Rotorua...again?

It was sooo nice to finally get a chance to sleep in (especially after having to wake up really early yesterday and then doing a long day hike), since the Magic Bus wasn't scheduled to arrive in Taupo until 10:30 am. I actually couldn't wait for the bus to arrive since we had nothing to do but chill out some more in the same TV room, and was really hoping I wouldn't get another driver like Rangi. Well, when the bus finally arrived, I got Greg as a driver, who was supposed to be a really good, laid back driver (sweet!), as I was told by a German girl who had him as driver when she had been travelling southbound on the North Island.

There was a cute little kitty cat that strolled into the TV room and decided to take a nap while I was inside!

But there was a better surprise waiting for me inside the bus: Rory, Alex, Markus, Corrine, and Andrew were all on the bus! A totally unexpected surprise! I thought I wouldn't see them again after I had left them all behind on the South Island. I got on the bus, James in front of me (so I couldn't see anyone behind him), just bringing up my head as I finished coming up the coach bus steps, when I was greeted with unexpected cheers! I thought it was for James since he had gotten on just before me, until I saw Rory and Alex and everybody else and realized it was for me hahaha. Everyone else on the bus was wondering what was going on haha.

At the first stop of the day: Huka Falls, one of NZ's more popular waterfalls. The 3rd to the 7th photos are of the final 11 m waterfall (Huka Falls is actually a series of waterfalls). I must admit the fast-flowing, roaring water was really nice (the bright sun out might have played a part haha).

My initial plan was just to ride the bus all the way up to Tauranga. But during our lunch break at the Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (at yet another cafe, having yet another pie haha), an active geothermal area (which you had to pay to get in to see, so I didn't bother to since I had seen plenty by now in Japan and just the day before on the day hike), Alex and Rory told me that they'd be hopping off at Rotorua to try white water rafting. I had really wanted to try it the day we headed to Christchurch (we passed through a town called Geraldine in an area known for white water rafting in NZ), but I didn't bother since it was so expensive. But I found out the one in Rotorua (that's affiliated with Magic Bus) was way cheaper ($79 NZD vs. $185 NZD at Geraldine) and it took place on the Kaituna River (which contained grade 5 rapids and the (supposedly) highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world, the 7 m Tutea Falls). So they basically convinced me to come along!

The only problem was, I had already booked and paid for my stay at the YHA Tauranga the day before (I was worried I might get another driver like Rangi who would forget to book me into a hostel). This is where my cell phone really came in handy - I called in to the YHA customer service centre and got my booking changed to the YHA Rotorua (they offer free booking changes on the same day as long as it's not a cancellation), so I got Greg to sign me up for the white water rafting last minute. The 5 of us were stoked (me, Rory, Alex, Andrew, and James, who happened to also be hopping off at Rotorua for the rafting)!

The rafting was really fun - though not as thrilling as I expected (we were all actually kind of disappointed). Despite the fact that the Kaituna River was supposed to have grade 5 rapids, the parts we went through were so calm they couldn't be anything more than grade 1 - I think this company chooses the to skip the harder sections of the river because it's geared more towards serving all ages, since I later found out another company that operates rafting on the Kaituna River goes through 14 waterfalls while this company only let us go through 3 waterfalls. Plus, the 1st 2 waterfalls were treated as "training" waterfalls, and the final one was the 7 m Tutea Falls. One thing I learned about the Magic Bus is that it doesn't really affiliate with the best companies out there (eg. black water rafting in Waitomo, activities in Queenstown, white water rafting in Rotorua, etc.). But like I said, overall the rafting was fun (mainly at the waterfalls), which had a lot to do with the people I got to do it, and we got a pretty good instructor too. After clearing out the Tutea Falls, he let us swim down the rapids (obviously very gentle ones) for a small portion of the river, and at the end where there was a mini waterfall, he turned the boat into it so that we'd get splashed by the streaming water (it was a lot funner than it sounds hahaha; so fun we did it twice!). And plus, it was my first time white water rafting! Anyway, I'll let the photos do the talking:

The first 2 "training" waterfalls.


Down the first waterfall! I was in the back row with Alex, on the left side of the raft (so right side in the photo), wearing the black goggles.


Down the second waterfall. I'm looking down in the 3rd photo because I was looking for the rope to grab to pull myself in (which is what you do when going down a waterfall).


Tutea Falls.


Down the 7 m waterfall we go! Honestly, it went by so quickly I don't even remember it all - we started to drop straight down, and then suddenly everything went black as the raft capsized (obviously it happened a lot faster than the photos reveal). Actually, I think we went down really well, but the guide turned the raft over on purpose, because it'd actually be less exciting if it didn't flip over. You'll notice I don't show up until the very last couple of photos; it's not only because I came up at the back of the raft, I was also the last one coming out from underneath it - I couldn't find my way out, and I think I actually went from one side of the raft to the other as I tried to locate a way out hahaha.


Posing for a photo - me and Alex got blocked out.


Face first into the base of the mini waterfall - the water splashing up (the 1st photo best captures it) was caused by the front of the raft being pulled down at the base of the waterfall (which is why the raft is tipping forward). I think it's obvious to say it was a lot of water which made it so much fun (we were drenched anyway from the tipped raft and the swim in the rapids). I got to move up to the front to feel the full effect (since I'd miss it in the back row). Don't you just love my intensity in the 4th photo? Hahaha.

Back at the YHA, I cooked myself some steak, which turned out to be a really bad cut (the meat was the toughest I ever had), and it didn't help that I overcooked it a little this time by basically steaming it (I added too much water to the pan this time hahaha). But the night got better after that. I had agreed to meet up with the rest of the guys at the hostel they were staying at, Kiwi Paka, which had a heated pool. So after grabbing a 12-pack of Tui (I would later regret buying bottles, but more on that in the next post), I made the 10 minute walk from the YHA to their hostel. It's actually pretty lucky that I found their hostel because it was tucked away in some residential area with no signage posted on the streets leading to the hostel, and the fact that I had waited until the sun had set did not help haha (in fact, the guys had actually dropped by the YHA looking for me, but I was at the supermarket picking up the beer). So we chilled out in the heated pool (great for relaxing the muscles after yesterday's hike and going rafting today) with our beers (I technically wasn't supposed to be drinking since they had a rule of no bottles near the pool haha) for one last drink with the guys. There weren't as many people hanging out at the pool as we expected, but it was still good times. Funny thing about the pool was the gate lock - I, as well as everyone else who came in after me, had a hard time trying to figure out how to open it hahaha.