And So To Rotorua

And so to Rotorua. On Friday afternoon I set off to collect Ian from work, calling at Sylvia Park Mall on the way. Here I purchased a resealable bag of aniseed rock pieces (for the journey). Going down the motorway, it was obvious from the high volume of traffic that the holiday weekend was already underway. The holiday was ‘Auckland Day’. Ian drove us to a southerly entrance back on to the motorway and the traffic thinned as we got further from the city and passed the turn off to the Coromandel.

The motorway is a misnomer. Once out of Auckland not only does it cease to be dual carriage; going through towns, something in the way that the UK A5 works. At Hamilton we stopped off for a pizza and to do the shopping. Then we were off on the final leg. The rain of earlier in the day had stopped and the first part of the drive was straightforward. Just after we had gotten into Rotorua darkness fell and at the crucial point the rain began. The roads here are undulating (an understatement) and windey (another understatement) and we were looking for house numbers on a street (well) where numbers suddenly leap from 60 to 70 because there are four other houses behind the first one.

The house is far from being a bach. There is a lounge and a number of bedrooms on the first floor where the Clark family have chosen to be and on the first floor a huge lounge/kitchen/diner with windows overlooking a balcony which overlooks the beautiful Tarawera Lake and Tarawera Mountain. Our room has an elegant double bed and leads to an ensuite bathroom with bath and shower, with separate toilet which is also accessible from the hall, but can be locked off. There is no shortage of hot water from the rain water collection tank via the power-shower. Some people would like to have a bathroom the size of the walk in cupboard we have for our bedroom.

Irene and the View

Saturday morning I woke to see the area for the first time. The blue sky and the lake were visible through the large window and there was a nice glass topped table where Irene sat to have breakfast.

Zoe and Ian - Ready to Roll

Rolling to a Stop 

Ian into the mud

   

The Happy Victims

After breakfast our first sortie into Rotorua and the first activity which was Zorbing for Zoe and her dad. This was at the same place where Joni and Joseph did it in 2003. To explain the activity simply; the victims change into swim suits and are taken to the top of a hill. They are then squeezed into a large rubber ball. Water is added for ballast and the ball is released to roll down the hill. The victims are unceremoniously ejected from the ball by the kind staff who wallow in the muddy puddle at the bottom. The victims are then photographed for the second time. This time the photographs are put on to a memory stick so that the victims can have permanent record of the event. The first photographs are part of the document that the victims sign saying that they do not hold the management of the ride liable for any accident that might happen.

Going Down

From here we went to a wildlife area called Rainbow Springs. The main feature was the rainbow trout, but there lots more indigenous animals. We were given two bottles. These were filled up from taps where water ran, filtered, from the spring itself. After lunch and a delay Zoe and Ian made a trip on the log flume. 

Rainbow Trout

Going Down

Wet Again

 I watched as the victims went in for the second soaking of the day. This time the soaking was unexpected and not prepared for. That is, they got soaked. Irene, Sally and Emily made it back to the house while Zoe and Ian played a round of mini golf.

The quiet jetty

Back at the house the next activity was to go down to Stone Bay. Again we were unprepared for soakings to happen. We found a nice clean slip way to walk on to the lake. However, we discovered another way to get on the lake was found by Emily. There was a beach and she enjoyed walking out into the lake up to her bottom.

Emily wading in

For our main meal we went into Rotorua to a place called Valentines. The board out side said meals seven days a week from 9.00 until late. So we hung around until 5.30. Valentines works on a buffet system. There is a vast range of food and you help yourself to as much as you like. This includes the sweet course.

When we got back Irene and I had drive out for an evening walk. We started at the lookout between the Green and Blue Lakes. (One is supposed to have a green colour.) Then we drove to the lookout over the area of the lake which was filled in by the volcano and finally to Stone Bay where very few people were on the beach.

SUNDAY

This was a gentle wake up morning. Ian and Zoe went off to the thermal spas in Rotorua. The rest of us went to the site of the buried village. Up till June 1886 the area where we are had two famous features, namely, the pink and white terraces. People came from far and wide to see them. Even the Duke of Edinburgh (Victorian) came to bathe. There were samples of a letter from a lady who had come to enjoy her honeymoon. Unfortunately she was a little too late. On June 10^th Tarawera erupted. This relatively brief eruption destroyed these features and buried the village in mud which quickly solidified. One hundred and two people died. It just surprised me that a town had grown up to cash in on these features, that there were photographs of them and that there were newspapers to give a full report.

An important letter home from the stricken region 

A fire place dug out of the solid volcanic mud

After doing the history bit we did a geography bit. A trout streams flows through the site from the Green Lake and plunges down a falls which is one of the deepest in New Zealand.

