Our Great Adventure: Rotorua & Taupo Day 148 13/02/2015

Now firmly back in the groove, we were heading on our way within an hour of getting up, having washed, dressed, fed, washed up, packed up the van and said our goodbyes to the beautiful site at Waitomo. The lady at the camp site had told us about a short walk around a the Ruakuri Scenic Reserve that we headed to before driving north east towards Rotorua. The walk passed through a natural limestone tunnel, caves and interesting rock formations. It must be a geologists dream all in such a small area. We arrived at Rotorua at midday and after a spot of lunch in the van in a car park (sounds better than described!), we headed into Te Puia where the Whakerewarewa thermal reserves are located. Entrance fees are quite expensive ($49.50 each) but there was also an opportunity to see some local Maori culture. After entering the park, first stop was to the Kiwi House. Inside the darkened building, was a Kiwi sanctuary, where through the gloomy UV light we were able to watch our first live bird. They are strange creatures, scurrying about with their long, thin beaks constantly poking into the ground as they searched for bugs to eat. Now protected, the flightless birds nearly went the same way as the Dodo when westerners arrived 250 years ago (the Maoris did hunt them but always kept a balance so that the birds could survive and thrive). Outside the hut we followed our noses towards the increasingly strong sulphur smell (rotten eggs), passing some belching mud pools (average temperature 98C) and came to the main attraction; the 2 large geysers called Pohutu and Prince of Wales Feathers. These erupt 2 or 3 times an hour and go from smoking holes to angry spurts of water rising up to 30m in the air and producing leads of steam. We waited for 30 mins for the next eruption but as nothing was happening (we had just arrived at the tail end of the last one), we walked through the rest of the park marvelling at some of the 500 springs. Back at the place of the two large geysers, they decided to erupt in unison so we were treated to an amazing 7 or 8 minutes of the power of nature. On heading back to the visitor centre we watched the local Maoris perform the Haka on welcome (not the aggressive war chant that the All Blacks do before any of their Rugby games), viewed some interesting local crafts and also carvings that we both liked. We both thought if we were here on holiday we would buy one and take it home but it was too much to carry around the world for another 7 months. It had been an interesting couple of hours but we neither of us thought it worth the entrance fee. Back in the van we headed the 100km to Taupo, which was our destination for the evening. Taupo is the North Island's "adventure mecca" and as it sits alongside the large picturesque Lake Taupomoana, the largest lake in NZ, we could see why. On the lake there was a choice of many water sports and activities (including a trip on a speedboat called a Prawn as apparently it looked like one). As there were lots of rivers running out of the lake, including the large Waikato River that runs all the way to the Pacific Ocean in the north, kayaking, sailing, rafting and boating trips were in abundance. Nearby is the mountains of the Central Plateau, which as you might of guessed was where we were heading! After stocking up on supplies at the local Countdown supermarket we drove to our campsite just up the road. It's a huge site with over 100 spaces. Another al-fresco meal was planned that night, after using the on site bbq to cook the very tasty lamb burgers, however the sky darkened for a 10 minute light shower and we ate indoors. We were however treated to a superb rainbow.