No Paparazzi: My Journey Through New Zealand: Rotorua.. part 1

Wow! What a fantastic weekend that I just had with the gang! We traveled North of Wellington to Rotorua. Rororua is located fairly central on the North Island of NZ and is known for their natural thermal pools and the smells. The smells, you ask? Yes. The whole city smells like rotten eggs. However, we braved the smells for our fun days of activities.

Our beautiful view of our city @ 6:45am. On the way to catch our bus...

Hugging the coastline :)

The simple life..

The ride up to Rotorua was BEAUTIFUL. Everything from shore lines hugging the beautiful bodies of water to the rolling hills of amazing farm land.. (it was like living the simple life.) We took the "Naked Bus" which is famous here in NZ.. you can find bus rides for as low as $1. (Unfortunately not our trip) We rode up on Thursday morning where we had a lunch stop @ "Gumboot Manor" (Not impressed...) and made pit stops in Palmerston North, Taupo, and more.

So beautiful- it does not even seem real.

Paradise. <3

Upon arriving, we quickly searched for our hostel that we were staying at: Cactus Jacks. Now let me tell you what $17/night will get you... a Texas-themed delight of a stay with terrifying murals of little Hispanic girls, a communal kitchen/family room that will take your breath away with local artwork of Cactus Dan himself (most likely), and bunk bed dorm-style living that makes even the cold-dorms of Kappa Kappa Gamma look like the Four Seasons. It was a BLAST.

The artwork made the room. Trust me.

Phew! We made it!

After getting situated, we decided to redeem one of our vouchers (courtesy of Cactus Dan) to collect a free glass of wine from the "Pig and Whistle." (It was klassier than it sounds..) After that, we decided to head to the Night Market. This is a Market that happens every Thursday night in Rotorua where local vendors come and sell their merchandise and products. These products range from food and wine to jewelry and scrumptious desserts.. we had a field day... we got local asian food, cookies, brownies (one of the best I have EVER eaten..), as well as a bottle of wine called "Fart in the Bath." (One of the best wines I have ever tasted..) It is safe to say that our first day in Rotorua was a HUGE success. After all of that excitement, we decided to head back to the Cactus Jacks for some R&R in the hot tub. Doin it. Boy, were we excited for our adventurous days ahead of us.