It's Christmas Eve and I'm spending the day in transit. The first part of the trip from Kerikeri involved a scenic five hour bus ride to Auckland. The last part, due to begin any minute, includes a seven hour bus trip to Rotorua.
Rotorua is famous for it's thermal activity, and is peppered with heated springs and shooting geysers. Although the hot springs stink of sulfur, they are renowned for being medicinal. I'm sure a nice soak in a pool of thermally heated water, will do me wonders after spending twelve hours on a bus. I'm not concerned about the sulfur smell too much at the moment. I doubt I'll smell much better.
¤
Had a little nap on the bus and I am about two hours away from Rotorua. It's getting cooler as I get further south, a concept I'm having a little trouble adjusting to. I'm also curious to see the Coriolis effect on this side of the equator. While I don't challenge that it's true, it's disappointing that I've not yet had the chance to witness it. So far, none of the drains or toilets spin the water before it disappears. All of them just slurp it straight down. It's becoming quite annoying, really.
 |
| New Zealand Bus Photo by AxelF (CC-BY-SA-3.0) from Wikipedia Commons |
It's now 11pm and the bus trip is (finally) over. Gail and I have settled into an independent hostel in Rotorua. This place is best described as a hole, but it was all that was available for the night. Anywhere, except maybe outside in the rain, is better than this place, although that's debatable. Even the wallpaper is attempting an escape and Gail has discovered a sticker from condom packaging on the the headboard of her bed. It just adds to the ambiance.
Tomorrow, we have booked accommodations at the YHA. I have replenished my supply of Jim Beam and Gail picked up a bottle of gin. Hoping that a few drinks will improve the state of this place, which needs so much, much more than beer goggles to make it bearable.
• ¤ •
"A traveler in ancient Greece met an old man walking along the road and asked him how to get to Mount Olympus. The old man replied: "Just make sure that every step you take is in that direction."
No comments:
Post a Comment