Day 4 – Rotorua – Wai-O-Tapu – Buried Village

Poor Carly didn’t sleep too well. She awoke with a scratchy voice and feeling a bit average. It hurt to talk so I did most of the talking today…nothing new, you say. She did say she sounds worse than she feels, but she has been a real trooper, and we have done heaps! Seeing as I had the opportunity to hold the stage, as it were, I tried to convince her that we could always attend the last day of the Pakistan v NZ cricket test at Hamilton and she would get all the rest she needs. Strangely enough she passed on that idea. Oh well, it was worth a try.

We started with another yummy breakfast, once again sharing a savoury and sweet option. This was followed by an hour or two just walking around Rotorua checking out some shops. After that sedate start to the day, we hit the road in our trusty little Barina and set off for the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, about 30 minutes outside town. We then spent a couple of hours walking around the park looking at an array of awesome sights, thermal pools, mud pools, craters and the like. Certainly a sight to see – something you don’t see everywhere! At this point, we stopped for a brief arvo tea that included an awesome coconut rough slice – a great substitute for lunch.

We dove back to Rotorua to check out the Zorbing (?) that Carly was contemplating. This is when you get in a big plastic ball and roll down a hill – they refer to this as ‘fun’. After we sat in the car park for a while viewing the proceedings, Carly advised it did not look ‘fun’ enough so we moved on to our next activity which was another drive for about 30 minutes to the Buried Village, near Lake Tarawera. This was an amazing museum and site where you walked around what was once the village of Te Wairoa that was buried by volcanic ash in June 1886 when Mt Tarawera erupted and 120 people died. It was very interesting and well worth a visit. On top of that there was a lovely ‘bush’ walk to the Wairee Falls which were spectacular. Carly (and I) were particularly brave to climb down some pretty steep terrain to get to the base of the falls, but it was definitely worth it. We finished off with a quick viewing of the lake and then it was back in the car to drive to our hotel and dinner. Looks like it will be a movie and then bedtime.

We have really enjoyed our time here in Rotorua, looking forward to our next leg in Taupo!