Rotorua and the egg smell!

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Day 5

So this was mostly just a day in transit for us. We headed off for the Bay of Islands fairly early which is supposed to be absolutely stunning, but when we arrived it was covered in fog so you couldn't see alot except the town itself seemed to resemble a British seaside town. We decided to set off again fairly quickly. We then had a 6 hour drive ahead of us to Waihi Beach where we had decided to stop before heading on to Rotorua. After driving for about 4 hours Tom decided it was my turn to drive - obviously this was never going to be a great idea. Got in the van absolutely terrified as my car is about a fifth of the size (although only half the engine size - which obviously doesn't stack up in Betty's favour, as all that know my car can guess. Hills were 2nd gear all the way.) I then decided that i had to drive as fast as possible as had about a mile long tail back behind me - there was little slowing down for hair pin bends. The final straw came when i nearly took us off the edge of a gorge and then nearly bashed a post when Tom made me pull over - at which point it was made clear that i would not be driving again. When we finally arrived at Waihi Beach after my super speedy driving skills - we loved the resort - it was kind of like what i would imagine an out of season Butlins to be but to us it was pure luxury. We stayed up past Midnight for the first time using the internet and the Tv room. Then Tom made us get up early so that he could play on the water slide in the heated pool - sad, i know but surprisingly good fun!

Day 6

After a morning walk along Waihi Beach, we headed on to Rotorua. You can tell when you have arrived as it is a highly volcanic area and the sulpher makes the whole town smell like rotten eggs. After checking in to our camper site, we had a walk around one of their parks; where there were ponds of bubbling mud and little pools of scalding hot water that you could dip your legs into. After this we headed over to the Polynesian Baths which was an open area spa type thing which had about 7 pools of the naturally heated mineral waters ranging from 38 - 42 degrees. They all looked out over the acidic Lake Rotorua, where you could see smoke arising out of the shallow islands framed by a backdrop of mountains that were made from volanic erruptions thousands of years ago. After nearly fainting from the heat of the 42 degree pool we headed off to get a cheap dinner of the very traditional NZ dish Singapore style noodles.

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Comments

[AUNTIE SUE]

ROTORUA
THIS IS MY SECOND ATTEMPT AT DOING A COMMENT SO IF IT ARRIVES TWICE YOU MUST FORGIVE ME. ENJOYED ALL THE PICTURES ESPECIALLY WAIHI BEACH WHERE YOUR MUM, STEVE AND I SPENT MANY HAPPY HOURS AS IT WAS OUR NEAREST BEACH. I ALSO CAN STILL REMEMBER THE SMELL OF ROTORUA AFTER 45 YEARS?. MUCH LOVE FROM HASTINGS.

[Louise Buckmaster]

Driving abroad
Lol this blog creased me up, Rachel you couldnt of been that bad of a driver in old Betty. All you got to think about next time is that your in your own car its exactly the same a pretend your me driving!! ROAD RAGE hehe!! Glad your having an amazing time! We all miss you! Lou xx