Rotorua

The following day we got up late and planned what we'd do next. It is difficult, as we're sort of making a circular route as we want it go back to Tongariro to do the Crossing, so we're waiting on the weather to get better. We drove just under two hours to Rotorua and arrived at a holiday park in a town just 15 min north. We planned a few things to do in Rotorua, and as they were all pretty much outside, we were crossing our fingers!

Adam, Mike and Mike were also driving to Rotorua after landing at Auckland airport to come and meet us. We'll be travelling the rest of New Zealand with them and then they'll make their way to South Island when we leave for Fiji. They arrived at the campsite at 7pm and it was so nice to see them all! They all looked so tanned and while me and Jen stood there with our many layers on, you could tell they were unprepared for this change in climate with their shorts and t-shirts on!

We checked out their Jucy campervan which was a lot bigger then ours (you can actually stand up in it!!) and made some dinner with them. We all chatted in their campervan, which fitted the five of us perfectly, so I can tell we'll be in their camper until late from now on and will be just be leaving to go to sleep in ours. I'm not complaining!

The following day we all got up and went to Rotorua town centre. The weather, of course, was rubbish and it was pouring with rain. According to Mike, they 'bring the sunshine', and they must do, because the weather brightened up in the afternoon, proving the forecast wrong and made for a nice afternoon. In the morning we went to the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village and saw two geysers- they were pretty cool as I've never seen one before. There were also loads of geothermal pools. The water was really hot and oily. The smell however, was horrible and because of the sulphur it gave off this awful smell, similar to boiled eggs! The guide said they also use the steam to cook so showed us a few ways to cook food this way. We picked our moment and went for a walk around the hot water pools when it decided to pour down! My jeans got absolutely soaked! We ended our visit by seeing a cultural show which involved some of the town's Maori people singing and dancing. It was quite entertaining, particularly when they tried to involve the audience in a version of the hokey pokey! 

We then had some lunch and went to Kuirau Park where there were loads of hot geothermal pools dotted around. The water was boiling, with steam coming off them, but the smell was awful! We also saw some mud pools which were pretty cool. We drove over to the Government Gardens and found yet again more geothermal pools! I think once you've seen one, you've seen them all, but we did a bit of our own exploring, found a women cooking by the water of one and found a big lake where the water was pretty warm. The lake itself was white and looked chalky- it was really strange. Around it were loads of cracks and hot water pools bubbling away. I think I'll be happy to leave Rotorua because of the smell!

We went to buy some food and some gas canisters and then went back to the same campsite from the previous day and chilled in the evening and played some card games. Adam and Jenny taught us Queens, which was a good game and I think the rest of us almost have the hang of it now!