Day 51: Selfie Road Trip - Coromandel to Rotorua

So as to get the full Coromandel experience, I decided not to retrace my steps and instead head north to go north and drive round the top of the peninsula. At the top, the rocks turn from white to a charcoal colour, so a much more dark, eerie scene but no less striking or beautiful than Cathedral Cove yesterday. 

Curving round the top I wound around some extremely tight mountain turns unable to see much at all before I dropped down south and the tiny speck that is Cormomandel Town appeared below, and the massive Firth of Thames begins.

I follows the Firth of Thames all the way and continue south to one of NZ's first tourist attractions, Rotorua (or ) Rotorua is the second largest lake on NZ's North island and was formed from the crater of an extinct volcano. It's geological heritage means the lake is a hub for geothermal activity. There are hot mud pools, bursting geysers and an unfortunate stench of sulphur which can be smelt from the city centre...  I can tell you the lake looks a whole lot more beautiful than it smells.

I took a walk around the south end of the lake and down to the appropriately named Sulphur Bay to get a glimpse of some of the belching hot water holes (one named the laughing pool after the gases emitted got the reputation for sending people into hysterical laughter after too much exposure). The bay is also the home to loads of NZ's bird wildlife, hundreds of them chilling out on a rock in the middle.

Rotorua also has a very striking museum, spa and governmental gardens which provided a nice alternative to the smell.

In the evening I braved the Tamaki tribe's Maori experience night. Finally I have got round to learning a bit about NZ's aboriginal communities and in the most fun way possible! The evening started off with our coach driver persuading us that our bus was in fact a whaka - a canoe, and proceeded to entertain us for the next half hour by teaching us Maori words, songs, etiquette. He nominated a 'chief' to represent our 'tribe' during the welcome ceremony on arrival at the Tamaki village. The welcomed 'huka' dance was terrifying, with warriors skilfully throwing spears around and pulling intimidating faces.

We then got a tour of the village to learn their various skills and mottos handed down through generations including hangi, their special cooking method that uses hot rocks buried with food in deep pits. Luckily for us, we got to demolish the result - a feast of chicken, lamb, potato, sweet potato, salad, stuffing, chutneys finished off with a classic NZ pavlova. I should never eat again... But there are still chocolate strawberries left...