Rotorua sure is a smelly place... And not just because us lads turned up in our camper vans which now have a slight eau de man about them. 

The drive from tauranga to rotorua was a fairly straight forward hour journey down another of the state highways. After going through the city's industrial estate we arrived in the city centre which was surrounded by your typical shops, banks oh and geothermal pools of sulpher! The scene was surreal. You were literally in amongst pools which smelt a little like rotten egg and had steam pouring out of them. Even the drains had steam rising and it was clear to see why the area is so highly rated as an area of NZ for geothermal activity. 

We arrived relatively late and decided to find ourselves some accomodation. Off to the i-site who mentioned that the rotorua council had prohibited the camping of vans anywhere but campsites... Oh joy! But in the end it worked out really well as we found a backpackers place who offered us a spot for $10 a night each. The great thing was it came with it's own geothermally heated pool among a number of other facilities - I guess life in campervans can be a bit nicer! First thing on our agenda was to book the Maori show we'd been recommended. On top of that we landed a speacial at the renound Hell's gate - a tour of their geothermal park followed by a mud bath/spa (!!!!) for only $50 (when it'd normally set you back $85+). It was sure to be a great way to be celebrating the eve of my 22nd birthday!

And so it was, up and out by 9am we were pampered like I've never been before! We started with the walk around the geothermal park which offered some fascinating sights of the bubbling sulpher, hot pools and vents of steam which were being forced out from under the ground. The weather was far from great so it was hard not to rush things knowing we had a mud bath and spa to come... So we were hastily around snapping our cameras away like crazy chinese men who'd just come across a fish and chip shop! Then came the spa which was a mixture of relaxation and histerics as us lads all jumped in the mud and covered ourselves from head to toe. 20 minutes later having set ourselves in the pool we were asked to jump out and take a COLD shower !!!! before taking a dip in the thermally heated 41 degree sulpher pool which you could have quite easily fallen asleep in if given the chance. 

Onto the evening and our second experience of the Maori culture. Difference being we weren't on a pacific island and we'd be fed the traditional way of by cooking the meats, potatos and various other goodies underground in baskets. The boys had kindly told our host that it was my birthday and I'd been invited to be the chief of our tribe being led onto the Maori grounds. The initiation was nerve-racking to say the least. A Maori warrior came running out their encampment taunting us in a native tounge. He brought forward a leaf to symbolise peace which I then had to pickup before returning to the group. Once inside the Maori chief made a speach before the welcome was sealed with a touch of our noses. We then learnt about the games, dances and even got taught the haka. Then came the best bit of the evening... The food. A buffet of sea food, soups, salads followed by the gorgeous meats and finished with some mouthwatering deserts. Even as i write this I'm starting to feel hungry. But that wasn't the end of the evening. Because the site was on geothermal land we were taken to a geyser within the park which was erupting! Two words: very steamy. 

After our amazing evening we hit the road... Yes, the road! We wanted to go find a cheap(er) place to stay so wound up driving to a nationally owned site. What it brought was a cheap nights rest and some stunning scenery to wake up to on my 22nd birthday! Roll on Taupo!!!