Day 3 & 4: Rotorua!

Hiii Mummm,

Saturday the 29^th was another busy day, with a range of activities spread across the day in order to cram as much as possible into our Rotorua visit.  A hearty contingent-provided breakfast was well-received by Venturers looking to fuel themselves up for a big day.

The early Rafting group were up and onto buses at 5:30am, before napping the two-hour drive to the rafting site.  By all accounts, the trip was an absolute blast and the ill effects of the early rise were quickly lost in the icy waters.  The second rafting group was similarly pumped afterwards, with all participants on a high after two hours of incredible high-grade rapids.

Hell’s Gate was another highlight, with many Venturers jumping straight into the geothermal mud pools and sulphur spas.  Plenty acted like African elephants and covered themselves from head to toe in the mud, which made for a top photo but a hell of a cleaning job.  More than one Venturer showered, changed and then found mud behind the ears and in the armpits a few hours later!  We'll warn you now: stock up on ammonia wash because the mud may wash out, but the sulphur smell is a complimentary souvenir that is particularly hard to get rid of!

Yesterday was also particularly warm, with hot temps and sunshine making us all feel quite at home.  Unfortunately not everyone was completely prepared (including some of the Contingent Team!) but all was well today with the lesson learnt and aloe vera cream applied.

In the evening, Groups A and B swapped over and experienced the Tamaki Maori Village and Agroventures.  Kids powered through Agro stunts again, trying out the Freefall (‘flying’ in a Jetstream) and the Swoop (a 50m swing) amongst other things.  We strapped a camera to our Fearless Leader Gary as he did the Jetboating, with very amusing results J.  Tamaki was also awesome, with the Traditional Maori Warfare greeting intimidating and memorable.  The Tamaki Bus Drivers are renowned in Rotorua, and we realised why after our 3^rd lap of the same roundabout! The smells of the dining hall will be hard to live up to, although the Contingent is doing its best!

The rollout to Auckland began at 1:00pm NZ time, and we are now back in the Uni Accommodation for a rest and some laundry! Tomorrow is a free day, with sightseeing, banking and souveniring on the to-do list. New Year’s Day is also a big one with an early start, so everyone is going to be tucked up in bed by 7.30pm (and definitely not having a massive NYE party with one of NZ's premier DJ's).

In all seriousness, tomorrow night promises to be great, with the first theme of the trip swinging into action – bring on the Aussie Beach Party!

That's all for now!

Rob and Kusi.