Rotorua, the land of smells! It took us a while to get here from Auckland and we arrived in the dark. We drove past a park and the familiar smell of a stink bomb hit my nose and that was it for the next few days! It wasn't that it smelt constantly so your nose got used to it and stopped smelling it, it just kept on wafting up now and then and catching you by surprise.

On our first day we decided that we would chill out and head down to the park to look at all of the thermal pools. It was crazy...there was steam coming from out of the ground and off of lakes. Mud was bubbling where the ground was so hot and at some points the smell of sulphur became unbearable. It was probably one of the most surreal things I have ever seen...it's not everyday you see steaming rocks and steam coming from out of the curbs. It was brilliant though, it had a real wow factor. Also on this day we decided to do something not so chilled and went to try out 'zorbing'. Basically, for those of you who don't know, you jump into a giant padded bubble filled with warm water and roll down a steep hill. We got to the top of the hill and the guy told us we had to jump into the zorb like superman...Barry did this perfectly but I jumped through imagining I was a superhero only to get stuck by my butt, leading to much laughter. The next step, the guy tells us when he says go, we are to stand up and push the ball so that it starts rolling down the hill...no thanks fella! So Barry got up and pushed. Now we thought it would be a bit pants but it was actually one of the funniest things I have ever done. We were slipping and sliding around, I nearly went the whole way round only to land on Barry a couple of times and he was jumping all over the place. It took a lot longer than we imagined and we laughed so much I think there wasn't much water left at the end! At the bottom of the hill we got chucked out and told to jump around, this isn't that easy when it is freezing cold and you are soaking wet! We got our pictures and off we went in Galileo, leaving our soaking wet clothes to stink in a bag for a couple of days, oops...I bet our mums are shaking their heads at that!!!

That night I drank way too much gin. For a start Barry poured me a way too large mug of gin and tonic and it started from there! This was not great as the next day I had a stinking hangover. Add a hangover with the egg smell and you have severe nausea! We went for a nice walk in Waimangu thermal park to 'clear my head'. The park was amazing. It had so many beautiful steaming lakes and craters ans a giant lake with a volcano view at the end of the walk. One of the lakes, frying pan lake is the largest thermal lake in the world. Another was bright blue and steaming, apparently we had gone at just the right time to see it at its best. Along the way we followed a hot stream and there was a geyser where water was bubbling and spitting out of the ground. It was all fascinating stuff!

Later that evening we went on a Maori Village visit. On the bus our crazy driver chose Barry as Chief of our bus "Waka Kiwi". In order for us to be accepted into the village Barry and three other chiefs had to stand in a line while four Maori warriors tried to intimidate them by dancing and protruding their eyes and sticking out their tongues. While this was happening no one, especially the chiefs, was allowed to smile, laugh or even move as this was seen to be disrespectful. It was quite scary as they came out with their faces made up and big sticks and they were shouting like the All Blacks do when they do the Ka Mate Haka.

After this was done we were walked around the village and they taught us about Maori tradition. It was really interesting. We were then given a cultural performance and Haka (traditional dance) was performed for us and there was singing too. It was really cool and we heard lots of stories about Maori beliefs. After this we were treated to a traditional Maori Hangi, a meal cooked under the ground. It was a lovely meal and you could go back for more and more. The pudding was great, there was custard so I loved it...Barry was really pleased about the Kiwi Pavlova that was on offer! It was a really good night and although it was a little manufactured it was great fun and the food was fantastic and we learnt a lot about Maori tradition and culture. To top off the evening they performed the All Blacks Haka and Barry got a prize for being the chief. We liked Rotorua, its worth seeing beyond the smell to its true natural beauty!