Rotoroa -- The Sulphur City

(First published in Small World Ezine some time in February 2002)

Oh everywhere I went in New Zealand was so lovely. I guess 
I'll write about the strange one first... The city is called
"Rotoroa", nicknamed -- the Sulphur city.

 

I and 2 friends drove from Auckland in a rented car. When we
were approaching, we saw the whole city covered with heavy
fog (not knowing it was actually the thermal smoke from under
the ground). And since it was late afternoon, we thought it 
was some kind of early evening fog (we knew it's a hot-spring 
city, but had not expected it to be steamy everywhere).

Then we started to blame each other for passing gas in the 
car. Yes, it was the smell of the Sulphur. When we found out 
it was actually the smell of the town, we were kind of 
wondering if we could stand it for another 24 hours. 
Moreover, the Youth Hostel we stayed was located right in the 
middle of where seemed to be the origin of all those smoke!

We got used to the smell within an hour and unbelievably, 
then, enjoyed the smoke and the unusual scenery.

From our Youth Hostel, we could walk to the lake. The lake 
shore was muddy with bubbling sulphuric geysers. Yet, 
seagulls and swans wandered around for food from tourists. 
They were rather aggressive, but seemed to match well with 
the hot smoky bubbling mud. There was also hot spa in the 
Youth Hostel!  This is quite a Youth Hostel of all.

We found on the next morning that the smoke we saw when we 
arrived was actually scarily arise from everywhere under the 
town. It blew from under streets, manholes, drainages, 
people's back and front yards, anything with openings to 
underground. And when we went to the Maori's (native New 
Zealander) Cultural Center, we saw Maori's cemetery with 
thermal coming out from under the tombs too. That's like a 
scary movie to us.


Amazingly, the place was not that hot. And only the Maori 
cultural center was worth a visit. Not speaking the 
sky-diving, sheep ranch, trout fishing, trekking, 
bungy-jumping, rafting, and much more other activities 
you can join there yet. Oh and the Hot Spa... 

 

More:


How to get there... 

Arriving at new Zealand at any International airport on the 
North Island (Auckland or Wellington), you can easily rent a 
car (or a camping van / RV) and drive it all over New Zealand.
To Rotoroa, it takes like 5-6 hours and the scenery on the 
way is precious. You'd better not miss it. There is an 
airport in Rotoroa too, but it accommodates only smaller 
planes. 

Rotoroa is a must for all visitors of New Zealand. And 
remember, if you are driving, they drive to the left side of 
the road (no problem with me ;-)

I am not sure if calling the native "Maori" is offensive, but 
it's the term being used in all books and web sites I went 
to. If it is considered offensive, I am sorry. Actually my 
cousin-in-law is a half-Maori. His mom also lives in Rotoroa 
(which houses the largest Maori community). I just could not 
find the cousins to check the information because they work 
for the Foreign Department and moved around often. I could 
not locate them.

If you are in New Zealand, you have to visit the zoos and 
all the National Parks / Botanic gardens. The wild animals 
and native plants are amazing. Buy the Whale-Watching tour
at Kaikoura (South Island) too. This is also a 'must'. We 
are going to write about New Zealand's South Island soon. 
Hope we can finish it before the South's Summer starts.

For winter lovers... There is a nice place to ski in New 
Zealand as well. Mt. Cook is like the Matterhorn of the 
South. It's covered with snow all year. And the beautiful 
lakes around it plus the cute little towns and the friendly 
and kind people of New Zealand make me feel like going back 
there every year.