Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Round The World 2004
By car to Rotorua
Two weeks into the trip and today, it would (briefly!) enter a new phase. Instead of city-hopping by plane, I was to pick up my first rental car and drive out to Rotorua. A rather longer period of touring by car would follow on the South Island, later in the week. But first things first ...
I awoke with the alarm at 0700 and forced myself to get up about a quarter of an hour later. By the time I'd had a shower, I sensed that time was getting short. The room seemed to be a bit of a shambles (it probably wasn't, really) and I had a shuttle to the airport booked for 0845. I decided to have a cup of coffee and a biscuit in my room and postpone breakfast until I had picked up the car. It proved to be a good move; I made it down to the lobby with about 3 minutes to spare.
I had an uneventful journey back to the airport. I
had decided when planning the trip that the airport was probably a
better place to pick up the car, rather than the centre of an
unfamiliar city, even if this were possible. They were ready for me
and there was no need to get a further shuttle to some remote
location; my car was parked and waiting just outside the terminal
building
I had spotted a
fast-food eatery on the way in and successfully tracked it down
again, albeit after a false move into what turned out to be an
office car park
Suitably (?)
fed, I hit the road for real. Unfortunately there was to be one
further false move. I joined the motorway in the wrong direction,
but very quickly realised my mistake, exited at the first junction
and re-joined - not a problem, apart from ten wasted minutes. It was
the last wrong move; from that point I was able to drive directly to
my hotel in Rotorua without a hitch. The motorway didn't last long -
it was soon a case of ordinary roads with occasional passing lanes.
The countryside became more attractive the further into the journey
I got. I spotted a few instances of aggressive driving (not aimed at
me!), but the main thing that surprised me was the almost universal
disregard for the painted lane markings on the road
After checking into my hotel, I quickly headed out
again to find something for lunch and to explore the town. I got the
impression that many people were exploring by car, but having spent
the whole morning behind the wheel, I decided it would be much
better to do a bit of walking. I had a Chicken Caesar lunch at an
Italian place, then set off in earnest. I headed for the lakeside
and found my way to the very attractive St Faith's Anglican church,
right by the water. Then I walked a trail around the lakeshore,
taking maybe half an hour to complete. It was an excellent
experience. I realised the perhaps obvious fact that the whole trip
up to this point had been based in cities; here I was now walking by
a lakeside, with the gentle lapping of the water the only sound in
evidence. I felt I experienced a kind of renewal just by being
there. Then I took a deep breath and experienced a kind of nausea
instead
You see,
Rotorua stinks. Don't get me wrong, now, it's an attractive place
and deserves to be part of any North Island itinerary. It's just
that, with all the geo-thermal activity in the area, the pong of
rotten eggs is all-pervasive. There is simply no getting away from
it. Why hadn't I packed a clothes peg for my nose?
Back at my
hotel, I was dismayed to find that a group of loud, partying women
were installed in the room next door
Ugh ... just my luck
Desperate to escape the hideous racket, I decided that room service
was out of the question and went out to find something to eat. I
spotted a branch of Sizzler's and decided that this would do just
fine. I had tomato soup and a sizzling sirloin steak (good
alliteration, eh?
), with a baked potato and some salad. Returning to the hotel, where
festivities were still in full swing
, I donned my noise-cancelling headphones and watched another of my
DVDs. By the time it was finished, things had become blissfully
peaceful
