Beautiful Cultural Rotorua

I have spent the last two days in beautiful Rotorua and have enjoyed every minute of it. I am staying at the fabulous Funky Green Voyager hostel which has attracted a fun group of people to hang out with in the evenings.

My travels brought me from Waitomo to Rotorua about the same time my wonderful brother Josh proposed to his awesome girlfriend Courtney, so I bragged about that to the complete strangers I shared the shuttle with. I'm so very happy for them both!!!

Then yesterday started with a nice run and then I ventured to Te Puia a Maori center with all kinds of stuff to explore. I started with the 'cultural experience' where we were invited into the centers meeting house and treated to a magnificent show of dance including a haka. Then I took a guided tour around the major features. First up was the geysers which were going off quite nicely (and for over two hours)! Then we checked out a mud pool, which was very goopy looking. Next was the kiwi house...they were quite amazing! Through the village we went towards the weavers and carvers. Both were awesome! If you want to go to weaving school you can make a skirt in 6 weeks :) After all of that I did some further exploring on my own to see more geothermal fun stuff. When I got back to the hostel I figured it was time to go check out the geothermal hot pools for myself, so I went to the Polynesian Spa for a very relaxing time in the pools. Maybe the water, known for healing, even helped my knees in preparation for my half marathon in Indianapolis.

Today was a bit shorter, but I went out for a run by the lake this time and even checked out the Maori village too :) Now I'm getting ready for a bus trip to Taupo.