Rotorua

Next stop was Rotorua which I struggled to pronounce. It was a 4 hour bus ride on Naked Bus. I had originally booked a bus which departed Auckland at 7am. However there was a timetable change which I was happy with. Until I realised that I was meant to arrive at my connecting stop 30 minutes after my second bus would have left. Genius. So I contacted the desk and they rebooked me onto another bus which departed Auckland at 4pm In the end, I booked another bus and wasted $15. Not a happy camper.








Due to the sulphur from thethermal pools, the air smelt like eggs which I didn't mind since I love eggs. But then I craved for eggs. D'oh.

I was bored by the city. It was underwhelming and by this stage, I was frustrated with how commercialised the entire place felt. Sky diving, white water rafting, Hobbiton, it just felt like everything was just pushed into my face. I met a nice girl from Germany (though seriously, everyone was from Germany) and she was so lovely. The German girl was saving her pennies and hitch hiked a lot and managed to get food from other people. She had a bowl of oats from one person, a banana from another, and a slice of bread from another backpacker. I generally don't eat breakfast and she mistook my lack of food for being too poor to afford food. So with the little food she had, she offered to share. What? It was so nice and so genuine. I didn't take any of her food, but it was an incredibly lovely gesture and it still makes me smile. There she was, with almost nothing and she was offering me food. Incredible. I gave her my details and if she decides to contact me when she gets back to Sydney, I would love to meet up. But it was a really raw moment.









I had a lot of time to kill and decided to visit the Hot Spring Pools at the Polynesian Spa. It cost around $40 and whilst I did enjoy it, it was incredibly lonely. I also managed to scratch my camera which was really disappointing.












The view from the pools.