Rotarua and Lake Taupo

Rotarua is a very smelly city. There’s the constant smell of bad eggs or whatever is in the air wherever you go. After calling in to the information site we found several places of interest to visit, one being sited in town called Sulphur Point, a sort of pathway with information plaques along the way telling you the history of the place and what you were seeing. The lake at this point was milky white from all the geo thermal compounds that were flowing into it and there were several mud pools that were bubbling obnoxious gasses into the air, a bit like a lunar landscape really. After stopping and reading one plaque near a mud hole I had the uncontrollable urge to start laughing and the plaque actually stated that the gasses emitted were the same as nitrous oxide or laughing gas, of course Sheila wouldn’t believe me but I swear it’s true.
Later we visited a place called Wai-O-Tapu, described as a Thermal Wonderland, which included lots of smelly places and some that were incredibly picturesque, thanks to Jo for a fresh supply of superlatives.
Look at the picture of one in particular called the artist’s palette.
We carried on to Lake Taupo and on driving over a hill into town were met with a wonderful view of the Lake with two snow capped mountains in the distance.
Today was a very good day indeed. We started with a walk round the harbour where we found a family of black swans eating weed from the bottom of the lake and an old lake steamer that was taking people for a cruise.
We then went to the Huka Falls, the river Waikato exits from the lake and passes very fast through a narrow gorge 15 metres across, the best example I have ever seen.
Down the road is a prawn farm and after some deliberation decided to take the tour and go fishing for prawns afterwards. We fed some smaller prawns by grabbing a handful of pellet food and holding our hands underwater, even at 5-7 cm long we could still feel them nip our hands with their pincers.
We went along a nature trail which ended where there was a geothermal foot spa, a bit like paddling in the sea but a lot hotter and very refreshing.
Fishing for prawns took me back to my childhood where you had a cane pole, like you support plants with, a short line with a small hook on the end onto which you put the bait. I managed to catch 4 of varying sizes but declined to take them to the restaurant where the chef would cook them for free and instead released them back.
It was a long time in the planning but I took my glider flight today and it is impossible to describe, but I’ll try.
We got to the airfield and it seemed deserted but I eventually found the guy that I had e-mailed, there were no gliders in sight but he soon had us wheeling them out of the hangar along with the tow plane. He made a call to get the pilot for the tow plane and all was set as he took me through pre-flight checks and told what would happen. I thought I would be sitting in the back but oh no right at the very front. I still can’t understand why I had no apprehensions at all. The tow plane took us up to 5000ft and released, just rushing air is all I could hear, brilliant. I agreed to some aerobatics but was not fully ready for what was to come, a loop the loop and a couple of slide dives and pull-ups, the G force surprised me somewhat but still exhilarating and no sick on the canopy. The pilot searched for thermals to increase height and said it was an excellent day for gliding as we went from cloud to cloud (these are where the thermals are under). After almost an hour it was over far too soon and I was back on the ground after experiencing what was one of the best times of my life. After chatting for a bit with the club members I was surprise to find out that the guy who took me up was 75.
We would like to have stayed in Lake Taupo for bit longer but alas it’s off to Napier tomorrow and wine country.

Bay of Plenty

The trip from the Coramandel Peninsula to the Bay of Plenty was only about 80Km and we passed through the centre of the Universe as far as Kiwi Fruit is concerned. Miles upon miles of Kiwi Fruit trees.
Arriving in Tauranga we were concerned that it was a bit industrialised but it was only the docks area we were passing through and we soon got to the beach areas around Mount Manganui. This place is amazing, at one end of the beach is Mount Manganui itself, an extinct small volcano about 500 metres high and then a stretch of beach of approx 7 Km which runs up the coastline.
We are staying in a beautiful cottage for a week in the Papamoa hills which is 5Km out of Mt. Manganui, it comes complete with a resident Possum which you can hear during the night prowling around. The Tui is the NZ native bird and is renowned for copying sounds, so it was a bit weird hearing it sing in the garden and then bark like a dog.
There are lots of walks to do around here and we managed to complete a full circuit of the Waikerio Estuary which included mangroves and native bush walks. On the Sunday we went to a local Farmer’s Market, we bought some roasted, salted Macademia nuts and they were delicious, just sorry I didn’t buy up the whole stall.
This was a relaxing week after all our activity so there’s not much to write about only walking and reading books at the cottage.
The weather is excellent at the moment, about 21C and clear skies most of the time, but it still gets a bit chilly at night. We visited some falls just up the road from the cottage called Kaitake where I discovered that I had locked the cottage keys inside and the hosts were not at home. I had to put on my Scouse head and with the help of some fishing line, managed to break in, good job it was secluded.