The Museum, Polynesian Spa & Hells Gate @ Rotorua

当我们从Tongariro National Park 启程到Rotorua时，一路上天气是阴暗的（如同天气预测一样），还下雨呢。抵达目的地的游客中心，拿了我们要的活动配套，还是下雨（结果下了一整天的雨），所以我们就往博物馆避雨顺道参观参观。。。呵呵。。。然后就泡了好几个小时的温泉。人生的第一次温泉啊！爽！
When we left Tongariro National Park in the morning for Rotorua, the weather was a bit gloomy. We reached Rotorua and it was raining. It almost rain the whole day! So what did we do? After we checked out the i-Site, grabbed the tickets of the activities, and started our itinerary that suits the rainy day – Museum & Spa!

下雨啊，大家都没拿相机出来，这是博物馆网页下载的。博物馆不大，最令人印象深刻的就是那小小电影院，讲述毛利人的祖先如何来到新西兰，火山爆发时椅子会跟着摇晃的叻！（我们觉得厉害因为那迷你电影院看起来有点陈旧，没想到有这等现场效果，呵呵呵）
We didn't take out the camera due to rain, so this photo taken from the museum's website :) Museum itself is not huge, and the mini cinema that shows how the Maori settle down in New Zealand impressed me the most. The chairs will move and shake in line with the movie's story (volcano explode...)

逛了博物馆后还是下着雨，可能老天也觉得我们该休息休息，暂且告别户外活动，所以我们也‘顺应天命’，泡温泉去了！我们选了Deluxe Lake Spa，有四个不同温度的池让顾客浸泡，虽然放眼望去并无什么特别的美景，不过还是很舒服的。此时天空下着雨，冷冷的雨水打在脸上，顿时让那被熏得昏昏的脑袋清醒过来。。。
一泡就是好几个小时，那硫磺的味道久久挥之不去。。。
It was still raining after we finished exploring the Museum, probably God want us to take some rest and no outdoor activities today. Hehe, so we went to Polynesian Spa to try out the hot pool spa! We took the Deluxe Lake Spa package whereby there are 4 different temperature's pool for you to immerse in it. Felt so good when the cold cold rain dropped on my face while body was warm... we were here for few hours, so long until we can still smell the sulphur few days after :P

第二天傍晚因为没什么事情做所以我们就跑去试一试这‘泥泉’以‘定惊’（至于惊什么嘛，下回分晓）。这里贵多了，而且地方比较小，又只有一间更衣室，如果是多人的话应该要排长龙等着梳洗。原来泥泉不是我们想象中那么浓稠的，呵呵，要从池底把泥捞起来再‘贴’在脸和身上。。。最厉害的是，浸完泥泉后得冲冷水把身体冲干净才能去普通的温泉，真的是冷到...
Well we did this on the 2nd night @ Rotorua after our extreme daily activities (to share in the next post). We went to Hells Gate for its mud pool spa. But it didnt turn out to be so nice as the Polynesian Spa and its pretty costly. Lucky it was low peak season, otherwise, I guess their relatively small size of pool and only 1 fitting room facilities might not be able to cater for large volumes of visitors. The mud pool was not like how we imagine it (full of thick sticky mud :P ) the mud was laying on the bottom of the pool that u need to 'grab' it to put it on your face etc etc  :P

因为时间和天气的关系，我们没能去乘筏子，留待下次咯！呵呵。。。这里的‘国际青年旅馆’(YHA) 棒极了，以后背包旅行都会考虑这旅馆，超有水准又不贵，非常值得推荐哦！

Due to weather & limited timing, we did not try the white water rafting here (good reason to re-visit huh? :P) Gotto mentioned a bit about the YHA Backpacker Hostel here, its really of great value, clean & nicely setup, I will definitely consider YHA if I ever backpacking again!