How lovely was it to meet Marie again in Tauranga after spending such a great time together in the Coromandel.  We arrived in Tauranga to fantastic weather.  The bus pulled right up to the i-Site.  New Zealand really has their tourist game on point.  All of the main bus stations, sauf Auckand, are at the tourist information center.  These are called i-Sites.  The hostel was across from a beautiful bay.  I dropped my stuff off with Marie and went up to the second floor to check out the view.  There were a bunch of gap year dudes just chilling doing nothing.  It made me think that I am definitely in a more chilled out place, which is good, but that I am definitely not a gap year dude.  However, if I were a gap year dude, this lake view is exactly where I would want to be.  In Tauranga, New Zealand, you find a youth hostel directly across from stunning Waipu Bay.

The surprises in Tauranga kept coming.  Marie and I went to the i-Site to figure out how to get to Mt. Maunganui.  The worker at the hostel told us we could rent bikes and make a day out of it.  The worker at the i-Site told us that would be crazy talk.  It's like 5km and there isn't much of a view on the way there.  She was right.  The bus ride was a much better idea.  The path to the mountain devolves into a bit of an industrial park.  There is a dedicated and restricted bus lane on the highway!  We are whizzing by traffic.  This seems incredibly progressive.  I later did some Google-ing and discovered that this highway project was part of a massive 10 year effort to modernize highways and reduce traffic in the region.  It was previously the biggest traffic bottleneck in the country.

Upon arriving at Mt. Maunganui, we saw the other side of the bay which also has a massive cruise terminal and container port.  We kept walking as we were looking for the entrance to the hiking trail.  That's when we saw the pristine and almost empty beach.  This town has lakes and beaches!?  Well, that's certainly worth a 15 minute bus ride.  We would begin to proceed up the hiking path and taking in the views of the gorgeous ocean. 

Marie and I parted ways as she went off to see Hobbiton, the remnants of The Lord of the Rings set.  I made my way to Rotorua, also known as the Maori capital of New Zealand.  My biggest regret in New Zealand is not going to the Maori Cultural Village.  I did a bunch of research on it and asked other backpackers what they thought of it.  The workers are actual inhabitants and it is a real village.  I had this feeling that it all felt very produced and like a bit of a Maori Disney World and I decided I'd like to continue to search for Maori locals to meet on my own.  I wish I had just gone to the village and not done all of this overthinking.  It's something I absolutely must do upon my return.

Rotorua is also home to the Wai-Tap-U sulfur park.  It's just another glorious example of the diversity of nature in New Zealand.

I also discovered an urban experiment in Rotorua where the local council attempted to create a year-round pedestrian-only outdoor dining complex.  They tried it out with temporary road closures and artwork for a year and deemed the project a success.  They then closed down the street for another year and rebuilt it as a permanent space for people instead of cars.

Had I spent another day in Rotorua I could have done the cultural village.  I guess that's the thing: the buses only come once a day.  In New Zealand, if you don't have a car and you aren't relying on hitchhiking, you have to spend the night because the buses only come once a day.  Just another regret: I probably should have found a way to go to the cultural village and hitchhiked back or grabbed a ride with some family with an extra seat in the car.  I found out from Marie later on that she hitchhiked to Wai-Tap-U while I paid something like $85 NZD for transportation and entry.  I don't know why I wasn't feeling like hitchhiking.  Let's chalk it up to fear of rejection.  I thought it was super awesome that Marie did it seamlessly.

After a day and a half in Rotorua, my next stop would be Taupo.  Taupo is known for the beautiful Lake Taupo, it's tributary Waikato River and its Huka Falls.  Lake Taupo is quite the shade of aqua blue.

The hostel was a solid 15 minute walk from the lake and about a 30 minute walk from the much-hyped Spa Thermal Park.  Taupo was also the preferred stop for the famous Tongariro Crossing.  I arrived in Taupo early enough to do some activities but it wasn't clear if the wind conditions would be suitable for Tongariro the next day.  I decided to start my way to the hiking path to see the waterfalls.

I passed by Spa Thermal Park on my way and I decided I would reward myself on the way back.  This was a very enjoyable bush walk (that's the New Zealand phrase for a hike in the woods).  Once I got to Huka Falls, the super blue, almost glacier blue, water was rushing and loud and just out of this world.  I definitely took some time to meditate and ponder life while watching the water flow.

On my way back, I dipped into the Spa Thermal Park.  In the picture you see below, the water is hot.  Like spa hot.  As you move closer to the main river though, the water becomes pretty cold.  If you find that right spot between the hot water and the cold water, you feel this incredible mix of hot and cold going all over your body.  I must have spent more than an hour just feeling all of the sensitivity of the water and experimenting with the different temperature combinations.  This is a feature of the region not to be missed.

Finally on my way back to the hostel, I came across a lookout point that I missed at the very beginning of the hike.  The panoramic view of the river surrounded by forest presented itself to me.  I felt like I knew it well (how can I say that after 3-4 hours?).  Still, it was one of those moments where you tell yourself you look forward to that next time you find yourself there.