A Tuesday in Rotorua

We have been having so much fun in Rotorua that I haven't had time to blog. So I'm blogging in the rental car as James drives us to Auckland airport. 

"Why drive the three hours back to Auckland Airport when Rotorua has its own perfectly good regional airport?" I hear you cry. Well that's a very good question. When we started booking our holiday we didn't realise that there were plenty of regional airports and just assumed that we would have to route through Auckland. Luckily the rest of our journey was planned by Jamie who knows the area! 

While I am digressing, I must mention that while we were at Auckland Harbour I tripped over a metal sign that was outside a restaurant and the corner of it jagged right into my thigh. It was so sore that I felt momentarily nauseous. It didn't break the skin but I do have a magnificent bruise on my leg!

So when we arrived in Rotorua we were spoiled for choice of what to do - it's geothermal area and many experiences are on offer, such as visiting lakes, volcanic areas, Maori culture, and of course the spas for which Rotorua is renowned. We perused our trusty guidebook as well as the leaflets kindly provided by the Regent of Rotorua hotel and chose a couple of activities for our two days in the area.

On our first morning we wanted to go for a bit of a hike so we went to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. This turned out to be fascinating. The valley as it is now was formed by a huge eruption by the Tarawera Volcano in 1886. We got a map at the visitor centre and set off on our hike along the valley to the lake. The weather was dry and rather warm. The views were spectacular; the native forest and plant life has regenerated over the years so it is very green and fertile with hot water springs and lakes bubbling away. The turquoise water in Inferno Crater is amazing and there are lots of fern trees. We saw wee fantails flying about as well as big New Zealand wood pigeons. In the soil we could see sulphur and alum crystals which tasted bitter when we put them on our tongues. After walking for two hours we arrived at Lake Rotomahana where we took a boat cruise - we were the only passengers! In fact the whole place was very quiet and the boat driver told us that it's much busier in the summer, which made me quite glad that we have come here off season. The cruise was great; there was lots of steam gouting from fumaroles around the lake and gorgeous black swans were swimming around elegantly. Since the 1886 eruption the lake has been twenty times its original size so the remnants of the pink and white bathing terraces used by Victorian visitors are far beneath the surface. Back at the visitor centre we had soup for a late lunch and planned the rest of our day.

It was a no brainer. We had to go to the Polynesian Spa for a soak!