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Rotorua is one of the most volcanic areas in the North Island, and has many thermal areas around it. Because of this it has a bit of a reputation for stinking like rotten eggs, but we were pleased to find it wasn't actually that bad when we arrived there. Our campsite was on the outskirts of the main town and was really nice. It also had one of the benefits of the thermal activity as it had it's own thermal pools. We had a relax in them after we had stettled in to our spot and it was a nice way to finish of the day.
We got up early the next morning to drive back out of town so we could see some more examples of the volcanic stuff. There are quite a few different places to visit but we chose to go to one called Wai-O-Tapu. One of the main reasons for that was it had a geyser there called Lady Knox Geyser that erupted daily at 10.15, and we thought that would be a good thing to see. Once we arrived and bought our tickets we had to drive back out to the geyser. There were loads and loads of people there, but it was quite impressive so I could see why. A guide spoke a bit about it's history and then added some organic soap into the top of it which meant it would erupt on cue. Once it had erupted water shot out of the top up to 20 feet high in the air. Apparantly it keeps going for up to an hour but we didn't stick around quite that long. After we had seen then geyser we went back to the park and walked around there for the next couple of hours. There were three different walks and lots to see. There were examples of craters, pools, bubbling mud and lots of other things, and the list would go on forever if I described all of them. There was also a waterfall and a large champagne pool, but my favourite thing was called the Devil's Home which was a large muddy pool that was bright lime green. Anyway, there were loads and loads of examples of the thermal area to see and it was very interesting. We ended up spending all the morning there before heading into town. The main town of Rotorua was actually much bigger than I had expected, but there wasn't really that much that we wanted to do. We walked around the area and the lake and some of the shops and then stopped for lunch. We went back to the campsite a bit later that afternoon. It was a nice town, but just a bit like everywhere else we had been. People mainly come to see the attractions on the outskirts, and there are a lot of them, but unfortunatley we could only afford the one!
When we woke up the next morning we noticed that the eggy smell had actually gotten a bit worse overnight, and also that it was raining and looked like it would be a horrible day. That morning we left Rotorua and drove north to our next stop for the night which was Tauranga. It rained on and off the whole drive there, which luckily wasn't far, but we were a bit disapointed. We had read about a waterfall outside Tauranga that was supposed to be nice for somewhere to stop off, but after driving for quite a while in the wrong direction we realised we had gone the wrong way so gave up on it and just went into town for lunch. I had heard Tauranga was supposed to be a lovely place, but I think it was one of those places that are only nice when the weather is. The weather wasn't so it turned out to be a bit of a rubbish day. We went straight to the holiday park and watched TV, but the park wasn't even that great. We left as soon as we got up that morning hoping our next stop would be a bit more fun and less wet! Oh, and we eventually found the waterfall we were looking for, and it turned out to be rubbish!
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