Finally 3 days to chill out! i hopped off the bus in Rotorua and spent most of my time walking and breathing in the sulphurous air. Seriously. i wish you guys could smell this place its like rotten eggs and thats no joke. Rotorua i guess is the most geothermally active area of NZ as the earths crust is really thin - hence all the bubbling mud and steaming lakes. The smell as you arrive is truly revolting and it kinda lingers on you even after you leave.

I had a wander around the town and went to Kuirau Park which is where most of the pictures were taken. its completely free and i remember being there 4 years ago - but it had a lot less areas fenced off so the ground must obviously be pretty unstable if more and more pools and holes are appearing. its such an odd sight to see all the bubbling mud and steam rising from the ground (take a look at a few of the videos if you want to see what i mean) but its completely natural and they appear quite frequently all around the town.

On the upside though is that the hot pools and the mud have (allegedly)healing properties, so not one to ignore this i booked myself in for a mud wrap and massage and then a dip in the hot pools after. It was bliss. havent had a massage in ages and the mud wrap was so soothing - my back needed it after having to carry my backpack around for so long! I also had a walk down to Lake Rotorua and got a few snaps of Mokoia island which is sacred Mauri land.

To fill in some time the next day i headed out towards Sulpher Bay and had a little walk around the Government gardens to the museum and around the bay. the thing is once u have seen the mud and the steam, it does kinds get a little dull after a while....so i gave up that walk halfway through and headed back to the hostel for some dinner and a few more bevvies in the bar! i know it sounds like i drink alot but its all in moderation and what else do you do when its really warm outside? lol

anyways thats pretty much it for Rotorua - i did the usual went shopping, ate out a lot - which i have to stop and sunbathed when i got the chance! the tan is coming along nicely actually :o) xxxx