OK, it helps having the right kind of friends! However everything described today could be done by hiring a car or a car and driver, but probably not by ship's tour as it entails a longer journey.
We don't have to concern ourselves with this as our friend Sue is waving to us as we disembark the ship at Tauranga having previously seen us sail past her house. We start with a tour of the surrounding town, which is new to us, before we hit the highway and head towards Rotorua where of course we have fond memories hence this revisit.
Off the tourist track, we visit a neighbourhood where the steam billows, just like in New York City, from below the pavements however this is not the same - here the steam is not part of a civic heating system this is volcanic action, live and kicking and arriving in your garden anytime soon - no one knows!
Down by Lake Rotorua there are pools of bubbles and near 100 C vents that will kill you no problem, right next to where we park. Then we move onto some firmer ground and look at Government house and gardens, although the house, now a museum, is closed for earthquake strengthening at present.
We drive past the Millennium Hotel where we stayed last time, we remembered the individual thermal plunge pools in each room that are still visible from the road, past the nearby geothermal pools, and on to Wai-O-Tapu. This is our overriding memory of the area for good reason.
We sneak in a Kiwi tradition - pie - as we drive and enjoy a classic lunch on the move, washed down with feijoa, a lovely local fruit drink.
At Wai-O-Tapu the geothemal area covers a huge expanse and the biggest in the region. There is a vicious mud-pool bubbling boiling mud and spurting it into the air, there's the huge geyser called Lady Knox that we saw before, but these days she only blows once per day and we're going to miss that! FYI she blows infrequently but once per day they 'seed her' with baking soda for the tourists to appreciate!!
The main attraction is the geothermal park where one can do three levels of walk around, of course we do the longest which takes most of two hours but we get to see all the beautiful sections, from simple sulphur steam rocks, to boiling craters of crystal-clear spring water, through crude-oil bubbling flats and probably the most famous - the artists's palette of colours surrounding the champagne pools where bubbles are permanently rising and the edges have varying colours each day as the conditions change.
Before long it's time to head back and we have a lovely hour with Sue and husband Ross on the deck of their amazing beach-front house.
We don't have to concern ourselves with this as our friend Sue is waving to us as we disembark the ship at Tauranga having previously seen us sail past her house. We start with a tour of the surrounding town, which is new to us, before we hit the highway and head towards Rotorua where of course we have fond memories hence this revisit.
Off the tourist track, we visit a neighbourhood where the steam billows, just like in New York City, from below the pavements however this is not the same - here the steam is not part of a civic heating system this is volcanic action, live and kicking and arriving in your garden anytime soon - no one knows!
Down by Lake Rotorua there are pools of bubbles and near 100 C vents that will kill you no problem, right next to where we park. Then we move onto some firmer ground and look at Government house and gardens, although the house, now a museum, is closed for earthquake strengthening at present.
We drive past the Millennium Hotel where we stayed last time, we remembered the individual thermal plunge pools in each room that are still visible from the road, past the nearby geothermal pools, and on to Wai-O-Tapu. This is our overriding memory of the area for good reason.
We sneak in a Kiwi tradition - pie - as we drive and enjoy a classic lunch on the move, washed down with feijoa, a lovely local fruit drink.
At Wai-O-Tapu the geothemal area covers a huge expanse and the biggest in the region. There is a vicious mud-pool bubbling boiling mud and spurting it into the air, there's the huge geyser called Lady Knox that we saw before, but these days she only blows once per day and we're going to miss that! FYI she blows infrequently but once per day they 'seed her' with baking soda for the tourists to appreciate!!
The main attraction is the geothermal park where one can do three levels of walk around, of course we do the longest which takes most of two hours but we get to see all the beautiful sections, from simple sulphur steam rocks, to boiling craters of crystal-clear spring water, through crude-oil bubbling flats and probably the most famous - the artists's palette of colours surrounding the champagne pools where bubbles are permanently rising and the edges have varying colours each day as the conditions change.
Before long it's time to head back and we have a lovely hour with Sue and husband Ross on the deck of their amazing beach-front house.
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