The Road to Taupo & Rotorua

We left Wellington at about 8.00 am for what was going to be a 500km drive to Taupo, with maybe a break in Napier on the way. First priority was breakfast. After about 1 and 1/2 hours and having missed Sue's first target location, we arrived in Shannon. It's hard to describe Shannon, but if you imagine a Wild West town, with no Sheriff, and most the residents have also moved on, you are beginning to get warm. The first establishment provided coffee, but it was made apparent to me it would not be supplying Sue's desired poached eggs on toast. I couldn't really see the problem, as there were at least five men in there eating pie and chips, wearing high viz vests.

On the bright side, this was just a brief stop, and therefore only a brief encounter with Shannon. I did manage to get a couple of pictures of the main tourist accommodation and the attractions.

The Local Hotel, Supporters of Shannon Rugby Club

B&B is also available.

The last plane out of Shannon was about to leave, but they were still trying to persuade the pilot to fly it. I was actually on his side, given it had no wings or engines!

We arrived in Napier later in the day and drove through the city centre. There was definitely nowhere to park a 7.2m camper van. We did get to see the Artdeco buildings, most of which is above ground level, and then we continued on to Taupo.

After 7.5 hours we reached our camp site, resort and spa. We relaxed with a dip in the natural spring spa on the site .

Today, we walked to the Huka Falls, following the most wonderful river for about an hour. At the end of the walk, the river squeezes through a narrow gorge to a thundering, cascading effect!

As coffee spots go, not bad!

Now they tell us!

Today we drove from Taupo to Rotorua. On the way we stopped off at the Orakei Korako Geothermal Park. This a walk around geothermal features, such as geysers, mud pools and steam vents. All very colourful, exotic and smelly.

To round our day off, we decided to go to a hot spring spa in Rotoura. We went on a journey, firstly washing the obsidian stone in the reception, then around the showers, saunas and steam rooms. At the end we smothered geothermal mud all over our bodies and laid down waiting for it to dry. The final experience was the steam room to soften the mud and a shower to wash it all off. So, so relaxing.

It has been suggested that it was very essential with all the stress of a long holiday, to go for a relaxing spa. We hadn't thought of that, but it certainly was a big help! Thank you Caroline.

The geothermal spring water pool

The geothermal spring water pool

The hydrotherapy pool

We came out wholly refreshed and ready to continue with our holiday. In the words of the Heniken advert, Wai Ariki, probably the worlds best spa! Although, I'm a bit worried how I turned out after the mud bath!

This morning we set off for Te Puia, another geothermal park, but also a Māori experience, which was fantastic. The park income funds an institute for Māori Arts and Crafts, stone carving, bone carving, weaving and wood carving. The park also has the 4th biggest geyser in the world and it blows every hour, so we got to see a couple of displays by Pohutu. The geyser next to it is called the Prince of Wales Geyser, because it generates 3 plumes like those on the Prince of Wales crest. I have some great video of the geysers blowing, but for the blog I can only share pictures. The internet coverage is killing my blog coverage. So some pictures.

Lots of love,

Sue & Trev x