Rotorua, New Zealand [Tuesday Morning into Afternoon]

[heroic_jawline]

Get set for a big day in Rotorua!

Start at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, a spectacular showcase of New Zealand's most colorful and unique geothermal elements sculpted by thousands of years of volcanic activity. Explore the out-of-this-world landscape, including the famous mud pool, the largest in New Zealand. Arrive at 10:15 am to hear the history and see the beauty of the Lady Knox Geyser, which erupts daily to heights of 33 to 66 feet (10 to 20 m).

Or you can go back to the swings (or the luge that are up by the swings), try the skydiving, or stay close to the lodge, which also offers activities for the day.

Comments

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden was definitely going to go on the swing and skydiving again, but first she was going to go on the gondola on the way up and then zipline down. She was a little disappointed to find out that the luges weren't water but some kinda weird bike thing, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying it later.

And was going to send a text to Charlie and Graham and anybody else whose number she might have (along with the suggest to send it on to other folks) about Plan Gondola and see if anybody else wanted to come along.

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[pun_king]

Sending a text to Graham meant that at least it would be spread to everyone in his DnD group, if not to a few others, and then it would be pretty silly if he helped extend the invitation and then didn't even show up! Once he saw the gonolda, he might have a few regrets, but what kind of knight was he going to be if he let a silly little thing like precarious heights throw him off?

So he was definitely showing up and giving Arden a wave when he saw her, like it had been ages since he last had and not, you know, earlier that morning because roommates and what have you.

"Hey, Arden! Great idea! See? I told you this whole getting out there and having fun thing was easy!"

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Whereas Arden looked positively delighted at the whole setup. Dangling hundreds of feet in the air while peering out and down? Who didn't see this as the best idea? At least until it came time to plummet down even< faster than they'd come up!

"Hey!" she said, waving back with just as much enthusiasm. "You were totally right! There's so many different things to do!"

By which she meant 'so many different ways to fling yourself into the air and then down.'

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[pun_king]

"And," Graham chirped encouragingly, "it's only even the second full day! If you're not exhausted from all the fun and adventure by the end of the week, well, then," here he chuckled, "you're probably doing it wrong, in my opinion! But gonoldas and ziplines, huh?"

There was a slightly nervous swallow, but hey! If it wasn't safe, they wouldn't be able to do it, right? But he was thinking he should have maybe found some saffron and eagle's feathers before heading out here, just in case. Maybe he could use his cloak as a parachute? Zards! He could have brought a parachute in his cloak!

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Arden looked disgustingly chipper and energetic this morning, for all that she was pretty literally awake with the birds.

"Gondolas, zip lines, skydiving, and the swing!" Arden enthused. "I love being up high and stuff. Flying had to be the coolest thing in the world and all this stuff is the closest I'm gonna get, you know?"

In a second, she might realize that she was the only person excited about this.

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[pun_king]

"I took a Flight and Flying class once!" Graham offered helpfully. "But it was less about flying yourself," to demonstrate, his arms went out and he flapped them a little, "and more about flying in things, like planes and spaceships and things, which was still pretty cool, just not exactly what I was expecting, but you should keep an eye out for if that class come up again, you'd probably love it, then!"

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Oh, that does sound cool," Arden said, eyes shining. "Not as great as flying under your own power, but the next best thing, definitely."

Maybe instead of being a PI, she could go for her small craft piloting license or something. Or still a PI, but a cool pilot one, too...

"How about you?" she asked. "You got anything on your specific agenda today?" Like not getting roped into being Arden's partner on the swing, for example...

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[pun_king]

"Nope!" said Graham (who always had been pretty ripe for being roped into most things) brightly. "I was definitely,absolutely, no doubt about it at some of the events yesterday, so today? It's all about seeing where the adventure takes me!"

Even if that adventure was taking him....very high up in the sky!

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

Wasn't it awesome?!? They were going so high!

"Yeah, and the boiling mud and geysers sounded pretty cool? But not cooler than more skydiving! And zip lining! And there're apparently animals we can see and hang out with at the top? Mostly sheep or something, I think, but sheep are cute, right?"

Said the city girl who had never need near one in her life.

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[pun_king]

Super awesome! Not scary at all!

