Rotorua, New Zealand

In November 2014, I traveled around New Zealand and Australia with my husband and two terrific friends. We started our journey by flying into Auckland and making a beeline for Rotorua. This area has some amazing geothermal sites to visit. We visited both WaimanguVolcanic Valley and Wai-O-Tapu. For the money, I really enjoyed the latter more because visitors have closer access to the geothermal activity in Wai-O-Tapu. The admission costs $36 NZD and $32.50 NZD, respectively. Both sites can be accessed by car or by day tour. We had a limited amount of time for this trip, so I cannot comment on public transportation options. If you are in the area but do not want to spend the money to enter these sites, visit the mud pits that are just outside of the gates of Wai-O-Tapu.

There aren't a lot of restaurant options in the area of Wai-O-Tapu but we popped into the Wai-O-Tapu Tavern. It's just a little snack shop with a pool table but it was good, basic food (sandwiches, burgers, and the best wedges we had on the trip) at around $13 NDZ per meal.

The town of Rotorua itself was lacking in character and people when we were there. I would guess this is because Rotorua is more of a day trip by tour bus than a town to spend time in. This might also be the case because the sulfurous odor from the geothermal activity can be smelled everywhere.

Outside of town is a great thermal bath called WaikiteValley Thermal Pools. While this type of attraction is not usually a big draw for me, this location had seven pools heated to different temperatures which made the experience much more appealing. For an entrance fee of $15 NZD, I found it to be a good deal especially after walking around in the cold and rainy weather all day.

Isla Bastimentos, Panama

For us, the Panama trip continued to be an adventure. After driving cross country to get to Almirante, we parked the car, and hopped on not one, but two water taxis (also called launchas) to get to Isla Bastimentos. Check out this link for transportation info. While on the island, we stayed at Tio Tom's guesthouse. It was right next to the public dock which was helpful and not a drawback. The guesthouse is sparse but a good deal at about $25 per night. The owners, Tom and Ina, are a friendly German couple. During our stay, they were very welcoming though opinionated about life on and off the island.

Two restaurants on the island that I recommend are Roots and Kesha. Both have great, affordable food around $6 per meal. Also, drinks are pretty affordable most everywhere on the island, $1-2 per beer and $3-4 for the ever-popular cuba libre.

We were only on Isla Bastimentos a few days so we had limited time to see the island. We thought about taking a day tour (average $20 per person) to snorkle, fish, etc. but decided against it and chose to walk to Wizard Beach instead. Be wary of our choice. We were told that there was a trail from Bastimentos town to Wizard Beach and that it was “kind of muddy.” This was the understatement of the trip. We walked uphill to get out of town (it looks like you are walking through someone's backyard at times) and finally found the trail. But the trail was not a little muddy, it was a lot muddy. There were points where we were walking in mud a foot deep. This would not have been a problem had we not worn flip flops and been concerned about what lies underneath the mud. Once we got use to the idea of being muddy, sweaty, and possibly lost, it went a bit smoother. Once we passed through the land of mud and abandoned flip flops, we made it to Wizard Beach which was quite deserted (the only way to get there is to walk as the riptide is too strong for a dock). To get back from Wizard Beach, you have two options; walk back the way you came (about 45 minutes and, did I mention the mud?) or another 45 minute walk down the beach and through the jungle to Red Frog Beach. From there, you can get a boat back to Bastimentos town for $4 per person. We arrived on Red Frog Beach as a band of ragamuffins; sweaty, muddy, exhausted, and with stray dogs in tow. We celebrated at the bar as all good explorers should.