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Three nights in Rotorua - The Sulphur City

Published: 15.10.2017

When we arrived in Rotorua on Thursday, the first question we asked ourselves was why it smells so incredibly like rotten eggs everywhere. The answer to our question was sulfur. Rotorua is located in a region with extreme geothermal activity. It's boiling and steaming everywhere. A special highlight is the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, which we visited yesterday with three other people from our hostel (of course, 2 of them were German again, you almost feel like New Zealand is populated by German backpackers).

The Thermal Wonderland is a park where you can admire a geyser, collapsed craters, hot springs, and various bubbling or mineral-colored ponds and pools. The visit was definitely worth it, I probably won't see anything like it again in my life. Many things looked so unnatural that you could have thought you suddenly landed on another planet, especially when you are standing in front of a neon green glowing pond, for example.
















The evening was also something special. While looking for a suitable bar, we encountered a group of local men on the street who were celebrating a bachelor party. But they were not only locals, but descendants of the Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. One of the items on their agenda for the evening was that the groom had to perform the Haka in front of strangers, a ritual dance of the Maoris, which is often performed at rugby matches nowadays. Not only the groom danced it for us, but the whole group. So we saw real Maori people dancing the Haka on the open street, just for us ;)



We have been in Taupo since noon today. We will probably stay here for a week and help Jacqui, whom we met through the website 'helpx', in her garden for 4 hours a day. In return, she lets us stay with her for free and buys our food, so we don't earn any money, but at least we have much less expenses and nice conversations with Jacqui.

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#neuseeland #backpacker#workandtravel#rotorua#geothermal#landschaft