Thursday 17th Marc- Rotorua

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St Pat’s day and also the same day that Di and I first met, many years ago!

We are up at 07:00, we are moving on today, somewhat reluctantly as Pappamoa is a good site and the weather is still great.
Nonetheless we set off for Rotorua, it is only 65km and it takes us about an hour. As we arrive on the outskirts of Rotorua, we start to get the “rotten egg” smell from the hot springs and geysers that bubble up sulphurous gas.

We arrived at the site, which stands on Blue Lake (Tikikapu). We checked in at the site. It is fairly quiet with not much going on apart from swimming in the lake. We are told about Maori Village where we can go in the evening for ceremonial rituals, cultural performances and hangi feast, we would be picked up at 17:00 and delivered back to the campsite at 21:00. After discussions, we decide that it all looks a bit commercial so we decide not to go.
We decided to go into the Town Centre for a walk around and some lunch. After hunting round for a car parking spot we finally park down by Lake Rotorua

We decide on an “all day breakfast”, as Di did not have breakfast and all I had was a bowl of Cornflakes. We wandered round the town window shopping and we then made our way back to Lake Rotorua and sit on the banks for a while and pass the time. We called in at the supermarket on the way back, by this time the pong is really starting to get up my nose!

We made our way back to the site and relaxed, had a snooze and read. We then had our dinner – Smoked salmon salad (back on the healthy stuff again!)

I am conscious that time is marching on and we still have the South Island to explore. I had intended to move on to Lake Taupo on the Central Plateau, stay there one night then move on to Napier at Hakes bay. But being that Taupo is only 80 km away, we will stop there and then move on to Napier the same day. This is about a further 142 km. We will also stop at Te Puia on the way out of town to see the hot geysers and take in some of the Maori culture.

Another early night – lots to do tomorrow!

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