Day 10 - Liked Rotorua So Much, We Gave Up the Glow Worms

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We decided to hang around the house and the town instead of taking a bus to the North to see the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves. It was a 2.5 hour drive, an hour tour and a 2.5 hour trip back. Everyone raves about it but we just didn’t think the little buggers were worth it. We really like our hosts and our Lakeside Lodge and there’s so much to see and do here. The day started with a little more fishing. Saw that same trout but no luck. After a hearty breakfast, we drove to the Wai-o-Tapu Geothermal Area to see the Lady Knox Geyser blow. They put soap in the geyser so it goes off exactly at 10:15. (Soap…really!) We also hiked past craters, hissing mud pools, silica terraces, waterfalls and green pools. There was plenty of stinky sulphur smell to go around. We decided that was enough of that and went back to our lodge for some napping and socializing. We had another nice happy hour and met the new guests. It was hard to leave but we went out for dinner and had a “stonegrill” - little did we know this was literal. They bring you your meat raw and you cook it on a very hot volcanic rock to the doneness you like. We had lamb, beef, chicken, port, scallops, shrimp, calamari, oysters and mussels. Brian ate the seafood and Amy ate the rest. After that work, we clearly deserved an ice cream. To cap off the night, we went to the Polynesian Spa to have a soak in the hot springs before bed. It’s kind of like a hot tub but the water from the sulphur springs is supposed to have restorative properties. In the old days, this was the place to “take the waters” and also where the Maori warriors would come to heal their wounds. We got a private stone pool looking out over the lake. It really was relaxing and Lyndsay swears we’ll sleep like babies. We’ll see. Stay tuned…

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