Wairere Falls

Emily had a great time; following the numbered paths and playing in an ancient phone box.

Emily in the phone box

This dig site must be of the most modern things ever buried. They even excavated a corrugated iron water tank which must count as the most industrialised object ever excavated.


We had lunch back in the house and then Sally and Emily set off for more beach fun and Irene and I took a car to explore. First we went some distance to cover the second half of Spencer Road. There was little to see so we back tracked and turned off to Okareka which is a town on a smaller lake to Tarawera. 


First we went up to Western Okataina Walkway were we made a short incursion into the forest on a walking track.

Then we went bake to Lake Okareka. The beach there was crowded with people enjoying the sun and the water. We walked along a sheltered path to the other bay and back. We then drove off and came across Okareka Walkway. It is a quite spot at the end of the lake built by the residents. A good section of this was a board walk across the wetland area. It was a very quiet spot.

The evening meal was a barbeque. We set up the table on the veranda, but the wasps fund us and we came in.

Later the girls gave us a dance show and then the grownups played Scrabble. It is now very dark and the last night for the Clarks before they leave.

MONDAY

The Clark family were soon away which left Irene and me in charge of this beautiful place. We were soon off in search of thermals; the first of these we found at ‘Hell’s Gate’ thermal reserve. We visited this same place with Sally in 2003. Strangely, this was about the first time we really smelled the smell on this trip and even at this site it only became overpowering in certain places. In fact there was little to be seen of steam in any abundance. We put this to the seasonal difference between 2003 when it was winter and summer now.

The bubbling pools are always impressive, especially when they shoot mud up a few inches or so. The plant life fares in different ways. More often it is destroyed by fumes and temperature, but in some spots it makes tree bark a really bright orange and some plants take on a very vivid hue.

It was strange to find that George Bernard Shaw had named the place and even to particular mud pools.

The deepest hot water falls in the Southern Hemisphere

 

Devil's Cauldron

Boiling Mud

From ‘Hell’s Gate’ we drove back in to Rotorua; wondering how easy or how hard it would be to park. On our first parking attempt we failed. Having got to the top of the parking ramp the only way out was to reverse down. Knowing very little about the city we pulled into a pay and display bay. While fumbling to find $2 a kind lady explained that this a public holiday and that there were no parking charges. (What a charming tradition and so different to the UK)

The Old Bath House

Latte Bowl

From here we walked to the Government Gardens. The city was strangely quiet and most shops were closed. There were few people around and the car spaces in the gardens were practically empty. Now it was time for refreshments. I opted for a wrap and a tasty caramel milk shake. Mum had a latte bowl and a thing called a ‘Chocolate Rough’. The base of the thing would have been better described as rock. Bits could be scrapped off and so the eating process was lengthy. From there we walked past the ‘Polynesian Spa’ and on to the shore of Lake Rotorua and the public thermal areas. I still found this a bit scary. The path across the thermal area was not particularly well marked and in places we had to paddle through the warm water.

On the public thermal area; keeping to the path?

Thinking of scary. When we got to ‘Hell’s Gate’ there was a notice board showing that dome of molten rock was only has far beneath as we had driven from the main road. (Some 2.3 km or 1.4 miles) There is no wonder that the ground felt warm.

Back in the gardens

Pukeko

We returned to the city for post card buying. In the shop we talked with an assistant called Carol. She asked us where we were staying. When we told her we were in Tarawera she told us that when she worked in a hotel there she met many famous stars, including some from ‘Corrie’. She said that they were very nice.

And so we decided to return to the bit of paradise they we also were privilege to be staying in and just enjoy the few remaining hours there. It really is paradise. There were palms, blue water and sky, cut off from the internet and mobile phone. We reflected on this as we watched the sun go down on our last day before we make the trek home.

Tarewera Sunset

We really could not believe how dark it got. We woke up in the night and we could have been in the darkest cave. On previous nights there had been a light left on for the children. Now there were no street and no little LEDs that light up most western rooms.


TUESDAY

By twelve o’clock we were ready to leave and so with the door locked and the key hidden in a hole in the ground in a marmalade jar, we set off. Fortunately, it would seem, we decided to fill up with petrol before leaving Rotorua. From here, most of the journey would be through countryside with no sign of filling stations. It was some time before we found a cafe to eat our lunch, have some coffee and the usual toilet stop.

After Bombay Hill, on the motorway, it was pretty clear that we were back in Auckland. The sudden appearance of heavy traffic from being one of two or three vehicles is always a mystery.

Just after four, complete with pies and doughnuts we arrived back in Sylvia Road. We are now unpacking and getting ready for a rest.

We are very grateful to Sally and Ian for arranging this very special few day. We hope that they also enjoyed the break away.