Beginnings at Stray and Rotorua

Hello dear ones,

there is already the next report from me, in which I will describe my bus journey with Stray and other great things that I experienced in my first real days in New Zealand. Have fun reading! :)

Saturday, October 8th

There is a lot to tell, unlike from my last day in Auckland, from my first Stray travel day. We were picked up by Natalie in front of the Base Hostel at 7:20 and the journey could begin. Let me briefly explain how the Stray principle works. There is a fixed route that the bus takes. In at least 22 days, you can travel the entire country. This number of days is perfect for those who are here only on vacation and don't have much time but still want to see everything important. Others, like me, can also get off the bus for a few days and stay longer at one of the stops. Since I bought the Everywhere Ticket, I can travel the entire route or individual sections as often as I want for a one-time payment of 1200 NZD, except for the North Coasters and a short stretch on the South Island, where I can only travel once. There is free Wi-Fi on the bus and at each stop, except in Auckland, at least one night in the accommodation provided by Stray is guaranteed. Of course, you have to pay for the accommodations in addition to the bus ticket, just like the activities, for which there is almost always a considerable Stray discount. Normally, you spend one night at each stop, but sometimes two nights are planned. My travel group had a very international composition. Sweden, Norway, Belgium, USA, UK, Canada, Uruguay, Netherlands, Australia - my fellow travelers came from all these countries. There were only about 25 of us. However, the majority, like me, came from Germany, which I didn't really like, because it naturally tempts you to speak German, but I'm here to speak English.

The drive was very beautiful as there were really great views. The area was very hilly, similar to the Eifel, but there was hardly any forest, mainly green meadows with numerous cows and sheep to see. It's hard to believe, but New Zealand is less densely populated over long distances than the Eifel :D Anyway, our first stop was the Bridal Veil Falls, a 55m high waterfall between Hamilton and Raglan, which can best be described as GIGANTIC. The water rushes down the mountain at a rapid pace and vaporizes when it hits the lake at the foot of the waterfall. There are three different viewpoints (beginning, middle, and end of the waterfall), and each one is incredibly beautiful and impressive. We then went to the first accommodation in the surfer's paradise Raglan, which, according to unanimous statements, is the best surf spot in the world. I had already been surfing in Tofino (Canada), but the waves in Raglan are much higher than there, and the very strong wind on that day didn't help either. After a short dry exercise in the hostel's 'Sports Barn', we went straight to the beach. Unfortunately, I managed to stand up only once, and even that was only for a good second. Otherwise, I either fell directly from the board or didn't manage to stand up. But it was still a lot of fun, and I mean a lot :) Later, we all prepared our dinner together in the Lavalounge, which was super delicious. It consisted of various meat and potato varieties, some vegetables, pancakes, and a crumble for dessert. During and especially after dinner, we had a good conversation, mainly about travel and funny stories from our lives so far, and had a lot of fun. One of the Uruguayans then played a few songs on his guitar, and the whole table sang along loudly. The classic Wonderwall was particularly popular. Then we went to the 'party' that had been announced in the hostel. Why I put the word in quotation marks, you will see in a moment. On the way, since it was now pitch dark, we saw several glowworms on the rock walls. It was a fascinating sight! Blue lights were visible everywhere. A bit like Christmas lights, but of course not as bright, but completely natural. Anyway, after a few minutes, we arrived at the Sports Barn, where the big party was supposed to take place. But there was absolutely nothing going on. We were the first and for a long time the only guests, there was neither anything to drink nor appealing music. Hardstyle is really not my taste, and most of the others felt the same way. Nevertheless, the end of the evening was okay because we as a group made the best of it.

Sunday, October 9th

In the morning, we set off from Raglan towards Waitomo Caves. In this area, there are countless caves of completely different sizes and shapes to marvel at. Originally, the plan for me was to do Tumutumu Blackwater Rafting - the ticket was included in my Everywhere Pass - but since the cave in question was unfortunately flooded, we were rescheduled at short notice and at no additional cost to the Haggas Honking Holes Activity, which essentially consists of abseiling and climbing in a very tight cave. Together with Lisa and Lotte (both NED) as well as Julia and David (both CAN), we started with an abseiling exercise, which was mostly dry but went 20 meters steeply down. By the way, it was completely dark in the cave, so we could only see something with the help of our headlamps. The second and third abseils were then quite scary because we had to abseil in the middle of waterfalls, and due to all the water, the visibility was zero, and we had no idea where we were actually going. The only good thing was that we didn't have to worry about falling because of the safety measures. In addition, the water was extremely cold, and the passages in the cave were very narrow, so despite the wetsuits, we were freezing intermittently. After the waterfalls, there was a long passage with crawling and creeping through narrow cave passages, during which it slowly got warmer again. In between, we took a short break in a larger room and turned off our headlamps to admire the glowworms hanging on the walls, creating spectacular lighting conditions ;) Then we climbed back up, partly climbing a steep wall - of course secured - partly using ladders and through rocks. After almost three eventful hours, we were back on the surface, where a stark contrast greeted us directly. On one side, the dark, narrow cave, on the other side, a large green meadow with sheep on it. After changing clothes, we went to the second accommodation, a so-called marae. A marae is a gathering place for Maori. After a warm welcome and another delicious dinner, some Maori people performed a show with traditional songs and dances for us, before I learned the Haka with my male companions, while our female companions were allowed to learn a Pui Dance. Of course, we then performed our dances for each other. Learning the Haka was a very entertaining experience! At 22:30, storytelling was announced in the dorm, which turned into a bedtime story for me, because although I wanted to listen, my eyes closed, and I fell asleep with my clothes on.

