The next morning we started the tourist trip by going out to the Blue and Green Lakes, Mount Tarawera and Lake Tarawera. While it wasn’t as good a day as when Seán and I got the tour with Jane, you could still see the difference between the two lakes. Back in the 19th Century Mount Tarawera was a popular tourist site as there were Pink and White Terraces formed by volcanic activity in one spot. However, in 1886 the mountain erupted and covered them so there’s not much left there for us to see now!
Before lunch we went to Whakarewarawara (yes it is quite a mouthful) Forest Park and Seán and I went for a run while Susan went walking on one of the many tracks. By the time we got back an hour later we were all soaked through from the rain, and Seán and I were pretty muddy from the track too, so we went back to the campsite for showers and lunch.
With all that rain, we decided the best thing to do for the afternoon was a wet activity – zorbing! Susan wasn’t too sure if she’d be allowed to do it given the amount of metal currently in her ankle since her fall last October but it was no problem. We got a lift to the top of the hill and found out on the way that we had two choices – we could go together straight down the hill (which was the only option we had the last time Seán and I were there) or we could go on our own down the windy track. The zorb bounces so much down that track they can only use it when it’s not very windy. Of course we all opted for the windy track and so off Susan went first. She jumped into the zorb without any bother (much to our disappointment as we’d been winding her up about getting stuck half way in) and soon was off. I think she enjoyed it cos we could still clearly hear her laughing when she was half way down the hill! Seán went next and then I was off, falling all over the place and having a great time. Yet again I think everyone should try zorbing, it’s great fun! As it was still cold and wet when we finished that we got back to the campsite and went straight into the hot pools again.Thursday proved to be a nicer day so we continued the tour of Rotorua by walking around the Government Gardens and showed Susan the bubbling pools and steam in the area. To continue our active theme we went to the Luge and Skyswing after that. Seán and I passed on the, erm, pleasure of the Skyswing so Susan was going to do it on her own but got adopted by a group of 4 South Africans who were doing it in pairs, so she hopped in with two of them. Again, I’m pretty sure she enjoyed that as, unlike me, she didn’t scream her head off, but she did laugh quite loudly!
Once she was safely back on the ground again we tried out the luge. This was the third time for Seán and I so we were pretty well clued in to the whole thing. Susan didn’t take long to pick it up and soon we were having tight three way races, with Seán playing dirty as usual and trying to push us off the track!After that it was time to move on to Taupo. Along the way we stopped at the bubbling mud pools and briefly jumped out of the van in the pouring rain to see them. We didn’t want to wait around in that weather so were pretty quick getting back in the car and continued to Butchers Pools. These were much more natural than the hot pools at our campsite, though a lot more elaborate than Spa Park in Taupo. This pool is at a hot water spring in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere! The council realised people were going there so they built the frame of a pool with benches under the water and also a cabin for changing rooms. The rain even stopped when we got there so we hopped in to warm up for a while before carrying on to Taupo.
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