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Rotorua - Taupo

Hubby awoke extremely early in the morning and rushed out to the lakeside to take photos of the sunrise…now THAT is passion. Yours truly refused to move and remained asleep under the duvet for another 30 minutes…hehe…=)

After I finally dragged myself out of bed, showered and changed, we drove to the Rotorua Museum and Bathhouse to take some photos before heading off to McDs for breakfast. They have similar items on the menu as M’sia, just that their Sausage McMuffin tastes a tad bit different. Nice, but different. As soon as we finished brekkie, we hopped into the car and drove to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland which was about 20 minutes away to watch the Lady Knox Geyser erupt (10.15am every morning). The road to Wai-O-Tapu is just off the highway, and it curves and joins back to the highway further up. Again, we had to purchase the tix at the main office, then drive to the site of the geyser, and we got so lost that we actually went one round and ended back at the highway! Luckily, we finally managed to find the spot in time and hurriedly parked our car and walked into the viewing area.

We found ourselves a good seat at the viewing area (it’s a semi-circle with wooden planks on the floor for people to sit on) and watched other tourists trickling in. Tick tock tick tock…it was near to 10.15am yet no trembling of the ground, no emission of steam, etc. *puzzled* A few minutes before the geyser was due to erupt, one of the staff walked up to the geyser and started giving us a short explanation about how geysers work, etc. For a moment, I was worried that he was getting to close…I mean, what if it erupts and he gets boiled in hot water?!? Well, guess what? The geyser eruption is human-matic. After he finished his explanation, the brave fella unwrapped a bar of soap and threw it into the hole. Sheesh…there goes all the mystery and wonder about hot water shooting out from a hole in the ground at 10.15am sharp everyday. What happens is that the bar of soap breaks the surface tension between the cold water on top and the hot water below, which then causes the hot water to bubble up and shoot out into the air. It really isn’t as dramatic as you would think…first, some foam started bubbling out, then a low jet of water, which then gets higher and higher. And that’s it. Ok, I know I sound cynical, but really, I did expect the ground to shake or something like that…*grin*

From the Lady Knox Geyser, we proceeded to the Mud Pools. A note of advice to any of you who goes there…don’t stand to near to the railing cause when the mud bubbles and pops, it can actually splash far enough to hit you. The smell was awful…total sulphur! But it was fun taking photos, though, as we were trying to take a series of photos showing how the mud bubbles up.

We spent about 10 minutes at the Mud Pools before driving back to the main office and entrance to the Thermal Wonderland. There are three main walking paths in the volcanic area, and we decided to follow the first and second one (takes about 50 minutes). Most of the attractions are large collapsed craters formed several years ago but the two famous ones is the Champagne Pool with it’s orange coloured sinter ledge and the Primrose Terraces. Now, these two are really interesting to photograph. You’ll be amazed when you look at the Primrose Terraces up close…it looks like layer cake! The terraces have been forming over the last 700 years and are regarded as being very fragile, so no stepping on it, ya? It was abit hard to photograph the Champagne Pool coz we couldn’t get too close, but we did manage to get some nice shots in the end…=)

After leaving Wai-O-Tapu, we drove further down to the Huka Prawn Park. Yes, you read correctly…P.R.A.W.N. P.A.R.K. Their tagline is “Meet Em, Greet Em, Eat Em”, which is literally what we did! We arrived just in time to catch their 30 minute tour around the farm. We learnt that the first batch of prawns were apparently brought in from M’sia, fancy that! We were shown the different growth stages of the prawns, from baby to adult, and we got the chance to feed the baby prawns as well! It was quite weird, actually. The guide gave us the prawn food (which looks exactly like fish food), and we had to cup our hand and gently lower it into the water. And these tiny tiny prawns (think tadpoles and you’ll get the size about right) come swimming up to your palm after some time, and I assume they take the food cause they dart away really fast once they touch your palm. After the feeding session, the guide took us to the actual farm where the prawns are cultivated…it’s huge dug-out pools in the ground, and many of them too! At the end of the tour, we were each given a freshly cooked prawn and taught how to peel them properly.

The prawn park has an adjoining restaurant that serves, well, prawns, so hubby and I decided to have lunch there. We got a table outside, right next to the river, and ordered lobster bisque (or was it prawn bisque? I can’t remember!) and a plate of fresh prawns with seafood and aioli sauce. There were lots of sparrows flying around, and one naughty bird actually stole hubby’s marshmallow that came with his hot chocolate. While waiting for our food to arrive, we watched people having fun on the nearby Huka Jetboat ride. The driver was trying his best to get everyone on the boat wet by making 360 degree turns…I felt dizzy just watching! Finally, our food arrived, and boy, the prawns looked so absolutely fresh. And trust me, they taste great…literally plump and juicy! We quickly dug in and finished our meal in no time. Sated from lunch, I started scattering leftover breadcrumbs for the sparrows, and after some time, actually managed to get one or two to eat from my hands!

We left the prawn park after lunch and for the first time since we reached NZ, I drove! For a grand total of 5 minutes…hehe…to the Honey Hive and Meadery shop down the road. I’d been searching for honey sweets that I tried ages ago when an ex-colleague visited NZ, and I finally found them here! I went crazy stocking up on those, and also bought two boxes of honeycomb for M (first time I’ve seen honeycomb being sold!), and hubby bought honey chocolates and a scoop of honey ice-cream.

From the Honey Hive, we drove back out to the highway in search for our last stop before Taupo: Huka Falls. The earlier jetboat ride that we saw actually takes the passengers all the way up to Huka Falls for a close up look at the waterfalls. For the rest of the do-not-like-to-get-wet people, we get to view the waterfalls from a small bridge across the river. It’s amazing to watch the water gush down the narrow gorge, and the water is extremely clear. No muddy Klang River water for you to see here! =) We spent quite some time playing with our camera settings, and finally left as the sun had set and it was getting quite dark.

We drove straight to Lake Taupo and found our motel, The Lake, easily. We’d both been looking forward to staying at this motel as it looks great from the website, and we weren’t disappointed. The suite had a small kitchen, dining and living room, and a separate bedroom and a large bathroom. It was so clean, and the kitchen even had pots, pans and utensils if you want to do a spot of cooking!! Naturally, we couldn’t resist taking photos of the place…hehe…=)

After a short rest, we drove out to the town center for a look around, and also in search for dinner! After two nights of Western food, our tummies were practically begging for Asian cuisine. Since we had a dining table and all, we decided to ta pau dinner instead of eating out, and ended up buying Sweet and Sour Chicken, Roast Pork Fried Rice, Mutton Madras and Peshwari Naan to bring back to our suite…err…not from the same shop, of course…*grin*

The rest of the night was spent, as usual, downloading and backing up photos we took for the day. Ohh…and I must add that the water pressure of the shower is so strong that it’s almost painful! Coupled with the hot water, it was perfect to relax those muscles after a long day of driving sitting in the car…=) Anyways, we ended the day with a great episode of CSI…perfect ending to a great day!

PS: Check out our photos here!