Rotorua is New Zealand's centre for geothermal activity, and as the guidebook had promised, we could smell the town before we could see it. Luckily, the campsite we checked into was slightly out of town so we were allowed a break at times.

We jumped straight into the thick of things on the first day by visting Hell's Gate, where we were fascinated by the geothermal hotsprings and sulphar pools, before the stench became too much. The evening was more relaxing as we watched the sun go down over Rotorua Lake whilst soaking in gloriously warm spa pools that are heated naturally by the sulphar underground. The water and steam was so hot that he didn't notice the cold evening air whilst hopping between pools.

It was an early start the next morning so we were in time to see the daily eruption of Lady Knox Geyser. In actual fact, some bloke, or 'geezer' as he hilariously added, walks over and pours 300g of soap powder into the hole which causes it to erupt, but at least we got to see it in action. We were then treated to more horrific smells and colourful pools as we wandered round Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.

We thoroughly enjoyed an evening of Maori culture where us, and 5 bus loads of tourists, were driven to Tamaki Village. Each bus had the job of choosing a chief and the only necessary requirements were that they were male and they played rugby union. Opon our arrival we were greeted by a traditional Maori warrior dance, after which we were able to wander round a staged Maori village before being treated to a tremendous display of Maori music and dance. The highlight of the evening however, was the grand dinner where we enjoyed Hangi, a traditional Maori meal of chicken, lamb, and fish, alongside all the trimmings, which is cooked for several hours under ground amongst hot rocks. Although the guests were fairly mixed, it was only the backpackers who shot up for seconds when it was offered. A fantastic evening, finished off by a rather excitable bus journey home where the driver sang us as many national anthems as he knew, which was a lot!

Taking advantage of another of our 2-for-1 vouchers, we spent our final day in Rotorua amongst the rapids of Kaituna River. It didn't take long to get to grips with the techniques of white water rafting but it was still a bit unnerving, to say the least, as we ventured towards the edge of the 7m waterfall. Six waterfalls later and we were at the end of our trip through the rapids, having found it great fun but also pretty tiring, lucky we haven't got to get up at some ridiculous hour tomorrow for the Champions League Final or anything!

Rosa