Morning, we decided to walk around the city since the weather was a bit better (it was sunny!). We headed to see
Aotea Square, but we might really be unlucky because it was under construction.
This was what Aotea Square looked like during our visit.
We didn't want to waste this beautiful day so we made our way instead to
Victoria Park and the nearby Market.
View of Victoria Park Market across the road (from Victoria Park).
It was a long walk but the kids were crazy when we finally got to the playground.
Kelvin in the make-shift flying fox (???)
Ira pretending to be a fire-fighter sliding down the pole.
After playing, we made our way across the street to the Victoria Park Market. I hoped to buy something, but I needed more time so I figured I could come back after 4 days (when we get back from Rotorua).
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by the
Skytower for photo ops.
the tallest man-made structure(328metres) in New Zealand and offers breathtaking views for up to 80 kilometres in every direction.
The kids were looking forward to going up the tower. But that was not to be until we got back from our Rotorua trip.
Making our way back to the hotel for check out and roadtrip to Rotorua.
Two of the lifts at Crowne Plaza had glass walls so you can see the outside as the lift goes up to your floor. Scary but fun.
Goodbye for now,
Crowne Plaza. See you in 4 days.
Long drive to
Hot Beach (around 180kms). There was a "ROAD CLOSED" sign (due to flooding) but we saw one car went pass it so we got curious. Few kilometers ahead we saw a long queue of vehicles but no sign of flood.
But we didn't drive hundred kilometers ++ just to turn back :) We waited for a few minutes... and a few more. Then we decided to park on the side and ask around. It turned out that there were about 3 areas where the road was a bit flooded - meaning big vehicles like vans/SUVs can easily pass through, but normal cars would probably have a more difficult time. The people we spoke to reassured as though that the water might subside soon and there wouldn't be any danger of us being trapped on the other side (as we needed to take the same route back to go to Rotorua).
With that slightly good news, we decided to go back to the queue and just follow the flow.
flooded road
Few more minutes and we were on our way to Hot Beach. It was worth the wait as this was a really different experience. Upon walking up to the Hot Beach area, we saw a lot of people who have dug themselves a hole in the sand. The water temperature was totally the opposite of that from the beach. We sort of created a spa pool in the sand. The water / sand was really hot. If you dig deep enough, you cannot even stand the heat!
Ira digging up the sand making his own spa pool.
We stayed for a few minutes, until the boys couldn't take the cold air (and the hot water) anymore. Then we headed to nearby
Cathedral Cove.
We weren't able to walk down to and cross under the Cove though. We just took some pictures from afar.
After a few minutes, we were on our way to final destination of the day, Rotorua. We got there around 11pm! We were so exhausted. The road was dark. All of a sudden, we saw a police car going haywire (it was chasing some speed demon, I guess). It had the loud siren and it was well-lit (and it was too bright!). We heard New Zealand was really strict with the speed limits specially near town areas. Better beware.
DAY 13
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