Rotorua. There was Zorbing, which looked like lots of fun, but was prohibitively expensive at 50$ NZ for a 20 second run! Also various other novelties, but I opted to take a bike and ride into town with a fellow traveller who is Dutch.

Well, I'm now fully convinced that BOTH of our guides are idiots. Drew, the male guide, told us as we were leaving on the bikes that he would drive ahead and leave a map to the campsite at the information center in Rotorua. We arrive (after passing some very nice hot springs) and the people working had no clue about it (it turns out that he couldn't find a place to park and so just said to hell with it). He told us that they would be going to camp to set up and then would be making various side trips. We arrive at camp at 2:00 and the camp people say that the group hasn't arrived and that the reservation wasn't even made until last night! So we kill time at the pool until around 5 and then decide to take the bikes out on the local mountain bike trails (of which there are many). Just as we're about to leave, they pull up and he tells us to come to camp. At camp, we discover that there isn't really anything to do and finally make it out on the mountain bikes. Fortunately, the ride redeemed the disappointment of the day. Some of the best mountain biking I've ever done. Single-tracking through dense forest with huge ferns, streams, and the trails ran easy, so we could really move fast. It was a blast. So despite how unorganized this all is, there really are some nice opportunities.

Tomorrow we move to Lake Taupo. We have the opportunity to skydive, and I've almost convinced myself to do it because I suspect the view of the lake is incredible. It's cheaper here than in the states, but I have a feeling that I might chicken out anyway.

-Brian