Today it was finally time to say goodbye to Rotorua and the Hot Rocks Base Backpackers; although it was never somewhere I'd planned to go (in fact, I'd never heard of the city until I got to New Zealand and talked to the guys on the Stray Travel desk, aaaaaall the way back in Auckland) it has fast become one of my favourite places to explore. As much as I adored (read: cried my eyes out) over finally making it to Hobbiton, Rotorua is so much more than that; a beautiful blend of tradition, history and modernisation that you could ever hope to find on the Northern Island!
Plus, between all the sulphur pools and mud spa's I've encountered over the last few days, I swear my skin is leaving feeling ten years younger than it did before we arrived.
Any who, the good thing about the Stray bus pick-ups from Rotorua is that they tend to come in the afternoon as opposed to the usual crack-o-dawn o'clock start times, so it was a nice change to make a leisurely descent down to the bus stop, instead of the normal 'crash-bang-oh I'm going to be late' fall out the door approach.
Lesson Number 28: No matter how good your intentions are, no matter how much you convince yourself you'll wake up early enough in the morning to do so - PACK UP YOUR STUFF THE NIGHT BEFORE! You'll either wake up your entire dorm room trying to pack in the dark (they'll kill you for turning the lights on at 5am) or you'll be the scrub in the hallway trying to cram that last t-shirt in your bag five minutes before the bus is about to pull away!
Plus, between all the sulphur pools and mud spa's I've encountered over the last few days, I swear my skin is leaving feeling ten years younger than it did before we arrived.
Any who, the good thing about the Stray bus pick-ups from Rotorua is that they tend to come in the afternoon as opposed to the usual crack-o-dawn o'clock start times, so it was a nice change to make a leisurely descent down to the bus stop, instead of the normal 'crash-bang-oh I'm going to be late' fall out the door approach.
Lesson Number 28: No matter how good your intentions are, no matter how much you convince yourself you'll wake up early enough in the morning to do so - PACK UP YOUR STUFF THE NIGHT BEFORE! You'll either wake up your entire dorm room trying to pack in the dark (they'll kill you for turning the lights on at 5am) or you'll be the scrub in the hallway trying to cram that last t-shirt in your bag five minutes before the bus is about to pull away!
