Rotorua's Rather Smelly
(3rd - 5th January)
When we arrived in Rotorua, we headed a bit north to a place called Hell's Gate. This was another thermal reserve. This one consisted mainly of boiling mud pools, and you could pay to have a mud bath (we declined). I have been to a thermal reserve before, and whilst this mud was probably the most active mud I have ever seen, after a while it just all looked like mud!
We spent the night at what we thought was a DOC site, but upon talking to the locals we discovered it was actually a council site. This was great for us as it meant it was the cheapest site yet, and it had drinking water (it was $6 - about £3 for the two of us). However, because it was new year, the bins hadn't been emptied for some time and the nearby ducks had been attacking all the overflowing bin bags. Still, we kept well away from them and had a very pleasant evening by a lake. Chris seems to have developed a new found love of ducks, and consequently we have finally found a use for our bread which keeps going off far too quickly in our hot campervan. I awoke the next morning to see Chris surrounded by a gaggle of ducks (what's the multiple for ducks/birds?), and then I spied the half-open bread packet!
After packing up, we headed to Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. This is the thermal reserve I have been to before, and when compared with Hell's Gate, it is absolutely amazing. There is so much thermal activity around. There's even a geyser (pronounced Guy-zer by the locals) which 'goes off' at 10.15am promptly each morning. "How do they know when it'll go off?" I hear you cry. Well, that's easy. They stick some washing up liquid down it of course! Legend has it that the area used to be a prison and the prisoners were doing their washing when they accidentally dropped some soap powder and WHOOSH!, off went the geyser. I don't know how true the story is, but they do use some form of environmentally friendly powder to make the thing blow. I feel a bit cheated by this, but it does ensure we get to see a geyser, and it doesn't appear to do it any damage - it didn't look much different to when I saw it 5 years ago.
After the geyser, we went off around the super smelly thermal reserve. There's a lot of sulphur around and it stinks. It's a small sacrifice though - it really is much better & more colourful than the aforementioned Hell's Gate!
After Rotorua, we took a trip up the Coromandel as we've heard the beaches round there are amazing.
When we arrived in Rotorua, we headed a bit north to a place called Hell's Gate. This was another thermal reserve. This one consisted mainly of boiling mud pools, and you could pay to have a mud bath (we declined). I have been to a thermal reserve before, and whilst this mud was probably the most active mud I have ever seen, after a while it just all looked like mud!
We spent the night at what we thought was a DOC site, but upon talking to the locals we discovered it was actually a council site. This was great for us as it meant it was the cheapest site yet, and it had drinking water (it was $6 - about £3 for the two of us). However, because it was new year, the bins hadn't been emptied for some time and the nearby ducks had been attacking all the overflowing bin bags. Still, we kept well away from them and had a very pleasant evening by a lake. Chris seems to have developed a new found love of ducks, and consequently we have finally found a use for our bread which keeps going off far too quickly in our hot campervan. I awoke the next morning to see Chris surrounded by a gaggle of ducks (what's the multiple for ducks/birds?), and then I spied the half-open bread packet!
After packing up, we headed to Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. This is the thermal reserve I have been to before, and when compared with Hell's Gate, it is absolutely amazing. There is so much thermal activity around. There's even a geyser (pronounced Guy-zer by the locals) which 'goes off' at 10.15am promptly each morning. "How do they know when it'll go off?" I hear you cry. Well, that's easy. They stick some washing up liquid down it of course! Legend has it that the area used to be a prison and the prisoners were doing their washing when they accidentally dropped some soap powder and WHOOSH!, off went the geyser. I don't know how true the story is, but they do use some form of environmentally friendly powder to make the thing blow. I feel a bit cheated by this, but it does ensure we get to see a geyser, and it doesn't appear to do it any damage - it didn't look much different to when I saw it 5 years ago.
After the geyser, we went off around the super smelly thermal reserve. There's a lot of sulphur around and it stinks. It's a small sacrifice though - it really is much better & more colourful than the aforementioned Hell's Gate!
After Rotorua, we took a trip up the Coromandel as we've heard the beaches round there are amazing.
posted by wobblepop at 2:46 am
1 Comments:
Hey,Are you sure Chris isn't just trying to catch ducks for your next meal.
Post a Comment
<< Home