Lake Taupo (briefly) to Rotorua

Sunday 11 - Wednesday 14 June

Leaving Napier on Sunday morning, Lake Taupo,

My one-and-only non-rainy Lake Taupo photo

was to be our next stop. From here we intended to head to the Tongariro National Park to do some more serious walking. Again though, atrocious weather forced us to alter our plans. (At Taupo, we told a friendly waiter in the local cafe that we were heading to Tongariro. Taking one look at the weather outside, he said, "No you're not!")
Instead, we decided to sample the many attractions of Rotorua, as we could easily backtrack to Tongariro a few days later without disrupting our schedule.

Monday 12 June

I agonised over the subtitle for this blog entry; runners-up included "Smelly Geysers", "Smells like bean spirit", "Hoof Hearted?" and a couple of similar flatulence-related but unprintable efforts. Why? Well, to be honest, Rotorua smells. Don't get me wrong - it's a terrific town surrounded by natural beauty, but the presence of many thermal springs and pools lend an unavoidable sulphurous whiff to the place.

Lake Taupo's foul weather followed us all the way to Rotorua Central Backpackers (a large and comfortable old house, with spacious rooms and baths!), and we got soaked just moving our stuff from the car . Exploration of the deceptively large town was thus postponed until the evening, and was rounded off with a visit to (yes, another) microbrewery pub called the 'Pig and Whistle' which is housed in Rotorua's old police station and has walls which are eighteen inches thick!

Tuesday 13 June

This morning was overcast but dry so we set off early for the short drive to one of Rotorua's most active geothermal attractions - Hell's Gate.

This reserve contains a number of natural hot springs and pools, with the water temperature in some reaching average temperatures of 105'C - so it's probably best to obey the warnings:

"Hell's Gate" was the name given to a large thermal pool and surrounding area by the playwright George Bernard Shaw on a visit here in the early 1900's. Steaming pools nearby such as "Devil's Bath", "Devil's Cauldron" and "Sulphur Lake" are equally aptly-named, and it's easy to see why:

We spent a long morning exploring the reserve, but as we returned toward the entrance the rain began. About to leave, we spotted a workshop where a man was busy intricately carving a large piece of wood; introducing himself as Ben, he beckoned us over and invited us to try traditional Maori carving for ourselves! I don't think Ben has anything to fear from us...

Ben the woodcarver with Sharon

A slight detour from Hell's Gate allowed took us to the nearby Blue and Green Lakes. A forested path took us right around the shore of the Blue Lake and onto a small promontory which gave a (somewhat obscured) view of both lakes simultaneously.

The Blue Lake, Rotorua

Having made the most of what was to be one of our last 'fair weather' days in New Zealand, we took a slow drive back to downtown Rotorua.

Wednesday 14 June

Since ariving in Rotorua, we still hadn't really explored the town properly and so today we combined a few necessities (a haircut each, a visit to the Tourist Info centre, postcard purchases etc.) with a good look around. As a base for a few days, Rotorua works well; the town has every kind of shop you might need as well as plenty of decent bars and restaurants, and the many attractions and activities in the region are easily accessible.