New Zealand Day 3, The Journey Begins

Day three started with the alarm clock going off before seven, it was going to be a long but enjoyable day. After checking out we dropped back by the foodtown to get some breakfast and some lunch, and a few other road trip necessities. Then it was off on the road, discovering the wonder of New Zealand's windy 2 lane roads, two hours later we found ourselves at the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves. The cave tour was enjoyable, and our tour guide was this cute little lady that said Peeeople in a rising tone whenever she wanted your attention to point out one of the caves features. You wander around the cave for about half an hour and then they sit you down in a boat that must fit 20-30 and was remarkably stable, and then the guide pulls you around the glow worm chamber using an overhead rope system. The glow worms were cool, but you only spend about 10 minutes on the boat and then you're on your way back out of the cave. They do ask everyone to be nice and quiet, so it was an eerily otherworldly experience. There was a 10 minute scenic walk outside that we took, and then we sat down and had our delicious lunch, then we were back on the road to Rotorua. You know when you're getting to Rotorua, because you can smell it, it's got a thick smell of sulfur hanging everywhere that you never quite get used to.

In Rotorua we went directly to the gondola to ride up and experience the luge, we opted for the gondola plus 5 luge rides, and for our last two rides, it was only W and I on the track. It was also getting very chilly especially on the chairlift that you took back up each time after your luge ride. I got a little carried away on one of our trips and tipped myself almost completely out of my luge, and still have the scars to prove it. Back down on the ground we checked into our hotel, the Distinction Rotorua and then went around town to find a place to eat. We didn't find anything we were super sold on, so we went back to the hotel to check out the Yakitori restaurant. We absolutely Fell in love with the restaurant, Mr Yakitori and instantly felt like we'd made the right decision. Yes I know, 2nd Japanese restaurant of the trip? Yes. 2nd helping of green tea ice cream? Yes. So, based on our trip down town, and how nice this hotel was, Rotorua is first on the list of places we'd spend more time if the trip were longer. The lady at the Auckland i-site looked at us funny when we said we thought our hotel there was nice, but that's because the distinction was her standard of measurement. It was really a great hotel.