Wednesday 11th January 2023
This morning we collected our hire car at 9am, picked up our bags from the hotel, then started the drive to Rotorua. We wanted to pick up a SIM card and had read Skinny is the best option (cheap, uses the Spark network so has good coverage, and we’d got a code for 4GB free data). Unfortunately it turned into a bit of a mission, as the first three Countdown supermarkets we visited had none in stock. We drove a bit further out of town and eventually managed to buy one.
We stopped off in Pokeno for a quick break and snack and bought a sausage roll to share at Pokeno Country Cafe. It was an enjoyable sausage roll with nice flaky pastry, although the filling was a bit like a Cornish pasty filling (contained vegetables and had similar spicing).
We then went to the neighbouring Johnson Takeaways for an ice cream. Pete was very pleased they had banana split flavour.
After our snacks, we continued on to Rotorua and went straight to the Whaka Geothermal Trails. The entrance fee of $30 (about £15) is a bit pricey, but the Jurassic Park like landscape is very cool – a lot of colourful steaming lakes and thermal pools.
There are also bubbling pits of mud, which felt even more prehistoric.
We spent about 90 minutes walking the Whaka Geothermal Trails (including lots of pauses for photos!), before making our way to BK’s Rotorua Motor Lodge, where we’re staying for the night.
The room was huge, more like a small apartment than a motel room, and very clean and comfortable. We relaxed for about an hour or so, before heading out to dinner. The first restaurant we tried was fully booked, the second was temporarily closed for Christmas/January, so it was third time lucky when we got to El Mexicano Zapata Express. We ordered some nachos and empanadas for a starter, then tacos and a burrito to share. The portions were way bigger than we were expecting, so disappointingly this was one of the few meals we were unable to finish. The food was tasty enough, but I’m not sure it quite warranted it’s 4.9 star google rating.
After eating, we stopped by at Countdown to pick up a bottle of wine on the way back to our hotel. We enjoyed a glass of said wine while watching an episode of After Life on Netflix, before going to bed.
Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure 