Corn on the cob connoisseur here. {Obviously I also love alliteration}

I love it when my favorite foods are served so good in places you wouldn’t expect, like that bean burrito with tater tots in a mall in Victoria, British Columbia.

I had a top 10, but I’m sure that would be boring, so here’s the top 3

3 Jimmy’s Diner, Berlin

I don’t know how big corn is in Germany, but one of the double decker buses was completely plastered in corn kernels. Why can’t we get ads like that here? Anyhoo, After your first American-style burger in a month, this corn is so sweet it seems like dessert.

2 Some corn fair in the Midwest. . . Wisconsin?

Ranking has nothing to do with the redhead that served it to me, I swear. Or watching her roll up her sleeves and roughly guide it back and forth over a block of butter, swinging her arm so fast the camera couldn’t freeze it. Seriously, it was all about the taste. . .

1. Rotorua, NZ

Feeling hungry after the Maori show and eruption of the Kiwi version of Yellowstone’s Old Faithful--which I missed while in the restroom--I saw the sign signifying corn on the cob for one local dollar, and of course couldn’t resist. But where was it? There was only a woman sitting on a bucket. . . Oh no, please don’t tell me. . .

But no. Checking her watch, she stood up and grabbed a rope, then proceeded to haul up a bucket that had been dropped into a mini-geyser to cook. Incredulous, but also grinning, I bit gingerly into the corn and found my taste buds literally dancing. Before I had taken a second bite I ordered two more, so no one else could get them and I wouldn’t have to wait for the next bucket to be lowered.

Corn on the cob connoisseur here. {Obviously I also love alliteration} I love it when my favorite foods are served so good in places you wouldn’t expect, like that bean burrito with tater tots in a mall in Victoria, British Columbia. I had a top 10, but I’m sure that would be boring, so here’s the top 3 3 Jimmy’s Diner, Berlin I don’t know how big corn is in Germany, but one of the double decker buses was completely plastered in corn kernels. Why can’t we get ads like that here? Anyhoo, After your first American-style burger in a month, this corn is so sweet it seems like dessert. 2 Some corn fair in the Midwest. . . Wisconsin? Ranking has nothing to do with the redhead that served it to me, I swear. Or watching her roll up her sleeves and roughly guide it back and forth over a block of butter, swinging her arm so fast the camera couldn’t freeze it. Seriously, it was all about the taste. . . 1. Rotorua, NZ Feeling hungry after the Maori show and eruption of the Kiwi version of Yellowstone’s Old Faithful--which I missed while in the restroom--I saw the sign signifying corn on the cob for one local dollar, and of course couldn’t resist. But where was it? There was only a woman sitting on a bucket. . . Oh no, please don’t tell me. . . But no. Checking her watch, she stood up and grabbed a rope, then proceeded to haul up a bucket that had been dropped into a mini-geyser to cook. Incredulous, but also grinning, I bit gingerly into the corn and found my taste buds literally dancing. Before I had taken a second bite I ordered two more, so no one else could get them and I wouldn’t have to wait for the next bucket to be lowered.

Words: coming soon!

Fat Dog Cafe & Bar is a funky little cafe in downtown Rotorua that is a great spot to catch breakfast or lunch. They serve a wide variety of foods, most written up anew daily on the chalkboard behind the bar. Lots of fresh unusual salads, soups, vegetable bakes, lasagne, bagels, eggs -- you named it. Its fast, fresh and healthy. Oh, and did I mention funky? It attracts a varied crowd -- students, mountain bikers, tourists, musicians -- you name it. Great coffee and expresso too. Enjoy!

Your ticket for the Gondola ride up to the skyline complex and then an undescribable smorgasborg is out of this world. To add to that, they also give out a ticket for a Gondola ride for the next day, so that you can enjoy the views again. Another of the things to be done while up there, is to ride the luge. Although we saw a lot of beautiful scenery, we could not find food to match this! When we sat down, the first thing we were offered was a bowl of steamed chilli mussels. Then it was help yourself to the vast array of food, food and more food!

Breakfast at the Duxton Hotel was awesome!  I had scrambled eggs with sun dried tomatoes with a side of bacon.  There must have been 5 eggs on my plate!  Of course my mother always taught me to eat all on my plate, so I was stuffed when I finished!

Our first stop of the day was the Rotorua geothermal areas -- it's very much like Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming with geysers, thermal pools and lots of sulfurous smells.  And the WH at the beginning is prounced like an "f".  We went to the area called Whakarewarera Thermal Area, This area is also a hub of Maori culture, the peoples who first inhabited New Zealand.  We took a guided tour for the first part of our visit, and had a local Maori guide that was very informative and humorous.  We started at an area with large thermal pools and the guide showed us how the original peoples would cook their food here in steam boxes and in the boiling pools with nets.  We did try some of the corn that was cooked here and it was awesome, although not a native food!  We saw the areas where the baths were located as well.

