Mid-Sem Tour, Day II, III – Whakatane, Bay of Plenty

Whakatane is pronounced Fah-kah-tah-neh. It sounds like the f-word. It’s quite funny, our driver at Rotorua when giving some commentary about NZ said that NZ is a cool place because kids can get away with swearing. There are so many other places that have similar pronunciation, just to list a few, Whakapapa, Whakawerawera etc…

Our trusty mode of transport, the InterCity Buses

We spent the whole day on the bus traveling from Whitianga at 745am, reaching Whakatane only at 330pm. When we reached, we had time to squeeze in a short bush walk. Along the way, we saw sheep and lambs. The lambs were soooooooooo CUTE. Instead of walking, they were jumping and hopping ard! It was such an amusing sight. When we reached the submit, we stayed for a while to watch the sunset.

Was mesmerised by this beautiful tree.

Cute sheep and lamb

Sunset. Romantic moment with Yeefang. Haha...

The next day, we went to White Island, an active marine volcano with Peejays Tours. Peejays is a monopoly, they are the only ones who organize tours to White Island. We took a luxury Yacht to the Island. Sadly, we didn’t manage to spot any dolphins along the way. From the yacht, we had to take a raft to get to the Island.

On the yacht

The last eruption that took place in White Island was in 2000, pretty recent aye? The whole island is relentlessly fuming and hence the name White Island, because of the constant clouds of white fumes being emitted from the island. The water flowing in the streams is acidic and hence there is little or no vegetation on the island and no wildlife as well. During the great depression in the 1930s, sulphur mining took place at White Island. Ppl were queuing up for jobs on the island as they paid well. The risk of working on the island was very high because the volcano could erupt anytime. Several miners died due to volcanic eruptions on the island.

We took the Heli. Rich huh? Neh...we didn't. We're just trying to look like we took it. Costs a bomb to take the Helicopter.

We had to wear yellow helmets at all times on the island, in case of an eruption. When the sulphur fumes were so overwhelming, we would have to put on the given gas masks. Inhaling the fumes would cause irritation to the throat and coughing. To alleviate the effects of the fumes, the throat has to be kept moist. We were given lollies to keep our throats moist. Interestingly, White Island is actually privately owned.

Don't we look like construction workers.

Fuming vent

Yellow sulphur stream

Loved the colour of the sea. The photo doesn't do it justice.

Back on the boat enjoying lunch after our trek on the island. That's me and Nils, another German. NZ seems to be filled with Germans.

At Whakatane, we stayed at Lloyds’ Lodge. It felt like a home stay cos it was a real house converted into a backpackers. Its interior is like that of a little cottage and it felt so cosy. I really love the toilet although it is a shared one. It is HUGE, with a bath tub, the kind with legs (which we weren’t allowed to use as hot water was limited), and a shower area as well. It is so big, you could dance in it. It is like 2.5 times the size of my room in the Hobson apartment!! I’d be contented staying in the toilet. Haha..ok mayb not. The drawback is that the doors can’t be locked.

The beautiful and BIG toilet.

Snuggling up to the heater.

Staying at the backpackers with us were some Maori guys (who are gardeners on a job) and 3 German students. The host, Pam, assured us that it was safe and that we didn’t need to lock our doors. We made friends with some of the Maoris and the 3 Germans. It felt quite safe on the first night and we had a good night’s sleep. However, on the 2nd night, we were terrified. The Germans had left and staying at the Lodge that night were the Maori guys, us, a Japanese girl called Miyuki and a kiwi lady. One of the Maori guys got fresh with the Japanese girl. I was shocked to see him getting intimate with her when she barely knew him! Then, he talked to Yeefang and according to Yeefang, he sounded really desperate to have some intimacy. I was extremely weary of him and told Yeefang not to be friendly with him.

While we were watching Boston Legal, he tried to talk to us. I was focusing on my Boston Legal so I ignored him. However, Yeefang was obliged to make small talk with him and he started talking about the Chinese words on my Hwa Chong T-shirt. He was pointing at my back and I just knew that he’d touch me and sure enough, he did! I shot him a look and I think he sort of got the idea that he should back off. Then, we excused ourselves, saying that we had to sleep early. Back in our room, Yeefang said that his hands brushed against her thighs when he was making a gesture. Whether it was deliberate or not, we were not sure but we were just scared stiff, after we saw how he was trying to ‘take advantage’ of the Jap girl. He didn’t give us any trouble yesterday, I think it was because the German guys were there and so he didn’t dare to.

After we left the living area, we heard him going to the Jap girl’s rm and talking to her. I was quite worried for her and I just couldn’t understand why she allowed him to get so close to her because she didn’t seem like she was a willing party. I wanted to talk to her about the it in the Kitchen but I couldn’t because the Maori guys were there and unfortunately, between Japanese and me, English is our only common lang, which the Maoris also understand. Thankfully, she is fine and we actually bumped into her again in Rotorua. How coincidental.

The other Maori guys were all friendly and DECENT. Only this one, think he called himself Junior, was creepy. He seemed like a simpleton. The fact that the doors could not be locked made us even more paranoid. That night, we tried means and ways to block our door, pushing our bed against the door but to no avail cos our beds were roller beds. In the end, Yeefang didn’t sleep. I took over her shift at 4am. Thankfully, we had a 4hr long journey to Rotorua the next day so we could sleep on the bus.

By the end of our stay at Lloyds, I had a really REALLY bad impression of Pam, the owner. She was so insincere and unhelpful and I blame her for our traumatic experience. I can’t believe that Lloyds Lodge actually has a 90% rating in the BBH guide, one of the highest ratings you can get!!