The air is thick and hot, a smell permeates the air and sunlight streams through smoky clouds. Mud is lucid, bubbling and popping. Steam is rising from cracks in the ground that have formed over millions of years and there are more colours than even the most perfect rainbow. Gravel crunches under feet and eyes dart around the surroundings which bring a new perspective with every inch. The landscape is sparse but in no way empty, the ground is alive, whispering the secrets of the past. You can feel the spirits of the past, the stories of so many lives and you turn each corner with a renewed excitement and awe. You feel you have travelled back in time, yet you glance at your watch and catch the date, November 5th 2004. it then hits you, you're in New Zealand, in a thermal area that feels like it's been frozen in time, yet cold is the last word you would describe it as. I am on the north island spending a couple days exploring some of the most magnificent sights and sites I have been graced to witness. The area is around Rotorua, one of the most prolific thermal areas in the world and probably one of the most visited. There are geysers, silica forms, caves and hidden valleys, it's as if you've stepped onto the set of Jurassic Park, but in truth you've stepped onto the set of BBC's Walking With Dinosaurs. If you have seen this program it may give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I dread to think of the number of photos I have taken to try and capture the magic but never really seeming to catch the essence of what my eyes are taking in. Cathedral Cove was a natural beauty, and so is this, but not in the conventional way. The ground is bare as it is too hot for most plant life to survive and the wooden planks that guide visitors have to be replaced every two years as they too end up as ashes. But one of the most incredible things are the colours. The rusty red, luminous greens, bright yellows, each of which are totally natural, skittles have no chance here. Each formed from the different oxides and sulphur in the air which creates amazing hues wherever your eye falls. The Hidden Valley was a secret little place that Tilly read about, it's off the beaten track when it comes to the usual thermal visits and so we decided it would defiantly work a visit. As you pull up into the car park you are faced by a wide river, the only way to reach the valley is by boat. So you buy your ticket and head to the jetty, climb onto the boat and chug over slowly. The boat trip barely prepares you for what you are about to view, with silica forms, crystal pools boiling gently and caves.... Yes caves, and not just any cave. "Aladdin's Cave" is one of only two thermal caves in the entire world and at the bottom of this particular cave "Pool of Mirrors". You descend slowly into the dim light leaving the sun and palm trees behind you. Your footfalls echo gently against the great stone walls and you drop lower and lower. You come to the bottom of the cave and this silence fills you, something almost spiritual fills you, you get an overwhelming sense to give up everything and become a hermit right there. Then you realise that your boots are wet, the pool is so clear you don't even realise that you are standing in it! Apparently the pool has special powers, whereby if you dip your left hand in it you can make a wish, I made one, but can't tell you of course. It also has cleaning powers, you can put jewellery in there for a few minutes and it brings out the true colour, but try and remember where you left it or else you come out poorer than when you went in, thankfully I remembered but in my smugness I had stepped in the pool again, the boots did dry eventually. So on to the silica platforms, formed over millions of years. They kind of look like thousands of different candles have been slowly melted and all the wax has merged. Then the crystal pools, the clearest water I think I have ever seen. You are drawn to touch it, but when it starts bubbling at you and you remember that it's a little hotter than even the most caressing shower. It is truly an amazing sight that has to be seen to be believed, if you can't make it to NZ make sure you watch a few episodes of Walking with Dinosaurs to get the effect. In addition to this I took a trip to a Maori arts and craft centre aiming to keep the traditions alive for future generations. It is a great place, filled with treasures from the ages, a beautiful marea (traditional meeting place) and thermal area with too, a bargain at the entrance fee. You walk around looking at the art and get to see a Maori show with the dancing and singing. Then you walk around the thermal area. If you wait long enough you get to see the geysers erupting, each on its on timer, as if someone set them by their watch. And when they go, it's a sight to be seen. It starts small and then the streams of hot steam cascade in a surprisingly upwards manner. Each works in different ways, individual as a snowflake, some being able to reach 30 feet in the air. The best bit is standing in the direction of the wind and being dusted with the water droplets as they cool and fall back and return to the earth to start all over again. The most famous geyser is the geyser where they set it off manually each morning at 10. It was discovered many years ago when nearby prisoners were washing their clothes and got soap powder into the geyser causing it to foam and erupt. They named it the Lady Knox geyser, as the prison was being visited by this lady at the time. There was also the Prince of Wales geyser which is named due to the shape of the plumes. Although the last thing that sticks in my mind, or more appropriately, in my nasal passages is the smell. Each memory and photo is tinged with the stench that wafts around the area. The one word that springs to mind is bad eggs, very bad eggs. Thankfully it sits in pockets, but when you wander into one you definitely know it for a good while!