After a another wet night we were't sure what today's weather would bring but luckily there was little rain, so things are improving. The area between Taupo and Rotorua is full of geothermic parks and it was difficult to decide which to visit. We chose to visit a place called Orakei Korako because it had good reviews and was supposedly less busy than other parks if you got there early. We arrived at 8.30 ( the park having opened at 8am) to find we were the first visitors. They were still cleaning the toilets and the boat ( you had to get a boat across the lake to the area) the boat driver, a large Maori, didn't seem too pleased because we had interrupted his boat cleaning. Anyway the park was full of unusual geothermal features , bubbling mud baths, a silica terrace and multicoloured features which were quite spectacular and it wasn't until we were about to board the boat back across the lake did we see any other visitors.
We headed to Rotorua which has a bit of a bad reputation as "Roto Vagas" but we found it to be quite an interesting and pleasant place. A walk in the Redwood forests just outside the city gave us a bird's eye view of the city and the large thermal park where the Pohutu Geyser is situated, apparently it erupts up to 98feet high, but was only about 20feet while we were watching. We had now become accustomed to seeing steam shooting up through the ground and hot water bubbling up out of the ground and the areas along the lake at Rotorua are full of interesting if somewhat smelly geothermal activity.
The city also has some nice buildings and gardens which the Chinese tourists are more interested in . We are staying in a campsite near the lake which has naturally heated hot pools and we walked to the beach to dig a hole in the sand and then sat in the very hot water which bubbled up. There is a hot water stream that runs along the edge of the campsite, a bubbling mud pool in the grounds and steam comes up through the drain covers. I am not sure that I would feel comfortable about living here with all this bubbling ground so close but I suppose the whole of New Zealand is on a major fault line so it is a bit risky wherever you live.