You know Graham was going to want to do it again immediately once it was over.

"Really?" he asked. "Zounds! That's great, I really brushed up on my Sheep before coming here, since I read there was a lot of them, so it'll be a good chance to use it! I haven't really had a chance to talk to a lot of sheep before, mostly just Libby when she turns into a lamb,but I'm not sure that really counts. Oh! And a herd of them mistakenly came into the radio studio during my broadcast last week, they were a little lost, I don't think anyone knew where to find them! But I heard, if you just leave them alone, they'll still come home, wagging their tails behind them!"

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[wildgalegirl]

"I can make sure you're perfectly safe if you want," Charlie said quietly, so no one else could hear. Might a charm have been involved in that? Maybe. "Just a little charm and then you can just enjoy the thrill."

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[pun_king]

"Oh, no," Graham chuckled a little, turning a bit pink across his cheeks and over his ears, waving a dismissive hand,"I'm not worried!"

He was definifely a little worried.

Worried enough to then follow it up by leaning in with a hand over his mouth to better hide his secrecy as he whsipered back, "But better safe than sorry, right?"

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[wildgalegirl]

Charlie smiled at him and under the guise of leaning in to kiss him on the cheek she sketched a quick protection charm just under his ear. "Now even if something were to go horribly wrong, which it won't, you'll just float down like a feather."

Did she also take the opportunity to refresh her 'mine' charm on him? She absolutely did.

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[pun_king]

Ah ha! So his clever ruse to totally, definitely, absolutely act worried (really! Just an act!) to illicit sympathy and a kiss on the cheek and a charm had clearly worked, and had most certainly bern his grand plan all along!

"But what kind of feather, though?" Graham asked, giving Charlie a warm, grateful smile. "A big strong eagle feather? A long and shimmering peacock feather? Or maybe just a little fluff of goose down, especially since I was a goose that one time!"

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[wildgalegirl]

Like ruses were needed with Charlie! Ask for a kiss - heck, say you wanted to have sex, and she'd happily drag you off somewhere. She was easy. Really.

"What kind of feather do you want to be?" she asked with a grin

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[pun_king]

Shhh. Let him have this.

"That," Graham said, eyebrows lifting and sounding impressed, "is a good question, actually! Can I think about it and get back to you? Because I keep wanting to say one, but then another pops up and that one sounds good, too! Like, if it was a duck feather, I'd fall and be water-resistant, or a raven feather could make me more dark and ~mysteeerious~, but a phoenix feather, now that would really be cool! Or hot," he chuckled, "all things considered."

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[wildgalegirl]

"This is awesome!" Charlie said. "I've never ridden on a gondola before and to then get to zipline down the mountain? Amazing!"

She smiled at Arden. "Thanks for inviting me along!"

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Absolutely!" Arden said, beaming. "Graham and I promised that we'd keep each other in the loop if we found cool things to do, and then I figured the more the merrier. Especially since if I texted you two, I figured I'd definitely end up with more!"

Way better than her plan from yesterday. Ooof.

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[wildgalegirl]

"Works for me," Charlie said. "And I'm definitely going skydiving again. There's no way I'm missing out on a chance like that!"

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Absolutely!" Arden agreed. "And I promise to not hear your phone no matter where it may be ringing from. Or my phone either, just to be safe."

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[wildgalegirl]

"Oh Lord, if they got hold of your number..." She held her head, then laughed. "Well, mine hasn't shown up yet and if your phone isn't from this plane we might be okay."

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"...Did you not take it back?!"

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[wildgalegirl]

"My phone? No." Charlie laughed at Arden's expression. "Don't worry. It will turn up. Allie's friend Michael once accidentally flushed his down the toilet. It got mailed back to him four days later. Smelled a little odd, but it still worked."

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Yeah, that would still be a hard pass," Arden snickered. "I'd still just get a whole new phone. Don't have to send me back a phone that went through the sewer system, I'm willing to let it go."

Re: Doing Your Own Thing

[wildgalegirl]

"If the Aunties give you a phone..." Charlie said ominously. "But yeah, I'm careful not to do that. Still, free reliable unlimited phone and internet that works everywhere? Can't beat it."