Grand Tiara Hotel Rotorua

... every day! 
After the luxury of the spa our last activity of the day was a ride on a cable car for views of the city. They have made a hill into a tourist attraction with a cafe at the top along with a 'skyswing' (think bungy jumping stuff...) and a lunge - think of go karts without engines going down the hill on a track. Loads of fun for the kids! After a wonder round we headed back to the lake for sleep! 

... no told me it was this bad, in some places the smell was so vial i couldnt breathe in without choking. Walking down one of the main roads the other morning i thought the hills in the distance were very misty, only to find once i got closer that it was the steam from mud pools and hot springs.

Unfortuately the weather the past few days has become very english, the temperature has improved so its not got the bitterness of cold in the air but ...

... was close to three hours long and we were numb by the end of the ride because it was so windy and cold! After the boat trip, we drove another 15 minutes or so to Hot Water Beach. When the tide is low there is a stretch of sand where you can rent a shovel, dig a hole in the sand and find steaming hot water! So we rented a shovel and began feverishly digging... only to find very lukewarm water. There was probably fifty other bathers there just ...

Jess here! This morning we got up fairly early to go to the National Aquarium. It was a cute place with very nice placards explaining what every fish was in each exhibit. They had many that were native to New Zealand that was of most interest to me. We got to see many sea horses and found out that they were abundant just off the coast of Napier. They also had very large lobster which they called ...

... already down one 3 meter waterfall and one quite tricky 1 meter waterfall. Exciting stuff! It was quite different rafting to the sort I did in Peru in that there were far fewer rapids but simply all nice flowing, narrow river with loads of waterfalls and short but huge rapids. Opposed to a long stretch of tricky but flat rapids. Sometime after the first lot of waterfalls out guide asked for a volunteer and at the same time as I said OK, Gisele also volunteered me so there was ...

... evening. but the mid day was spent doing some mountain biking. we had heard from our travels that rotorua has world class mountain biking trails. so... what the hey, let us go! eunice and i are virgins to MTBing. sam had done it some and bobae was new at it as well. there is a reason why a grade of 4 out of 5 is considered difficult. with me leading, we headed for the difficult level. imagine going up a black diamond on your ...

... to pack a head torch as the tunnels were pitch black! After a short walk we piled back on the bus and drove on to Hobbiton. This is where the Lord of the Rings cast and crew stayed whilst filming the epic. We had our touristy piccy with a somewhat **** sculpture of Goleum before once again piling on the bus but not before Heather stumbled across one of the strangest signs in a loo ...

... its hot springs, so this was incorporated into the rooms. Not the smell but the idea of the sulphur pools, that is! Next to our very small bathroom was a large window from ceiling to just above the floor. Climbing non-ladylike out of this window brought you into a very enclosed outdoor stone paved pool. The pool was only about 2 metre sq! But there was a big long pipe coming down the wall with attached taps. The idea is that you fill this small outside area with hot water and bathe ...

... for the night in this isolated position and think we have found a really peaceful spot for the night. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth! As soon as it gets dark the "visitors" begin to arrive. Cars drive up to the car park , have a look around and drive off again. This happens dozens of time. The visitors are mostly young guys in souped up cars. After a while a 4WD arrives with two guys who avoid driving on the road instead driving ...

... to end our trip without travelling to the (allegedly) northernmost point in New Zealand, Cape Reinga, having for 6 months lived at it's (allegedly) southernmost spot. To get up there we travelled first to Whangarei, an interesting place. Next to the very beautiful Whangarei Falls there is one ...