The Alex & The Eleanor + 1

Tues. Dec 25, 2007
Arr. Auckland, drive to Rotorua
Overcast/rainy, Chilly
Favorite sign: “Well, you asked for a sign. –God.”

Greetings from tomorrow! I predict that everyone will have a very Merry Christmas. Now that I have predicted it, it has to come true, and if it doesn’t that’s your fault not mine.

We get through customs and get our bags with no problem then wait and wait and wait for both a cell phone and our car, strange how everything is understaffed on Christmas Day. But finally we are off. Alex, poor sweetie, is really feeling coldy at this point and got no sleep on the plane, so I get the good fun of driving. On the wrong side. Luckily for me the roads were not so busy that round abouts were too scary, but had enough cars that I could just follow someone through the intersections and not have to figure too much out for myself. By the time we get to Rotorua I am feeling less like I am about to crash into someone, but it still takes a lot of concentration. We check in and go in search of lunch. First I suppose I should mention the Smell. Its not really suprising, all the geothermal activity and all, but it really really smells. Sulfur like a room full of rotten eggs. A bit stomach turning really, you get used to it a bit, but then a gust of wind from the wrong direction and BAM!. And our hotel is right next to the sulfur flats. It seemed really convinent when we booked it, right next to the spa where we would soak away the flight. But now? It stinks. Literally. Though it’s a nice hotel. Kinda looks like a ski lodge, all wood beams. So back to lunch. We wander into town (all 3 blocks or so of it) and attempt to find something, anything, that is open. We find a couple of places -  Indian, Chinese, Thai and several Kabob places. We try the Chinese, which was OK, soup and some dumplings. We head back to the hotel and Alex takes a rest while I wander around the lake a bit. Quite lovely, once I get upwind of the sulfur flats. I see lots of birds, including a aggressive blue chicken like thing, and some ducklings. We then head next door to the Polynesian Spa to soak in the mineral baths before our massages. The water is hot, and stinky and very soft. A little too hot for me, and tingly feeling. I will reserve judgement on whether it does anything. I got a honey body mask and massage. The honey was nice, very mosturizing, but the massage was very rote, ok but not great. But how shiny my rings are after soaking in highly acidic water! Thinking about it, probably not great for them, but its not like I am doing this every day, and really quite sparkly. For dinner we decide to forgo the hotel buffet options as they really don’t look great and have Indian. We get a lamb curry (well, mutton I think) garlic Naan and Saag Panner. All very tasty and much more our speed then buffet. Off to sleep nice and early to close our Christmas Day