Rotorua is truly an assault on your senses the moment you open your car door – or van in our case! Not only are there steaming holes and mud pools in the parks, alongside the famous Sulphur Point on Lake Rotorua itself, there is the smell. Now. Some reviews of places in and around tell you how beautiful places are if only it didn’t smell so much…duh, you are in Rotorua! Due to the very highly active geothermal activity here, there is a smell of sulphur in the air. Is it dreadful? No. Is it strong, sometimes. Should it stop you enjoying this totally alive place? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Rotorua is a wonder. There are signs in the parks and other places of interest telling you NOT to leave the footpath due to the high levels of activity and the proximity to the surface of hot springs, steam vents and boiling mud pools. It is a reminder of just how thin the earth’s crust is here. We absolutely love Rotorua. Our walk around the lake and Government Gardens was fascinating. There are sculptures everywhere, stunning street art and of course the geothermal activity. We walk up to Ohinemutu which is a living Maori village where we see the Te Papaiouru Marae. It is a stunning building. There are a huge number of steam vents and hot springs in this village and the geology of the land is reflected in the cemetery where the graves are above ground because of the thermal activity. Further on our walk through Kuirau Park, we treat our tired feet to a soak in the public footbaths (see photos) and what a treat, even if Cath did get her jeans soaked! Our lunch stop was on Eat Street, one part of a long street that covers about four blocks. Eat Street’s only business are eateries and to make this experience even more enjoyable, this particular part of the street has a covered walkway against the weather.

We are in luck as on Thursdays there is a Night Market. There are international food stalls for two blocks, some craft stalls and a group playing music. It is a really vibrant market and we have something to eat – be rude not to! A really lovely experience.

We are lulled to sleep by the gentle popping of bubbles in a nearby hot sulphurous pool…

We are back in Coromandel for Labour Weekend, so naturally, we have a flat white at Weta Cafe and bump into local celebrity, Helen Clark again.