Ailsa and Andy’s Travels: Day 29 & 30

Day 29

Nothing to report other than it rained a lot and was chilly so it was a day at home on the lakeside reading, sewing, getting beaten at various card games and packing. It’s the first day we’ve taken no photos!

Day 30

We said “Kia Ora” to Lake Taupo and headed for Rotorua this morning. Rotorua is known for its geothermal activity and bubbling mud pools. It was about an hours drive to Wai O Tapu where the geothermal site was. The first thing that hits you upon arrival when you open the car door is the smell, which took quite some getting used to. It pongs, there’s no two ways about it, due to the sulphurous fumes given off by the bubbling mud pools. There were 3 different walks which went round the site so we opted for the longer 3km walk which took us in amongst the pools, past the Champagne Lake (the biggest geothermal pool in NZ) and down to a waterfall and big green lake. They all stank, but were quite something to see. The ground literally steams and bubbles in front of you. There were also huge craters that looked like someone had crushed fluorescent yellow chalk and scattered it over the rocks. This was the natural phenomena of the sulphur precipitating on the rocks.

After a couple of hours amongst the bubbling pools we hopped back in the car and for our last night in NZ, headed towards the airport. We passed the coolest buildings on the way whilst driving through a little town. They were like nothing ever seen before, even outdoing the Fred Flintstone eyesore of a cafe on Littlehampton sea front! The buildings were made of corrugated iron and took the form of a dog, and sheep and a ram - you have to see the photos to believe it!

We stayed just south of Auckland for the night, in a hotel which presented you with warm chocolate cookies on arrival - that’s my kind of hotel!

NZ, you’ve been fabulous, but I’m beyond excited to head to Singapore tomorrow and have the biggest hug in the world with Dougal and Chloe. 💕