Raglan & Rotorua

Raglan

 

Raglan was a cool surf town where Jack Johnson & Ben Harper own property together. We stayed at a little out of the way backpacker lodge where we were upgraded and had our own room. A short walk away was Whale Bay where we watched some local surfers catch some waves. We wished we had put shorts on because it was a great day to chill in the sun.

 

On the way to Raglan we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls where we each took a drink, (Neal and Laura we are kicking your butts on forced perspective pictures).

 

 

 

Our bus driver is notorious for taking random side trips, so this next stop was a nice surprise. The pictures are not edited, the water was this beautiful clear color and it was easy to spot the springs coming up from below.

 

Rotorua

 

Rotorua was our next stop. We were here for a half day and that was all we needed. It is the most active geothermal area on the island with many hot springs and mud pools. There is also a Maori Village that we avoided because we had our fill at a previous “Maori Cultural Experience” where Jeff became Chief of our bus tribe and lead the Haka. It was horrible. It took three days for people to stop calling him Chief. You can imagine Jeff’s excitement. Oh yeah, and Rotorua smells like fart.