The tour included some buildings that were modled after traditional Maori structures, like the town meeting hall.  The Maori's used rich wood carving detail on their work which is very artistic and beautiful.  I got a couple of carvings to take home with me, as well as some necklaces for my sisters made of whale bone, carved by Maori artisans.  Some are traditional Maori fish hooks, others are a symbol of eternal life in a modified figure eight type carving.  Very beautiful.  Oh, and the whale bone that is used is from bones that wash up on shore.  No whales are harmed in the making of these carvings!

The tour included a cultural show with Maori dancers that was actually quite good.  My favorite was when they did the "Haka" dance.  The Haka is a fierce dance of the warriors that was done at the outset of any hostile meeting.  It is reported in Captain Cook's original journals that the Maori tribes did the Haka when he and his men attempted to go ashore on their original exploration.  The men performing the Haka stomp, twirl, slap their thighs and make amazing faces.  The one I love the most is where they stick their tongue out as long as they can and point it down.  I even got the guide to do that in one of my pictures.  If you are ever fortunate enough to see the New Zealand All Blacks play rugby, you can see the Haka in full force, as they do it at the beginning of every match.  If you are curious about seeing the Haka, check out this clip from YouTube.com:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd0kDxP04eI  I love to watch them perform the Haka -- never fails to make me smile -- but I am sure if you were part of Captain Cook's original crew, it would evoke a different emotion!

After the dance portion, we were free to wander about the park and to look at the various geyers, thermal pools and mud pots.  It's quite beautiful, but very smelly with all the sulphur!  Definitely the stench of rotten eggs everywhere!

At the exit to the park, the waters run into a small creek and on to the river.  There were a number of children there at the point diving for coins that the tourists toss into the water for good luck.  Hard way to make much money!

On the outskirts of Rotorua is one of my favorite activities in New Zealand -- Zorbing.  The Zorb is a large vinyl ball that you crawl inside and then get rolled down a 200 meter long hill.  There are two methods:  the Dry Zorb and the Wet Zorb.  If you choose the Dry Zorb, you are harnessed inside the ball, and then rolled down the hills head over heels many many times until you reach the bottom.  That one seems to have more potential for losing ones lunch inside the ball, which could make for a big mess.  I have always chosen to do the Wet Zorb.

The Wet Zorb is billed as the "wash cycle" by the local operators here.  There is no harness involved in the Wet Zorb.  You get inside the ball, they add some water to the bottom, and they give you a push.  The brochure says it is a cross between a rollercoaster and a waterfall.  I think it's more like being inside the washer during the spin cycle as you are rolling down the hillside.  The water works a bit like a lubricant in that it allows you to stay in a sitting position (for the most part) as the Zorb rolls down the hill.  The water does spin all around you and you bounce around a lot, but I have never gone heels over head or vice versa on the Wet Zorb.  I talked my Dad into joining me, but could not convince Mom that it as a good idea!  They give you clothing for your ride down the hill so you don't get your own clothes wet -- and you do get wet!  It's not real flattering -- but better than coming out wet with your own jeans! 

Dad and I laughed the entire ride down.  His eyes were quite large during most of the ride, but once he figured out that he was not going to go topsy turvy, he relaxed and really enjoyed it.  Mom got a good laugh from the sidelines too -- and when she saw how wet we were when we emerged from the Zorb, she was quite happy she did not do the Zorb.

We stayed at the Duxton Hotel at Okawa Bay on Lake Roitotiti just on the outskirts of Rotorua.  Its a quaint little hotel on a beautiful lake.  We had a nice patio off the back of our room with a great view over the lake.  It was a perfect place to enjoy a cocktail and watch the ducks on the lake as the sun was setting.  It was quite nice just to sit outside and enjoy the quiet, the view and the wonderful weather.  My parents were particularly happy to be sitting outside in January in weather so nice, particularly since it was below Zero back in their hometown in Wyoming!

We had a nice dinner at the hotel dining room.  I had New Zealand lamb, Dad had prime rib and Mom had chicken.  They served the meal with sides of vegetables family style.  It was a really nice no frills meal, but delicious.  For dessert, we had a hazlenut mousse with a hard chocolate shell -- only so so.

Alright, so like I previously mentioned, we had a fun-filled morning getting out of Auckland, and heading for Rotorua, which was our destination for that day.