Monday, October 10th

After breakfast, it was time to say goodbye to the marae and our hosts, as we had to be in Rotorua early, from where I was going on a journey to the Shire, more precisely to the Hobbiton Movie Set, the home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins and their kind. The filming of 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' took place here. To anticipate it: The tour was very nice but unfortunately too expensive. Nevertheless, I think it was the right decision to travel there because Hobbiton is a must when you are in New Zealand ;) After a long bus ride through beautiful landscapes, our guide showed us the colorful hobbit huts - which, by the way, are not furnished - as well as the other buildings and well-maintained gardens. As a farewell, we each received a free farewell drink in the legendary Green Dragon. In summary, I can say that it was definitely a special feeling to walk around in a film set, even though I'm not a big Lord of the Rings fan. Hobbiton is a great place to be :) Then we continued to Rotorua, where I left this travel group because I wanted to stay in this place for three nights. After saying goodbye to my group, I went whitewater rafting on the Kaituna River for the first time in my life. We were only on the river for about an hour but experienced a lot, as we had difficulty level 5 in our course, which is a very high difficulty level. The absolute highlight of the tour was the 7m high rafting waterfall in which we all survived unscathed because everyone stayed in the boat. By the way, before going through this waterfall, we had to send a prayer to the river god and ask for permission. Towards the end, there was a brief moment of shock when a participant from my boat fell into the water during a smaller waterfall, but since she could be pulled back into the boat immediately, we all laughed about it. All in all, it was a great group, and we all enjoyed the tour very much. I would have loved to go rafting for longer because it was really fun and it ended quite quickly after just an hour. But in New Zealand, there are still more opportunities for rafting :) Later, I had dinner at the bar next to the hostel. By the way, in the hostel, I shared the room for the first night with Annett and David from my first group. The next day, the two of them continued towards the east coast.

Tuesday, October 11th

I, on the other hand, stayed in Rotorua, and in the morning, I went to the Skyline, where they have Skyswing, Ziplining, and the legendary Skyline Luge. I skipped ziplining but didn't miss out on the other two activities. After I took the gondola up, I went straight to the Skyline Luge, which is only available in four places in the world. I had already tried one of the three other tracks in Calgary, but here in Rotorua, the facility is much better. Skyline Luge has a certain resemblance to a summer toboggan run, but the track is much wider, and several people can drive side by side, so overtaking is easy. In Rotorua, there are three different tracks. The slowest but also the longest is the Scenic Ride (although it can also be quite fast if you want to), then comes the Intermediate, and finally, the shortest but most thrilling and spectacular track in terms of driving time, the Advanced Ride, on which I rode twice and was completely in the air with the sled each time. Of course, I tried all three tracks with my seven ride tickets. The views you have during the ride are also worth seeing - if you have a moment to look, that is ;) After the seven rides, I went directly to the Skyswing, where you get pulled up in an open, swing-like ball first before it goes down in an arc with an acceleration from 0 to 160 km/h in 2 seconds. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of it, but if you're interested, you can simply enter 'Skyswing Rotorua' on YouTube and should find something there. It was only a very short free fall, but it was still worth it. Later, I took a walk on the premises and enjoyed the beautiful view of the lake and the city before taking the gondola back towards the city in the evening.

Wednesday, October 12th

Another eventful day followed on Wednesday. In the morning, I headed to the Wai-O-Tapu Wonderland, which is essentially a park with landscapes that have emerged from volcanic activity and is referred to as one of the 20 most surreal places in the world. I think that's realistic. The phenomena that can be observed there are simply fascinating. These include neon green lakes, waterfalls with sulfur color and smell, a so-called Champagne Pool that constantly emits steam, and that not a little, as well as the Lady Knox Geyser, a huge fountain that becomes active once a day. The only thing that bothered me a bit was the quite strong smell of sulfur in some places. But otherwise, it was an incredibly impressive experience. Although I come from a volcanic area myself, I have never seen anything like it in Wai-O-Tapu! In the afternoon, I went straight on to the next activity, the so-called Zorbing, which is only available in Rotorua. The principle couldn't be simpler. You lie in a giant ball filled with water and roll down a mountain in it - either straight or on a winding track. In the latter case, however, you get really shaken up and have no idea where is up and where is down, let alone where exactly you are on the track. There are three different tracks there, and I tried each one once. Although the whole thing is completely pointless, it's super funny and a perfect mood lifter. Unfortunately, I couldn't take photos in the ball because of the water filling. It is worth mentioning that you can lie in a spa after each ride. Very warming and relaxing after all the shaking :)

Thursday, October 13th

In the morning, I went to Lake Rotorua, where I walked along the shore. There were beautiful and wide views from the shore and also many seagulls. The weather played really well too because it was nice and warm and sunny. At 1:00 p.m., the Stray journey for me was supposed to continue.

You will find out what happens next in my next report. I hope this one has already sparked anticipation in you! :)

See you soon,

Your Max