NEW ZEALAND [Day 3]

Day three of my New Zealand adventure was a crazy one! We woke up at 6:00 am to get to a bus station for a day-long tour.

Our first stop was the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. This is one of those things you have to do if you’re in New Zealand. The tour guide’s grandfather was one of men who originally explored the area, so we had a little inside scoop! It was crazy beautiful, you guys. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside, but man… so pretty. We did take a photo in front of the green screen, so its like it really happened! ;)

After taking a boat ride underneath the glowworms (yes, a BOAT RIDE), we hopped back on the bus and ate a boxed lunch. Side Note: Really interesting food here in New Zealand. We have had our ups and downs, and I have not made up my mind yet. I am starting to really crave torchys tacos, and this is not good for anyone.

We made our way down to Rotorua, and hopped on another bus to go toooooo HOBBITTON. This may be one of the best things I will ever do in my life. HA. But, really, I am a huge lord of the rings fan. Like. Really big. I got kind of emotional while re-reading some of the hobbit. No shame.

So, that’ll be its own post. Cause it’s the shire, and bag end, and I just can’t handle it.

After that lovely experience, we jumped back on the bus and went back to Rotorua. Okay, so, while I was on the bus I was like it is starting to smell like breakfast… but in a bad way… and I thought maybe I was going crazy. No. I wasn’t. Rotorua has a giant lake (called Lake Rotorua, go figure) and apparently was formed from the crater of a large volcano. BUT. At the end of it is a sulphur bay. So, the whole town smells like sulphur. In fact, its nicknamed Sulphur City. So, I was right! It did smell like rotten eggs! The smell does kind of go away after you get used to it, but that was very weird. Beautiful, but weird.

After about 30 minutes of rest, my parents pulled me from my hotel room and we walked to the Pig & Whistle Pub. It was very cold, and I was exhausted, so it is not a stretch to say I was a little cranky. I ordered some beef nachos, at the Pig & Whistle (can you tell that I love the name?) and crossed my fingers it would be similar to tex mex. What was I even thinking?! Nothing compares to tex mex. But, this was pretty interesting. Sweet chips and tomato-y, cheesy, beany, dip. Very strange! But, not horrible.

Needless to say, after that  venture… I passed out. J

PS keep up with my adventures via instagram/tumblr/youtube >> links are in sidebar :)