I can’t complain too much though. We stayed at the Funky Green Voyager, and Kara and I would highly recommend it to anyone who goes through Rotorua. Room was nice, the kitchen was clean, and we found the company to be excellent. In particular, we met a German couple about our age who we had great conversations with over the next few nights. We got to play an excellent game of charades with them and some other hostel guests, and they taught us an excellent card game whose name is either Cambio or Dutch or something else entirely.
Anyway, we were up to two things in the area around Rotorua: white water rafting and Hobbiton.
We were set to white water raft first. Kara found out that the highest commercially rafted water fall is nearby and had trips on sale through BookMe, so we had to go. I was skeptical of it being much better than my other rafting experiences in the north woods and Georgia/Carolina, but I was proven very wrong. This trip was definitely worth taking.
We showed up at the raft barn to get started with gear and tutorials, and to meet our raft team and guides. We were outfitted with full wetsuits, helmets, PFDs, and spray jackets, all of which made us surprisingly warm despite the cold water. We spent some time going over the usual safety guidelines for white water rafting, but also practicing how to brace for our especially long falls over two large waterfalls. We were in a raft with a klutzy couple, and Kara had some trouble with the boyfriend and got elbowed in the face during our practice. She toughed it out though, and we walked down to the river to test our mettle.