The Forgotten Penguin & Nature's Bum
Before I forget, I must remember to fill you in on something from last weekend - when we went for our walk to the marina we saw a penguin fishing. It was very cute.
Last night there were 120kph winds and a raging storm. I thought we were going to be trapped 3 hours out of Auckland and have to shack up there for another night but after an early brekky and an hour in the spa, pool and sauna we headed off back to Auckland and here I am.
This is my journal entry from yesterday to fill you in on what our little trip away was like....
This is the only place I've been where I've smelt the earth's farts - in a bubbling, sulphuric kind of way where the smell at first is quite pungent yet before long, it is somehow enjoyable - much like the way one grows to enjoy their own farts. I have never felt so close to Mother Nature's anus - and it's a beautiful thing.
On a more serious note (not that Iw asn't already being serious), we left Auckland on Friday at the civilized time of somewhere between 2 and 3. A couple of hours later there was steam rising from behind the trees beside the road and I was introduced to the earth's anus in the middle of a cleansing session in the form of a massive downpour. After looking at the $69 per night place that I'd booked over the pohone, Dave explained to me that he'd had a fruitful week of landscaping action and that we could stay in a hotel!! I was extremely resistant at first because it wasn't a necessity but after a few minutes I not only accepted, but embraced the idea - which is how we found ourselves at the Novotel overlooking Rotorua lake (which is where we went to - Rotorua). Our room has a small spa and 2 geothermal mineral pools down stairs. Nice! I was slightly annoyed that I wouldn't get to cook with the food I'd packed but I got over it pretty quickly!
Once we got settled in our room we were starving so we went exploring the city streets of mineral stenchy love...oops carried away - sorry - and found a place called "The Fat Dog" that was very funky with a jazz sax player busking inside. The walls were all different colours - so were the chairs and the roof and all had rhymes and stories about dogs painted on them! Except the wall above the fish tank - that had one about fish that started with: "My name is Charlie - I live in a fish bowl..." very cute. I had a calamari salad which was yum but Dave's lamb shanks and sticky date pud left the palette needing more (not the tummy - just the palette).
Got up early as usual this morning and went down for brekky at the hotel. Yum - scrambled eggs and bacon on toast then a pancake with maple syrup then fruit and a croissant. Delish. Eventually we headed off to Wai-o-tapu - "the most colourful geothermal area..." - which it was. We saw Lay Knox Geyser erupt - all over us with water then went on a 3.2km walk through a geothermal natural wonderland. Bubbling mud pools making rippled mud patterns and spitting into the air noisy like wet, burbling...And bright yellow sulphur holes puffing steam (Fumeroles), green pools of bubbling water, an irridescent lime coloured lake-ish one, a dark green one rimmed with bright orange that we were right on the edge of walking beside it and covered in the steam off it's surface everywhere...etc. My favourite was "the Artist's palette" which was a big expanse of different coloured water and rock - beautifully eery landscape. Indescribable really. And there was bright orange, mossy stuff on the Manuka trees. Lush morning with showers of rain. Divine way to start the day. Subway for lunch. Thickshakes by Lake Rotorua watching people do pedal boat things. Nap/reading time back at the hotel and now Dave's getting a 60min massage down stairs and I'm doing a facial in the hotel room then going down for a massage too (see footnote) write and wonder how I came to deserve all this and experience it all so deeply that I've already cried twice with joy that I'm in such a loving relationship and such a beautiful, magical, spiritual and culturally rich country. Amazing and fantastic.
Footnote: we ended up getting the massages for free because of a situation...read on if yr intrigued....I got my massage and the guy did my bum and chest which is pretty normal for a massage. I got back to the room all squishy blah blah and Dave and I were talking about our massages together and I soon realised that the guy didn't do Dave's bum or chest and then I started thinking that was really wrong that this massage guy would only do da ladies chest n bum and felt a bit gross so I slept on it and this morning went and spoke to reception about it and was quite surprised that they agreed it was a bit strange, took the massages off our bill and assured me they would investigate the situation and let me know the outcome. I was impressed with how they handled it cos it was all a bit uncomfortable really. Anyway, the massage was great - I was just grossed out that girls and guys got different treatment. Lovely weekend in all and a busy bustling week ahead.
