Up at 7:30am and to a local fruit shop to pick up a simple breakfast. We hit the road straight away and headed to the Orakei Korako thermal terraces. As it was still early we had the small ferry boat to ourselves and only spotted a few fellow visitors around the walkways. Apparently, the water levels in the terraces were very low this year and as such the famed colours were very subdued – probably not a recommended sight if time is short.
The next stop on the geothermal route was the Waitapu hotsprings near Rotorua. These are the springs that most people will associate with New Zealand, filled with colourful pools of yellow, green, orange and brown bubbling mud which Laura claimed smelled not unlike my feet. Lies! The famous Champagne Pool was particularly impressive. It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed the long walk around the park – although it was very busy.
Hungry, we headed into Rotorua and stopped at Wellin’s Noodle Shop, as recommended by the Lonely Planet. The beef noodles and the noodle soup were as good as we had hoped, and afterwards we tramped next door for a couple of huge ice creams from Lady Jane’s Ice Cream Emporium. Two cones, five scoops in each, and all over us by the time we were finished.
Somehow still hungry, Laura could not resist the Lonely Planet’s praise of Maketu Pies, so we took a detour to the sea side town through dozens of kiwi plantations. Maybe we caught it on a bad day, but the pies were average, at best. But it was pleasant to sit on a quiet bench beside the sea with nowhere in particular be.
On our way up to Hahei, we pulled in to Hot Water beach. At the right tide, you can dig yourself your own personal hot spa on the beach, warmed to 60 degrees Celsius by the hot water from the thermal springs below… But, alas, it was not the right tide. We continued on to Tatahi Lodge and took a walk down to the beach – to confirm our route to Cathedral Cove in the morning – and then spent a while uploading photos and updating our blog before bed.
