We slept surprisingly well and slept in too! Oops! We got sorted and were on our way! We had heard sirens while at the campsite and thought it was odd in such a remote part of the country! We had only just got past the first town and we soon realised what they were for. There had been a serious accident and the road had been closed for at least 1 hour and a half. We had the option of going back to the town but decided to sit in the queue to save queuing later. We were parked next to the field where the helicopter was waiting for the casualties. Just as we were getting comfy the traffic started moving and they had managed to open part of the road.
We made our way down to Tauranga and Mount Maunganui on the east coast. There was a huge port and shipping industry in the area and a lovely beach where we stopped to have lunch. From there we carried on to Rotorua. We found a nice campsite set along a river and then went into town to the tourist info. We had been warned about the smell because of the sulphur gases but were surprised to only be able to smell it in certain areas! It wasn't too bad, worse in some areas compared with others! We booked to go on a Maori night and to visit the thermal wonderland called wai-o-tapu. We went for a walk by Lake Rotorua and for a drive around the town, stopping to take pictures of the thermal spots and pools which were releasing lots of steam and which smelt quite bad! We got the feeling a storm was coming and this was confirmed when we heard the crackle of lightening. We decided to go back to the campsite to cook dinner before it came! However, we weren't quick enough and were caught out half way through cooking and had to take shelter in the camper!! It was a huge storm that lasted at least an hour!! Quite scary at times too!!