Author: Debbie McDonald

No it wasn’t me, I thought it was you! Our first view of Rotorua was the cloud banks wafting over the city. There was steam coming out of ground in the town park and even out of the gutters and all accompanied with pungent odours.

Our accommodation was quite close to the Redwood Forest which was amazing during the day but was elevated to a whole other level at night. The lighting at night was fantastic!

On our drive around Rotorua lake we stopped at Okere falls where we did a walk along the river. We watched some white water rafters finishing their trip down the river. They looked liked they’d had a ball.

After leaving Rotorua we stopped at Wai-O-Tapu thermal park In time to see the Lady Knox Geyser before walking through the park.

Given the increasing winter-ish-ness of the weather and the advent of COVID level one, we decided that now would be a perfect time to tour NZ by road. We put Mari in a berth in the marina, bought a cheap car and did a mini tour (2 nights) up to Cape Reinga (the very top of NZ) and back. This was a test run for us and the car. After fitting 4 new tyres, the car was no longer so cheap but we decided it was now good enough for our purposes. Time will tell!
The trip up north was spectacular with diverse countryside and friendly locals. Towering mountains, giant sand dunes, long white beaches, rocky coastline, grazing sheep and cattle all crammed together.