Rotorua

We awoke to a park ranger knocking on our campervan asking about fees. We actually bought a national park pass which covered most camping spots. This pass was great as it was cheap and normally we had really nice campgrounds to ourselves. We showed him our pass and he gave us a nice postcard of Rotorua and the lake we were camping on. Great marketing for the campground. The campground itself was a well-groomed 10 car parking spot right in front of a large lake. Can’t get much better for morning views.

Rotorua is filled with so much fun stuff to do. The town itself feels small but everything around is close and interesting or thermal. We started off at the Waimangu Valley. This walk took us along a thermal valley of bubbling pools and springs. The highlight is what is referred to as Frying Pan Lake which is a large crater lake that appears to be boiling like a hot frying pan. There is lots of interesting history about this location that you read along the way. The last big eruptions that changed the face of the valley was quite recent 1904. It unbelievable to see how the land that was decimated by the eruptions is now covered in vegetation and forest. The location has been a tourist trap going back to it’s discovery. We also largely had the place to ourselves which made the stroll even better.

After walking around for most of the day. We drove further down the road to Rainbow Mountain track for a short jaunt up to the peak. The views were way better than expected. It revealed some of the greenest and hilliest sheep pastures we have seen in New Zealand. The setting sun added to the colours and in the distance you could see some steam from the thermal activity.

To finish of the day we had been really keen on taking in a New Zealand rugby match. We actually were just off on timing to see the All Blacks play live so we headed to a bar to take in the atmosphere. The bar was packed and it was a great time. We both really like the warm up chat chant they do at the beginning of the match. You should YouTube it.

We liked the campsite from the prior night so much we headed back for our second night.Read more