This will be my honest feelings about New Zealand not just about a trip. I haven't been out of Auckland so far, so I haven't experienced many real New Zealanders. I'm sure that I will see, learn, feel and think lots of things during the trip.
And this is my story.
Part1.1 - Rotorua
I have planned to travel all around New Zealand for more than 2 weeks. I've never been throbbing this much in my heart with expectation in my life. And I have to admit that I have turned away from studying because I was so excited and had lots of things to prepare.
I received the YHA membership card five days before going - and I got a 'one free night' voucher~!
Time flies and D-day finally has come. Five of my friends and I got together at Britomart Transport Station and had a light lunch box. As a matter of fact I lost my key to open my big bag before I got to the Britomart so I had to break the lock... One of my friends told me to bear it as the price for the escape from misfortune ahead and I really hope so! ^^
12:15 pm - Time to hop on the bus. The bus we took is the Nakedbus. Everybody who was first told the name of the bus was surprised but I even don't know why it's called that. Nobody is naked, don't worry.
We hopped on the bus and gave our reservation numbers.The bus driver loaded our bags himself. I may well expect a driver to do so in Korea but I didn't in New Zealand so it felt very kind of the driver to do that. That must be the principle of relativity. ^^
No sooner than I had a seat, I got carsick... It's just because it's been too long since I've been on a bus trip.The road conditions of New Zealand are much better than in Korea so I can't get carsick... Anyway I luckily fell asleep at once and then when I woke up I felt much better.
Our bus was in the middle of its way to Hamilton. I looked outside through the window to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
I took this photo because the clouds looked like a grand panorama. The thing I like most in NZ is that mountains are not very high around the road. Of course it's very charming to drive the road which is surrounded by the mountains with beautiful trees in Korea. However, to have a good peculiar experience is always delightful.
When I was on the road between the pastures both sides, I could see the cows, horses and sheep graze on the greenary grassland. The blue sky and green land mixed so well and they became just a fantastic picture. I'm not a prefessional photographer but this beauiful nature allowed me to be a pro at the moment. The best part was that when a wide prospect bursted upon my view as I came out of the little forest. I felt refreshed at the moment when a road was opened up.
The bus arrived at I-sites (Travelers' Centre - very useful and good!), Rotorua via Hamilton (I gave my word to myself that I will travel this city some day too).
Actually, we didn't made an accommodation reservation because I had heard that it was not a high-demand season so we could find a good bacpackers or other kind of accommodation.You can find lots of information about accommodation and activities if you go into the I-sites. The bus lets you get off right in front of the Centre. We found a place, SPA LODGE, that suited our taste and headed there.
Check in, unpack and have quick dinner. The very reason that we chose the SPA LODGE among the many other places was we were able to use the Natural Thermal Spa for free!!! We intended to go the Polynesian spa at night but we decided not to. Thanks to the help of the kind staff, we got a free map of the Rotorua city and made a quick stroll at night.
I have to go to sleep early because I've got many things to do tomorrow.
Good night!
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