Day 3/4 - Sunrise, Duck Boat Tour, Geothermal Rotorua, Skyline Gondola, Racing Luges, Agrodome, & Maori Village Visit

6/15/2018

Our day in Rotorua started with an opportunity to watch the sun light up Lake Rotorua with beautiful hues of reds & oranges and then breakfast at the hotel.

Then our day officially began, with a two hour cruise around the city and lakes in a Duck Boat: a converted authentic WWII military vehicle (Lucy) that bumped along the road and glided along the water as we stopped at lake after lake listening to our snarky and funny guide, Shelly, narrate for us about the region, history, landmarks, and made up facts! Our students wore and used duck whistles and sang along to songs as we explored Rotorua.

Following our fun morning aboard the Duck Boat, we ventured into a Maori Village that is set upon a hotbed of geothermal activity. The area reminded us of Yellowstone, and we walked along with a local guide from the village and learned about their customs, ways of life, and cooking & bathing techniques using the geothermal hot steam. Fascinating.

To round out our morning, our guide, Glenn, took us to the Skyline Gondola to ride to the top of the mountainside to get spectacular views over the city of Rotorua. At the top, we ate lunch at a cafe with a view, where there was also a winery, a candy shop, an ice cream & coffee parlor, and much more...

And finally... the Luge, chairlift, and Gondola back to the bottom...
our Mason, Tyce, & Coy raced Mr. Cox down the mountainside, the girls stuck together and slowly careened down their first time led by Sydni, Kat & Kyle took the sibling route, and we all made it safely back up - with most choosing to go again!