My terrible horrible no good very bad week

My credit card went missing! When we discovered it, I wished I was in Fiji

And I can't tell too much of the story but it has to do with a criminal here who managed to run up $2,000 but is now behind bars - I bet he wishes he was in Fiji!

Rotorua - Saturday - coming home

Saturday saw the end of our week in Rotorua. We stopped off for a last swim at the Waikite pools and then headed south. Coming into Taupo, there was not a cloud in the sky and of course the mountains were really clear. We stopped in Turangi for a quick cup of coffee with my friend Julie and then set off again.








It had been very cold in Wellington and on the Desert Road during the week, and just at the Tukino ski field turn off I saw some snow. I turned off and I had barely stopped the car and the boys were all out having such fun. It didn't seem to matter that they had no shoes or warm tops - they just played as it is the first time that they remember seeing any form of snow.

Rotorua - Friday - Waikite Pools

These must rate as Rotorua's best kept secret! About 20 minutes south of Rotorua turn right and travel 6kms to the softest, cleanest and cheapest mineral baths in the area. It is such a breath of fresh air to get away from the other Rotorua prices which are clearly aimed at the US$, Japanese Yen and GBP. $20 for the family and we spent a good couple of hours relaxing in the warm "oily" water. Previously there were two pools, last week they opened the third one which is a very natural pool - they were originally the changing rooms! It was a lovely day and Ross and I even got burnt! The water comes from a boiling spring a short distance away which is pumped out of the river and then cooled before draining into one of the three pools.

Rotorua - Thursday - Mt Tarawera

In the late 19th century, people came from far and wide to see the famous Pink & White Terraces- caused by silica build up. During the early morning of 10th June 1886, Mt Tarawera volcano exploded through a 13km gash so splitting the mountain and blowing up the Terraces. The village where people stayed before going out on the lake to see the Terraces was covered in mud and ash killing 17 people. In 1938 excavations were done and some of the village was uncovered as well as various items - beds, hats, hand bag, cooking utensils etc.








We walked around the village and through the rest of the property. There is a lovely stream with trout in it and a waterfall at the end. This set of stairs was only one of many to get to the falls. I choose not to go down, but the boys did.















This grove of poplar trees grew from fence posts.

After a lovely afternoon tea of scones and coffee, we then went on down to the lake.

Rotorua - Wednesday - The Luge

Wednesday we headed up the gondolas to ride the luge - well, the boys rode and I watched. It was a beautiful day out. Actually, it started out a bit overcast but soon cleared into a beautiful day. This photo is looking back down towards Lake Rotorua from inside the gondola







Each luge ride took about half-an-hour as they had to wait at the bottom to catch the chairlift back up to the top.











The chair lift also scooped up the luges to return them to the top

Rotorua - Tuesday at Hell's Gate

Tuesday dawned bright and clear so we went to Hell's Gate - lots of steam, small geysers, boiling mud and hot water. The walk around took us about an hour but really wasn't very far - we just enjoyed looking at all the thermal activity.










The boys found natural pigment and proceeded to paint their faces as well as their hands!










Then we had a mud bath - something we've never done before! The mud was enjoyably warm but the cold shower to remove the mud wasn't. Relaxing in the warm water spa afterwards was great and we did feel really good at the end of it all.

Rotorua - Monday

Actually Sunday afternoon as well! The boys love to play mini golf and we found this wonderful fun park that had a pre-hsitoric mini golf - complete with dinosaurs and steam holes! But there was lots more and Adrian bought them all tickets for the racing cars, bumpy boats and mini golf. They raced in the cars and then it started to rain so we checked that we could come back on Monday.









Monday it rained most of the day but we went back in the afternoon for them to complete their fun. And fun they had on the bumpy boats! Look at the glee on Colin's face!









The mini golf was in such a good setting with the concrete dinosaurs and the steam holes all around

Rotorua - Saturday & Sunday

We went to Rotorua for a week in the holidays so that the whole family could unwind ..and I think we did. We travelled north on Saturday 30/9 and as soon as I saw that mountain, I felt my soul lifting. The photo is not great as the mountain was covered in cloud.


In Rotorua, the boys were so impressed with the street gardens - tulips surrounded by contrasting flowers. We took quite a few photos on Sunday - which was just as well because the wind blew very strongly that night and lots of the tulips lost their petals. We also went to the craft market on the waterfront and were most impressed with this music scene - made out of wood