Adventure day – New Zealand style

After spending three full days in Auckland, it was starting to feel like we weren’t really experiencing th ‘real’ New Zealand – the outdoors, the crazy adventures, the sheep-covered hillsides… So, Saturday night, I got a rental car and Nate and I set off for the countryside!
After the spending the night in a little touristy town of Rotorua (renowned for its geysers and mineral baths, which incidentally makes the whole town smell of sulfur), it was off to go to white water rafting on the Kaituna river in the morning. The Kaituna rafting is famous for taking you over a 7m waterfall:


Nate and I in the front as we’re plunging over 7m of falling water!

We later found out that rafts hardly ever flip going over it these days (ours didn’t either) – I was kind of disappointed that we weren’t facing more imminent danger!
From rafting, it was off to a quick stop of ‘zorbing’ – a fairly new addition to the New Zealand outdoor recreation scene, which puts you into a big plastic ball and lets you roll down the hill.


Building up speed towards the bottom!

After that, and after a brief detour through NZ countryside (getting lost in New Zealand is kinda fun btw – there’s enough roads that you’re not lost for long, but the scenery is beautiful when you get a little deeper into the countryside) off to the Waitomo caves, home of hundreds of glowworms:


Those aren't lights or stars - those are glow worms on the roof of the cave!

And finally, dinner at the side of the road, and back off to the city!


Nate in New Zealand, and our rental car in the background.