19th December 2013 Rotorua Recce

A slight change of location for a few days. Spending some time in Rotorua, New Zealand visiting my son. Might see a change of scenery from the usual Warwickshire pictures!  Luckily, my son has a bike that I can use so the first day will be spent getting used to the bike and the Rotorua area.

Rotorua Information Centre

First port of call is the information centre. Being a tourist region there is more than likely to be mountain bike trails around so this is the best place to check them out. Actually, the lady in there was not too helpful and other than give me a few leaflets, did not help at all. Assistance was on hand later fortunately. Notice the bike. Quite a good one, with disc brakes and suspension, a bit upmarket for me.

Lakeland Queen

A short distance from the centre is Lake Rotorua, quite a substantial inland lake. This boat does cruises around the lake and this includes a meal. 

The Library Cafe

Had to call in somewhere for some vittles. This place is attached to the local library and serves a really nice cup of tea (made with loose tea and comes with a tea strainer) and a slice of pecan pie. The chap in the cafe was asking me about cycling and he was a mountain biker. He gave me loads of tips about where to go and pointed me in the right direction. A good start to the day.

Rotten Eggs!

The trails the chap advised took me partially around Lake Rotorua. At one point it went through a small area of volcanic activity (which this area is famous for) and it was hard to believe that this apparently barren landscape is about 100 yards from a main highway. The smell of sulphur was really strong at this point. The advice nearby on a noticeboard was not to go on this area as the thermal activity can cause the rock to become rather thin, a few centimetres, and the danger of falling through into boiling water is very real. Warning noted and will be obeyed!

A good start to the trip. No idea how far the route was today with the absence of a bike computer and the lack of GPS on my phone. I will have to guess at about 10 miles.