Generally, dining out was cheaper over there but I still think Sydney has the better tasting food. Maybe it has to do with the “omfg-so-hungry-effect” where anything tastes awesome anyway after exerting lots of energy. Yeah, that must be it, considering NZ is the adventure capital of the universe!

Disgusting plain food. Ugh. Wasn’t even heated through.

The Boy and his (own, unstolen) steak at Mac’s Steakhouse

Seafood chowder! CHOW-DEURRRR! So awesome! They had this on offer in most places throughout NZ. It’s like their national dish, lol

Corn fritters. I was disappointed with these to be honest, but I think it’s my own fault. For some reason I was expecting a creamed corn like filling inside a deep-fried crumbed casing… Err, I think I was thinking of those of the frozen variety. I have no idea why I thought they would serve those in a restaurant, lol.

Surf ‘n Turf Stone Grill at Triple 1 Five Cafe.

Steak of some sort

Roasted vegies

Eggs’ Benedict at Relish Cafe. This was okay but still, nothing compares to the one we had at the Boardwalk Cafe in Cairns. I still salivate thinking about it. Mmmm. I must post a pic of it some time.

Rotorua

We spent the firstleg of our trip in Rotorua where we got to experience the wonder of its geothermal activity (fart smell) and of course, the Redwoods Mountain Bike Park in Whakarewarewa Forest. It was soooo awesome. Think Stromlo but with trees and better! My favourite trails off the top of my head were: A-Trail, Be Rude Not To and definitely the Exit Trail. Bikes were hired and time was limited so we didn’t get to ride as many as we would have liked. Getting lost through Genesis and being unfit didn’t help but it was an excellent experience and I’d definitely love to go back one day if I happen to be down in NZ.

With his hired GT Force on our way into the park

Trying to navigate with our $5 waterproof map. It was hard at first but got easier as we got a feel for the place.

Me riding through the Tickler on my hired Norco. Saying I missed my Trance would be an understatement. Lagging behind means the person in front can stop to take pictures of you

On a more low key day, we visited the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. While there was an initial assault on our senses, the sights were worth it after some adjustment.

I forget what this was called. Maybe the “Champagne Pool”? All the minerals and what not made for awesome coloured water while the sulphur steaming out of it made for a very cool effect. Yes, my descriptive skills are at their all time high tonight!

This was the “Devil’s Home”. Radioactive-green coloured water in a crater. I think “Three-eyed Fish’s Home” would have been a better name!

Lady Knox Geyser. “When 9°C water meets 150°C waters”. Powwww! Mother Nature shooting her load.

And it wasn’t only in a nature park that you saw this kind of activity. This is a shot of a body of water that we had to ride over to get to the Redwoods. Don’t be alarmed if you see steam rising out of lakes or random holes in the ground – it’s quite normal around Rotorua.

And this concludes my post on Rotorua. I might surprise you all with other installments on the other parts of our NZ trip.