Last night there were 120kph winds and a raging storm. I thought we were going to be trapped 3 hours out of Auckland and have to shack up there for another night but after an early brekky and an hour in the spa, pool and sauna we headed off back to Auckland and here I am.
This is my journal entry from yesterday to fill you in on what our little trip away was like....
This is the only place I've been where I've smelt the earth's farts - in a bubbling, sulphuric kind of way where the smell at first is quite pungent yet before long, it is somehow enjoyable - much like the way one grows to enjoy their own farts. I have never felt so close to Mother Nature's anus - and it's a beautiful thing.
On a more serious note (not that Iw asn't already being serious), we left Auckland on Friday at the civilized time of somewhere between 2 and 3. A couple of hours later there was steam rising from behind the trees beside the road and I was introduced to the earth's anus in the middle of a cleansing session in the form of a massive downpour. After looking at the $69 per night place that I'd booked over the pohone, Dave explained to me that he'd had a fruitful week of landscaping action and that we could stay in a hotel!! I was extremely resistant at first because it wasn't a necessity but after a few minutes I not only accepted, but embraced the idea - which is how we found ourselves at the Novotel overlooking Rotorua lake (which is where we went to - Rotorua). Our room has a small spa and 2 geothermal mineral pools down stairs. Nice! I was slightly annoyed that I wouldn't get to cook with the food I'd packed but I got over it pretty quickly!
Once we got settled in our room we were starving so we went exploring the city streets of mineral stenchy love...oops carried away - sorry - and found a place called "The Fat Dog" that was very funky with a jazz sax player busking inside. The walls were all different colours - so were the chairs and the roof and all had rhymes and stories about dogs painted on them! Except the wall above the fish tank - that had one about fish that started with: "My name is Charlie - I live in a fish bowl..." very cute. I had a calamari salad which was yum but Dave's lamb shanks and sticky date pud left the palette needing more (not the tummy - just the palette).
Got up early as usual this morning and went down for brekky at the hotel. Yum - scrambled eggs and bacon on toast then a pancake with maple syrup then fruit and a croissant. Delish. Eventually we headed off to Wai-o-tapu - "the most colourful geothermal area..." - which it was. We saw Lay Knox Geyser erupt - all over us with water then went on a 3.2km walk through a geothermal natural wonderland. Bubbling mud pools making rippled mud patterns and spitting into the air noisy like wet, burbling...And bright yellow sulphur holes puffing steam (Fumeroles), green pools of bubbling water, an irridescent lime coloured lake-ish one, a dark green one rimmed with bright orange that we were right on the edge of walking beside it and covered in the steam off it's surface everywhere...etc. My favourite was "the Artist's palette" which was a big expanse of different coloured water and rock - beautifully eery landscape. Indescribable really. And there was bright orange, mossy stuff on the Manuka trees. Lush morning with showers of rain. Divine way to start the day. Subway for lunch. Thickshakes by Lake Rotorua watching people do pedal boat things. Nap/reading time back at the hotel and now Dave's getting a 60min massage down stairs and I'm doing a facial in the hotel room then going down for a massage too (see footnote) write and wonder how I came to deserve all this and experience it all so deeply that I've already cried twice with joy that I'm in such a loving relationship and such a beautiful, magical, spiritual and culturally rich country. Amazing and fantastic.
Footnote: we ended up getting the massages for free because of a situation...read on if yr intrigued....I got my massage and the guy did my bum and chest which is pretty normal for a massage. I got back to the room all squishy blah blah and Dave and I were talking about our massages together and I soon realised that the guy didn't do Dave's bum or chest and then I started thinking that was really wrong that this massage guy would only do da ladies chest n bum and felt a bit gross so I slept on it and this morning went and spoke to reception about it and was quite surprised that they agreed it was a bit strange, took the massages off our bill and assured me they would investigate the situation and let me know the outcome. I was impressed with how they handled it cos it was all a bit uncomfortable really. Anyway, the massage was great - I was just grossed out that girls and guys got different treatment. Lovely weekend in all and a busy bustling week ahead.
posted by Chinese Gooseberry @ 6:21 pm
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