Mountain Biking Rotorua

I should’ve known today was going to be a good day, because it started out with banana pancakes and peanut butter and only got better from there. For Blake’s birthday, my parents told us they would pay for the two of us to rent mountain bikes for the day and bike through the extensive network of trails in the redwood forest. Today was the one sunny day in the forcast this week, so we decided it would be our best bet. We worked our usual 10 am to 12 at the hostel- me cleaning bathrooms, Blake making beds. As Blake was making a bed he started talking to a newcomer to the hostel named Kevin. Turns out Kevin is the same age as us, just graduated from Stanford and really wanted to bike the redwoods too. As much as I love Blake, we do occasionally need other people to hang out with, so we were overjoyed to meet someone at the hostel who didn’t speak German and was up for an adventure (the hostel owner is German, so they seem to get a ton of German tourists that keep to themselves). After work we walked a few blocks to the Bike Barn where we were each fitted to a bike and a helmet and were given directions on how to bike the 5k to the forest. We started on some easy trails and worked our way up to some intermediate trails, all leading through the beautiful forest. After two hours of biking the lower trails, we took a suggestion from the guy at the bike shop and rode up a really big hill (think Ponderosa in McCall plus some) until we were exhausted and had to walk it. The views at the top were so worth it though! We were able to see the whole city and Lake Rotorua. By this point we had been on the bikes about three hours and were exhausted and hungry, so we decided to head back to return our bikes. The ride home was terrible since for some reason my butt hurt so bad I couldn’t even sit down on the seat anymore. The day was made though when we saw a man selling tons of avocados for only $2 a bag! You know what that means… guac for dinner!!!! Huge thanks to my parents for the awesome experience. Blake wishes dad and Drew were there to ride the switchbacks fast with him.

Our new friend Kevin! View over Lake Rotorua and the rest of the city.

 

Whoooo avocados!

 

Other noteworthy news:

1.       We visited Kuirau Park and saw a bunch of natural thermal pools that were really cool.

It smells like farts here.

Natural thermal hotspots.

 

2.       We found out how to hike to see Pohotu geyser, so we didn’t have to pay for it.

3.       A common thing here is to sell fish and chips at the same shop and eat them together in one meal. I don’t know that I will ever understand this.

4.       We’ve picked up a few Kiwi phrases we really like. “sweet as”- to say something is cool or sweet, “chuck”- used a lot of different ways. Ex: “I will chuck the water over onto the table” or “chuck the stamp onto the letter”

5.       Coffee shops here make really good drinks, like best chai lattés I have ever tasted. Blake gets a flat white (basically a latte) and me a chai, obviously. They are usually served extra foamy with pretty decorations and a marshmallow on the side.

6.       Last but definitely not least, I’m sure you were all wondering what the Catan score is. I currently lead 11-8, although Blake is making a comeback.