NZ Adventures, Finally Here.

So a couple of days ago we traveled to Rotorua, which has volcanic activity like hot springs throughout the city.  The whole place smells like sulfur.  On the way there, we went Zorbing! (Technically, with the company we used, it was OGOing, or in my case, H2OGOing).  They put warm water in the ogo/zorb, a big ball suspended by cables within a bigger ball, then we jumped in and they rolled us down the hill.  It was so much fun!  I've been waiting for almost ten years to zorb, I think, and I was not disappointed.  It was great.

In the city we drove past a lake with black swans, past a fancy Tudor building that evidently used to be "the baths," and near a hot spring that stood right in the town.  We had dinner, then put our swimsuits back on for whitewater rafting!
It was pretty chilly, so they gave us fleeces and wetsuits to keep us warm.  Then we rafted the river.  It was very pretty.  The water was a swirling teal blue, and the river was banked by mossy rocks under graceful ferns.  I was in the front with Alexis.  We rafted the highest commercially rafted waterfall at 21 feet!  The water at the bottom was like a slap to the face as we went over, and the entire raft went under water before bobbing back up to the top.  We made it!  Evidently people often flip on that waterfall.  We kept rafting the rapids farther down the river and even went over one smaller fall while standing up!

In the evening we visited the Polynesian Spa, which tapped into the local hot springs.  It felt really nice in the warm water, but it did smell strongly of sulfur, so we all were sure to shower afterward!

Finally, I flew on the last leg of my journey and ended up here in Christchurch.  I haven't seen much yet, but I can tell you my room is pretty awesome.  But I don't want to be an adult!  Buying groceries yesterday was a little depressing!  Now we're getting enrolled and settled in, and I'll have some free time before things really get under way.  I made a video of my trip to Fiji, so I'll see if I can get that to load so you guys can have a better idea of what I've been talking about.  TTFN!