Rotorua.....Mud Pool City

Sue: I have been away again on a little trip to Rotorua for a few days, this place stinks! No it really does as its named "Sulphur City". It has bubbling mud pools, hot springs and Geysers that erupt every day! The hole place smells like bad eggs but its a fun place to be!

This place was where the 8th wonder of the world used to be, the pink and white terraces before it was all destroyed by an earthquake. I visited a musuem (getting good at this to a point!) which explained all about the volcanos and earthquakes etc

For people who live in Rotorua, they have to have special telephones, cant wear silver, have their fridges replaced every 6 months.........all because of the atmosphere but the good thing they have is constant hot water for free!

I went for a Spa which is supposed to be in the top 10 in the world! Although I didnt experience that, I went to the cheap seats area instead! Still very nice, sitting in hot spa pools in the evening overlooking the lake! The Pools were a mixture of sizes and heat...In fact one was too hot to stay in for long...hotter than a bath! They claim it helps aches and pains and even some arthritis too! So hoping my bones are feeling the benefit of it all!

The next day I spent the morning at Wai - O - Taupu which means Sacred Waters. This is a thermal wonderland which was cool to see, lots of thermal areas of bright coloured water due to all the minerals there. There was a champagne pool, lime green ( Photo 4) , yellow and a blue one.. Also lots of bubbling hot mud pools, got so many photos of mud.....something to look forward to when looking at my photos on return!

Later I had a fun filled afternoon enjoying the Zorb and the Luge! The Luge (Photo 1) is like a Tobaggon on wheels where you scoot down from the top of a mountain and you ride around various courses and then use a Gondola to get back up again seeing some amazing views and then down you go! Great fun!

Zorbing (Photo 2) was the best though, you climb into an inflated plastic ball, they fill it with cold water and then they roll you downhill on a zig zag track, bumping into everything until you stop at the bottom! I have never giggled so much! Brilliant stuff!

In the evening I went to a Maori Village, (photo 6) this was a fun evening where they explain about the traditional way of life as a Maori. Performed a show of song and dance. Then we had a Hangi meal, which is how they cook their meals. They basically dig a hole, throw in some rocks, put the food directly onto the rocks or in baskets nowadays and then cover the hole up and leave for 8 hours to steam! Could you be bothered, even BBQs are now gas for extra speed for us brits! haha!

The next day I went to a Kiwi Sanctuary, where baby kiwis are hatched and cared for until they can be released into a protected wild as they are endangered species.

Since my return I have been working like a dog! Looking forward to my next trip!

Hope you are all well, speak soon!