There was a big storm last night which, apart from anything else, knocked out the electricity in most of the northern part of New Zealand’s north island. This left a lot of frustrated motorists this morning as none of the petrol stations were working when I left Paihia.
Close to 7 hours of driving in the rain is not my idea of fun but that’s how long it took to get to Rotorua. I’m sure it would have been a beautiful drive on any other day but today was not one for enjoying spectacular scenery.
Whilst I already know that the New Zealand landscape is quite stunning (when you can see it, that is), ever since I have been here I have been less than impressed by the architecture of the houses.
They are almost all single storey, wooden clad and have very similar designs. So there is little apparent character in these dwellings. They seem functional rather than aesthetically pleasing. It is quite rare to see what we would call ‘period properties’ which we so take for granted in Europe.
A visit to a hot spring is the bucket list reason why I am here. Hopefully, this can be done whether it is raining or not. Probably based on my knowledge of spa towns in the UK (Bath, Cheltenham, Leamington etc) I had this preconceived idea that Rotorua might be quite a quaint little place. What I have seen so far indicates that the reverse might well be the case and that Rotorua has developed with more of an American style!
Having said that, pouring rain and leaden skies tend to make even the most desirable places look pretty miserable. So I will reserve judgement until tomorrow.
I shall now paddle off to find some food.
Phileas
thelasthurrahsite 