Lots of educational encounters and siteseeing with random individuals, willing to stop and pick up a couple of poor hitchhikers, and also generous enough to share their culture with us.  That's what it's all about!

And it wasn't over just yet . . . we then had the pleasure of meeting Kelvin!! This gentleman who's also of Maori decent, was absolutely wonderful to us!

He gave us a guided tour of Rotorua, aka the "Sulfur City".  And also shared lots of his culture and ancestral history with us.  Oh yeah, and let me not forget to mention that he even went out of his way to have us try some Maori specialties . . . well, Arnaud was the only brave one amongst the two of us.  Yummy "Kina"!!! Sorry I just couldn't, had to pass that one up! Perhaps I'll be more adventurous regarding food next time!!

As for Rotorua, as it's one of the most visited spots here in New Zealand, everything's quite expensive, all specially designed for rich tourists!! Poor us!  Still, it's a really cool place, just be prepared to take in the constant rotten-egg odor around here!!  Not very pleasant, at all!! 

Besides the smelliness of the place, it's quite a dynamic thermal area with spurting geysers, steaming hot springs and exploding mud pools all about.  So, of course, you got the over-priced touristy ones, OR those the locals go to, which are so much better because they're free! Guess which ones we went to?!! 

And lucky for us, Kelvin let us in on all the freebies around.  We visited Kuirau park, which is pretty much a park with geysers/mud pools all over the place.  Then there was our visit to the the hot & cold springs, which was FA-BU-LOUS!  It's crazy because these here are right next to this place tourists usually go to, Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, but the difference is that they're free!!

Obviously, we absolutely loved it here, so we just had to come back the following day for some more hot and cold action.  It's really a unique place, on one side you have this cold river that flows into the hot springs that are just opposite it, thus the reason for it's name, "the hot & cold" springs!!  On our second visit here, however, we made sure not to miss the mud pools that are nearby and also free!!  NICE!!!

Be sure to check out the photos & video!!

Donc, la majorite qui s arrete pour nous prendre en stop sont Maoris, et le dernier Kelvin, nous proposa de nous faire un petit tour de ville de Rotorua, qui etait d ailleurs notre objectif final du jour, et quoi de mieux d etre avec un personne qui connait parfaitement la ville et ses alentours, mais il y avait une condition pour faire ce tour, c etait d etre sage toute la journne pour qu a la fin on puisse se baigner dans des eaux thermales.

Il faut savoir que cette ville est l une des plus touristiques, du aux nombreuses activites thermales, il y a par exemple un parc ou on peut voir des geyseres, et cela en plein milieu de la ville, j ai trouve ca surprenant, non!!?  C est comme aller dans les parcs pour voir les joueurs de petanque sauf la c est des geyseres!! Le seul inconveniant est l odeur de soufre, c est pas tres agreable.

Sinon a la fin de la journee, Kelvin nous amena donc a la riviere des "eaux froides et chaudes", cela se trouve a cote d un centre thermale, on l appelle froid et chaud parce que le site se trouve entre 2 rivieres, l une a 40 degres et l autre a 15 degres, et toi t es au milieu en train d apprecier le moment et faire des petites photos et videos, juste histoire de partager ca avec les lecteurs!!!

Le lendemain on visita la ville tranquillement, on se renseigna pour faire un "Hangi", c est un repas Maori traditionnel cuit au four dans la terre, et encore une fois devinez quoi, c etait hors de prix. Donc nous, tout ce qu on a fait cuir, c est nos tartines pour le petit dejeuner!!

Very cheap Backpackers and I managed to bag the last twin – actually a small mobile/caravan. The owners are very friendly and eco-conscious – there are recycling facilities for everything! Internet is provided in a house across the street ($2 for 30 mins, I think). Laundry facilities are also provided. The owners have done pretty much all of the local attractions - so ask them for advice, you might also get some kind of discount.

We headed for Rotorua this morning with a short stop in Hamilton. There are some interesting little towns along the way. We are staying in a hotel that looks out over the thermal pool. We are only stopping overnight so I booked dinner at the Skyline Gondola restaurant. Our ticket includes the gondola ride, dinner ( I am putting photos of food on here. It was brilliant). We also got tickets to go back up on the gondola the next day so that we could enjoy it by daylight.  A must to do!

... and nobody would know. It smells  of sulphur a lot here, bit like being back in Iceland.  Might see if I can get into one of the pools tomorrow, for a dip.

Took the InterCity bus service from Auckland to Rotorua - $56. Four hours later on arrive here, and try to find a place to rest my weary head. The Hot Rock hostel was booked up (person before me took the last single, damn them) - so moved on to my second choice - Funky Green SomethingOrOther. It's pretty good- managed to grab a twin cabin to myself for $47. Being ANZAC day means most places are pretty busy.

