This morning we set off for a little driving adventure.

 

I say adventure because, for one, they drive on the wrong side of the road here! And two, we have the craziest RED truck that is transporting us and screaming tourist!! Rob picked it up this morning, and we all had a huge laugh when we saw it.

 

It was particularly funny when we were a bit lost and went around in a round-about a couple of times

 

We headed to Rotorua, which is about 2 hours south of Auckland. However, we wanted to stop and see the Waitomo Glow Worm caves. It’s quite the detour but it was so cool. 

 

Unfortunately, you can’t take pictures inside the cave of the actual glowworms, but I got a a few from outside.

We then had lunch at a cafe nearby before we drove another 2 hours to get to Rotorua. We drove through some gorgeous scenery. Unfortuantely they have had not had a lot of rain this year in New Zealand which is causing drought like conditions, so the rolling green hills are a bit more brown…

 

We headed straight to Te Puia, which is a Cultural Village of the Maori people. Quite touristy, but I figured we’d  get a feel for things. We saw a geyser erupting, the mud pool bubbling, then got to visit some Kiwi birds (no pictures allowed there too:( We also saw the carving school, and weaving, as well as learned a little bit about the Maori culture. The kids again loved the gift shop!

We settled into our hotel which is nice and spacey. I must pat myself on the back, our hotels and been quite good:) Although I keep forgetting to take pictures of them upon arrival, and 30 seconds after we have arrived with all our gear they are no longer picture worthy.
 

Rob and I went to do some groceries for breakfast and lunch the next two days, then we headed out for dinner. Rotorua is not known for their restaurants I gather, because when McDonald’s looks like the best choice….

 

We finished off the evening by going to the Polynesian Spa where we had our own geothermal pool to soak in. Pretty cool to be out under the stars, soaking in the naturally heated hot water. I daresay it could have been quite romantic, but with 5 kids in there with you…not so much. BUT, it was awesome. And relaxing.

We are all having a great time, but I think everyone is a touch tuckered out. We could do with some down time I guess that will happen on our next flight, because tomorrow we have a full day!