The renovated Papamoa Tavern (the bar where I will be working) doesn’t open until later this month, so I have some time to settle in and travel around Tauranga before I start work. A few days ago I decided to go check out some towns and sites nearby. Shane joined me for the first day and we stopped at some of the redwood forests on the way to Rotorua. He took some of the great photos of me among the redwood forests I have used on this website (thanks!).
Rotorua is a town known for its thermal activity. Here are some pictures of my time there:
The thermal waters are special in Maori culture and many Maori live in Rotorua. I went to one of the villages where many of these thermal waters exist.
After a couple of nights in Rotorua I went to Whakatane (“wh” is pronounced “f”, which makes visitors a bit red in the face when saying this city’s name). Whakatane is the gateway city to visit two islands: Whale Island and White Island. White Island is the much bigger draw as it is an active marine volcano in a continuous stage of smoking since at least 1769 (so I’m told). Rotorua and White Island have one major thing in common: the sulphur. While Rotorua just has a lingering smell of rotten eggs, on White Island the sulphur can be so strong that we had to bring gas masks. Here are some pictures of my trip there:
Impermanent Establishments 