Oh my nose...

After leaving Queenstown, we headed to the North Island to Roturua. We chose to go here for a number of reasons. We wanted to take the kids to see all the thermal activity and volcanic sights in the area. We stayed here because it was easy to fly into and we flew home from Aukland so we did not want to drive further South. That being said, Rotorua is not really that wonderful of a place. There are not many restaurants and the hotel/motel selection is quite limited. Oh, and it STINKS! But, we knew this going in so it was fine.

We did enjoy our day at the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. The bubbling mud pools and other pools were amazing. Poor little C could not handle the smell and cried most of the time. The older two were in awe of God's creation. It was a really neat place to go.

Lady Knox Geyser


Bubbling mud pools




The famous Champagne pools


Some serious sulphur in this water...

We also enjoyed a day trip down to Lake Taupo. The town itself is a big step up from Rotorua and the lake was lovely also. We also liked Huka Falls. The highlight of this day however, was the Debretts hot springs pools. The kids loved the waterslide and various pools - all hot water of course! If we had stayed in this area longer, and did not have to fly home from Aukland, I would have wanted to stay in Taupo.

Huka Falls

Loved this sign.

All in all, we had a wonderful time in New Zealand. If you ever get to this part of the world, New Zealand is not to be missed. I would go back in heartbeat - but next time I would steer clear of the smell!