St Faith's Church
by Kate-Me
One of my very favorite places in Rotorua is St Faith's Church, on Lake Rotorua. It just looks so peaceful and has a very nice ambience about it. The etched glass window inside of Christ walking on the water is also very unique (with the lake behind the clear glass)
In 1999 I also spent a lot of time looking at it (days in fact, from my hospital window some distance back from the lake).
So this time, in perfect health, I returned to the scene and admired the church again. I had more time this time, to admire the headstones in the small cemetery surrounding the Church, and this Angel was my favorite. (There's a bigger pic of her in the village travelogue).
City of Auckland
by b1bob
We landed in Auckland at 9.00 (local time). I wasn't expecting Jonathan at the airport because I told him I would ring him from the hotel in Auckland. On passing through customs, we met our New Zealand guide (Maria). My first impression of Maria was that she was not all there (but compared to some people I've met since then, Maria appears almost normal). She punctuated every sentence with "okay". On boarding the coach, it seemed colder in New Zealand than in Australia. It was between 40-60° (5-15°C) in Australia, subtract 10°F from each end to get the high and low for New Zealand. Our hotel for Saturday night was the Econo Lodge in Auckland (don't laugh, there is really an Econo Lodge in New Zealand, probably one in hell too unless Marriott, with their lackluster cuisine, won that concession). In spite of being midnight, I rung Jonathan (it was a local call) because I said I would. We agreed on meeting in Rotorua on my last day in New Zealand. Jonathan wanted to join us the following day Orakei Korako (pronunced OROCKY KOROCKO), but even he had never heard of it before. That was only a foreshadowing of coming events to be explained below. We flapped our gums for a good hour and a half and then I went to bed. Before taking the lift up to the room, I remembered to cancel Mr. Rath's wake-up call. I fell into bed, sleeping before my head hit the pillow.
Polynesian Spa
by grets
After dinner we go down to the Polynesian baths. What an experience! All very well organised, with lockers, changing rooms and showers. 8 pools set in the gardens with varying degrees of temperature and mineral content. We try them all. Some are comfortably warm, one is decidedly too hot! If you bury your feet in the gravel at the bottom, it hurts! (moral of the story: don't bury your feet in the gravel!).
There is a mineral "swimming pool" by the changing rooms and we float about ther for a while wathcing the free "show": a group of Koreans going in for a dip. Several of them strip off and get changed at the poolside, male and female, and some put their hired cozzies on back to front! One lady stands by the pool and changes, then takes her clothes into the changing room! There is a tour leader in a suit trying to herd them in the right direction, but he is fighting a losing battle.
In the showers afterwards there is more amusement: one lady carefully removes her wet swimsuit, dries herself off, puts on her bra and knickers and goes into the shower! There sre 4 public showers and twp private cubicles, one of which is taken. One lady walks along past the four public ones (three of which are free), past the free cubicle to the occupied one on the end. She tries the door. It doesn't open. She rattles the door. She looks around, then walks back down the other end, past one cubicle, four free showers, three more (free) cubicles and back up to the occupied one. Then rattles the door again and again and keeps knocking. Eventually she gives up and uses a free shower.
We go back the following afternoon for a massage - another "first". Wonderfully relaxing, carried out under jets of water with coconut oil.
Whakarewarewa Maori Village
by salisbury3933
The highlight of our visit here was to see the Maori show, performed as always with plenty of passion.
You get a better view of the Geysers from Te Puia, but there's still plenty of geothermic activity going on here as well.
Free entry to Maori Village
by kiwi
One of the oldest and established, authentic Maori villages is open to the public with no entry fee.
This is Te Papaiouru Marae, and it is located in the centre of town at Ohinemutu, not far from the Hospital.
Pre-European times saw Ohinemutu as a strategic and important centre of Maori life, situated on the shores of the lake. As the European influence showed, with the addition of the church and religion, both cultures integrated here and we see an ongoing successful merger. Visitors can walk around the village, taking care to respect sensitive areas. Be sure to leave your car in the allocated carpark, and do not attempt to drive within the village. That area is restricted to residents and members of the cultural families.
Ornate carvings and painted structures stand proudly around the Marae. As well here you can see the steam rising from the underground geothermal activity which the Maori used to enhance their lifestyle. The heat was used for bathing and cooking from the early days.
Be sure to respect culture and sensitive areas when walking around Ohinemutu.
Sign in with Facebook
Lake made up of water coming from geysers
The Rams
Cooking Pool
Kim trying to Poi
