Eggsville

---

After the Tongariro Crossing we headed North to Taupo again, for a nights rest and relaxation at a campsite with a thermal bath!

We then headed on to Rotorua, on the thermal highway! We reached Wai-O-Tapu - our first stop in pretty good time, and spent a good couple of hours walking round the mad landscape!

http://www.geyserland.co.nz

It is billed as the top geothermal attraction in NZ, and it doesn't dissapoint. Once again many of the photo's that we took don't do the place justice - it really is a surreal environment.

There are loads of hot pools, mineral pools, small geysers, bubbling mud pools and fumeroles.

We covered every inch of the park - some area's really stunk of eggs - the result of the sulphur bubbling up tot he surface!

After Wai-O-Tapu we headed into Rotorua. Like Taupo, it was nice to be back in civilisation again - something we missed at times on the South Island! We spent the afternoon wandering the city - one cool thing in Rotorua is that they really make use of all the geothermal vents and resources below them - even the bus station as a thermal foot spa whilst you are waiting for your ride!

That evening we chilled out at the Polynesian Spa - a wonderful collection of thermal and mineral pools in the open air on the banks of Lake Rotorua. The pools ranged in heat from about 30 degrees c to 48! You come out of the hot ones feeling knackered!

We woke on the 2nd to crack on with some activities we had booked yesterday. First up was a trip out to Agrodome! Agrodome is a mad tourist attraction - totally tacky but we had to do it. It basically involves a stage based sheep show. There are 19 key varieties of sheep out here, and they have a fairly tame stock which they use to perform on stage! They perform some sheep shearing and feeding on stage to educate the masses. They also bring out a cow on stage and milk her, and have 3 totally nut's sheep dogs charging around performing. The sheep line up on the platforms and allow the dogs to jump on their backs and run along them all! The funniest thing was the amount of Japanese and Korean tourists who totally loved it - there is even an Agrodome in Tokyo apparently!

After the agrodome we headed to Zorb Rotorua - something we have been looking forward to doing since we left Blighty. Zorbing basically involves being put in a giant inflatable ball, and rolling down a 170m hill. We did 2 runs - one together and one individual. Each time we went for the hydro option, which involves the passenger section of the Zorb being filled with water and soap - to make you feel like you are in a washing machine! It was hilarious, and we both got drenched. The second run we did was individual, and we each went down the Zig Zag route as opposed to the straight run. The Zig Zag was way more bumpy and threw us about loads - it was very disorientating! As usual there was the option to purchase photos for god knows how much, so we didn't bother, you'll just have to take our word for it!

www.zorb.co.nz

After a stop to play some Baseball in the park in Rotorua we headed out for the night - to a traditional Maori evening. We visited the Mitai Village (www.mitai.co.nz) and had a great time. We ate Hangi - the traditional means of cooking a roast - in an Earth Oven, and watched a Maori Concert and display by the warriors in their war canoe. It was a great evening, and we learnt plenty of Maori language as well. We also all were taught the full Haka - not that we remember much as it is much longer than the Rugby players perform!

---