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Published: November 19th 2015
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Jeff and I woke up still exhausted from yesterday's adventure and decided a slow start to the day was in order. Our bodies were letting us know that we weren't in our 20's any longer...yes, WE KNOW! We took our time packing up and reviewing the day's itinerary. Drive to Rotorua, grab lunch then relax in the volcanic mud baths and sulphuric spas...NICE!
We left Waitomo and drove through some very picturesque, pastoral country. Unfortunately, the roadway was too narrow to pull over for pictures. We pulled into Rotorua around noon and stopped at the local i-site for info. (These sites are in each town and are a wealth of information!) There, we bought our tickets to Hells Gate - The BEAST of all Geothermal Parks...Exciting! The lovely lady helping us recommend the Lime Cafe down the road so off we went to get our nosh on. Wonderful food...wonderful views of the lake. (We've been extremely fortunate so far on eating out, everything thing we have ordered has been fantastic!)
We then checked into our lodgings for the next three nights. I found a gem of a cottage on an actual working farm. Talk about idyllic! Sheep, cows, chickens
Bubbling Mud
You could hear it bubbling! and a very friendly dog, Missy!
Suitcases transferred out of Pip into the cottage, nice gab with the owner and then we were off to play in the mud. We actually toured the park prior to getting our spa on to witness first hand Rotorua's most active geothermal field. 50 acres of rumbling and steaming geothermal features. Jeff kept channeling Johnny Cash while we were there, all but singing The Ring of Fire trying to freak me out. It was very unique and interesting seeing, and hearing, the bubbling mud and steaming water. However, I think Jeff and I were anxious to get into the mud bath and spas. Remember our non-20's bodies? Yeah, we wanted to relax!
We had booked the private mud bath and spa (sounded more romantic) but when we actually viewed those accommodations vs. the public, we chose the public. Forget romance!...better views of the park and there was hardly anyone there. With our rented togs (bathing suits) on, into the mud we went. We applied a thin layer to our bodies and sat back to let the mud dry and work it's magic. We were also able to read about how many minerals
Inferno Pools
Steam was hissing! were in the mud and how for years the Maori used it for medicinal purposes. Soon our mud covered skin started to resemble an elephant's. You only get 20 minutes in the volcanic mud, otherwise you start to cook. I kept a close eye on the clock...the nice employees would let us know when our time was up but I didn't want to take any chances...we were outta there in 19 minutes! Hey, I read on the walk that it only took 2 hours to cook a whole pig in one of the pools...not happening here folks! Off we went to shower the magic mud away and into the sulphuric water we went. Ahhhhh....it felt good!
When we were good and relaxed, we showered and dressed, noticing that our skin felt remarkably softer, then headed back to the cottage to change for dinner. We were hungry! Sitting in magic mud and sulphuric waters can apparently work up quite the appetite! Dinner tonight was at The Pig and Whistle. Again, yum! Guinness for me to accompany my steak and Guinness pot pie, IPA for Jeff to go with his pork belly and we were a happy couple!
After dinner,
we popped over to the night time street market and bought delectable pastries for dessert. A bottle of wine in hand and quick drive home, we crashed for the night. Well...I did at least. Let me tell you, this vacationing business is exhausting...but fabulous!
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