Will see what tomorrow holds.

This day we are first going to WAI-O-TAPU thermal wonderland. There you can walk along several small lakes in different colors. I'm not sure what the names were, but I think I saw Artists Palette, the Rainbow crater, sulphurs cave, the blue lake with the red on the sides is the champagne pool and the green one Lake Ngakoro.

The second stop was at the lady knox Geyser. The geyser erupts daily at 10:15am reaching heights of up to 20 metres and can continue to erupt for up to one hour. the height of the eruption depends on the water level deep under the groud. Why excactly at 10:15 ??  Because they throw soap in the geyser!! Before you take a place to look at the geyser, be sure you know were the wind is blowing... , you could become wet ...

We continue our journey to the Waikato river. In the river you find the Huka falls. The Huka Falls are the largest falls on the Waikato River, near Taupo on the North Island. But what causes those falls? The Waikato River, normally up to 100 metres wide, abruptly narrows to just 15 metres as it crosses a hard volcanic ledge. So the waterlevel raises and then drops about 15-20 meters.

After this we went to Taupo and we had some shopping time. I had to buy a neadle and some yarn, because my suitcase broke. After this we drove along in a rainy weather to Tongariro National Park.

We were there on time in the rain and had dinner together, because there was nothing else in the neighbourhood.

Much later we were seated at the bar and talked the whole evening with a nice lady behind the bar. Erin ! She talked about the view to the vulcano and that there was a big chance that the whole day tomorrow would be rainy... That doesn't sound good. We have plans to climb the vulcano...

This day we went to the whakarewarewa thermal reserve. This is in the rotorua area.

Rotorua is a smallish city on the shores of Lake Rotorua. The surrounding areas are a geothermal wonderland, with geysers, boiling mud pools, and steaming craters - accompanied by the pervasive smell of sulphur. Rotorua is also a showcase of Maori cultural activities.

We had the whole day to see what we wanted to see. We visited first the Maori village and had a look at a small show. We should see the whole show in the evening. After this we walked aroud the mudholes and the geysers.

In the evening we were introduced to the Maori. After this traditional Maori welcome and challenge by fierce warriors, we had to have a "chief" ourselves, it is going to be Jos.  (not me). He was the only one who could speak with the Maori. He had to tell them if we liked the Maori... Of course we did!

Then we took our seats in the front and saw there MAI ORA show. I liked the show. You will be entertained with traditional songs, dances and stories of the Maori. We saw the seductiveness of the Poi dance, the ferocity of the haka, (war dance) and the complexity of Tititorea, the stick games. It was at least remarkeble.

After the show we had the opportunity to take pictures from- and with them. I chose the most lovely lady of the group :). We also get a dinner from the Maori. This is also included in the MAI ORA show.

Back in the hotel I took a spa and sauna and after that Jos and I went to Paul and Serena for a drink (or two..)

one of the few things which i'd planned to do before leaving the UK was kayak the Kaituna river near Rotorua. So this was one of the main reasons I was staying in Rotorua for two whole days.

Having spent an entire winter in the UK not paddling because a lack of water, I felt particularly hard done by when after travelling 12 thousand miles - I still couldn't paddle due to a lack of water. So I found myself with no plans and no one to be annoyed at in Rotorua.

I decided to head out to Hell's Gate for a mud bath and spa to fill my day. Having been in Rotorua for two nights already, I was begining to get a bit sick of the smell of sulphar, plus once you've seen one bubbling pool of mud you've kind of seen them all. so after a very brief walk around the geothermal park I was very pleased to find a tent offering free wood carvings. fantastic fun, I carved a kiwi!

Following that I headed for the mud bath. I'd been looking forward to this for sometime, but it is a bit lonely on your own, plus it all stunk of sulphar and after 20 minutes I started to feel a bit faint and go a headache. I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in bed... all due to the lack of rain. rubbish.

I arrived in Rotorua early evening on Sunday to empty streets which smelt strongly of sulphar. I was staying in Spa Lodge which was a nice little place, with extremely helpful staff, although the freak count was quite high amongst its few residence.

On advice of the staff of the hostel, I started monday with a walk around Rotorua, first stop Kuiriu Park. Next to the children’s playground were piles of gently steaming rocks, dark green ponds streaming and black pots of mud bubbling not unlike the bog of eternal stench from labyrinth.

From there I headed out to the lake and sulphar point, where the milky blue lake gently steams and the ducks have a warm bath. I've got everywhere to my self. I take advantage of a cold beer and the hot spa pool at the hostel and prepare for the nights entertainment.