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Another uncharacteristically early start for us to make sure we got to the geysers at Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland: nothing like Wonderland in Telford though! The geyser goes off at 10.15am every day and so we piled on the waterproofs and waited in the stands for it to blow... no sudden eruption, just a man with a bag of what looked like soap in a bag. He added the soap before explaining that this didn't mean it wasn't a real geyser, he was just making sure it erupted on time. It did take the sparkle out of the occasion a little though. It slowly frothed and fizzed before eventually spurting its soapy water right over Jo and I who were foolishly standing right in front of it: it's where you got the best pictures, with no tourists in them! We instinctively turned our backs as it sprayed, which drenched our legs and backsides in the process! Managed to get a few good photos, although you probably can't quite tell it's us underneath our hoods as we shelter from the explosion!
Once all the excitement had settled we wandered around the Thermal Wonderland to look at places such as Devil's Cave, Frying Pan Flat, and my favourite, The Champagne Pool. The walk took about an hour as we managed to get some nice weather once the rain cleared. We kept passing the same few people along the way, some who smiled, some who were miserable sods that looked away just to avoid a smile!
Back to the van for our final destination before the van was taken home, this time the Coromandel was in our sight! More windy, hilly, dodgy roads ensued on the four hour drive, but again the weather was on our side so we were able to enjoy the parts when weren't fearing for our lives as we watched the cliffs drop beneath us...
We found a motorhome site in the Coromandel and checked in so we could enjoy the evening sunshine: for some reason when the receptionist asked for a name I replied 'can I say it's Smith?' At the Maori dinner they'd had four other Smiths! My comment just ended up making me look like some common fraudster. Oh the burdens of this name!
We wandered through the one street town and saw that as usual many of the places were shut! We ended up in a cafe that didn't serve any of the foods we'd been salivating over outside: the hotpot was only on the lunch menu, and the ice cream was only served in Summer! So we ended up with pizza! Jo had a beer with hers, but when I bored her she started reading the label and found it was a few months out of date. She said it tasted fine, but after we'd both stretched to dessert she mentioned it to the staff to ensure they didn't get pulled up on it by a less unassuming customer. They were not impressed. They pretty much said if it didn't taste funny why were you looking and why are you telling us? Great. Put a bit of a dampener on the evening for Jo, but she shouldn't have worried: they probably got someone who did make a fuss the following night. Serves them right!
Our final night in the van was the coldest yet, typical! We'd opened the tiny crack in the window as on all other nights, but for some reason we froze! Oh well, back to beds after this. We shook out the sheets, packed away the cushions, and tied up the cords one last time before we headed out to Auckland to drop off the van. Sad times.
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