10/09/10

We had allowed 3 hours for the drive from Waihi to Whakatane and left at 6am.
At 8am the White Island company rang us to say they'd cancelled the tour, by which point we were nearly there. We agreed to go on the trip the next day instead and stopped at some public loos nearby to freshen up. Then we drove back the way we came for a while before diverting to Rotorua. By the time we got there we'd been in the road for 4 hours and were not in the best of spirits. We decided to go to a cafe to rejuvinate and decide what to do next. Tom had a full breakfast, consisting of bacon, beans, egg and toast with a selection of jam, peanut butter and honey. I had fish and chips. It was right on the edge of Lake Rotorua, the size of which reminded me of Poole Harbour, and had some funny black swans on it.

Tom's friend Antonia and her boyfriend had recommended the Polynesian Spa, so we went there as it was nearby and meant we could have a hot shower! There were 7 pools - a large full-depth one at 38&degC, and other shallower ones that went up to 42&degC, which was surprisingly hot. Four were alkaline and three were acidic. They were semi-outside with some sheltered parts and had good views of the lake. It was very nice to be warm again and it was a nice sunny day (apart from a few light showers), but the best part was the shower at the end where we could have a thorough wash.

Much refreshed, although slightly thirsty, we came out and had an ice cream in the cafe. We both had boysenberry, which Tom said is unique to NZ and I loved it! I really wanted to go to a wildlife park to see a kiwi and we had 2for1 vouchers for Rainbow Springs, so we drove there next. I was slightly disappointed to begin with as we just saw all the birds we'd seen in the wild being kept in captivity, where they weren't singing anywhere near as much as before (particularly the tui), but further round we got to see some kea. They are very intelligent green parrots that live in alpine areas. A David Attenborough video was being shown that showed them figuring out puzzles to get food, and getting the solution on the first attempt, i.e. without trial and error. It also showed them having to use teamwork to get the food which they again did no problem, indicating their social awareness, however Jenny the Kea was kept separately from the rest as she was raised in captivity and murdered her mate.

Another highlight was the wallaby enclosure. I didn't realise wallabies lived in NZ but apparently they're quite common, having been brought over from Australia. At first they were all just sunbathing and nothing interesting could be seen, but we happened to walk past them again and one was sitting up washing itself. After watching it for a bit we were just about to leave when a tiny head popped out of a pouch we didn't even know was there. So we got the treat of watching a mother wallaby cleaning her baby, which came right out of the pouch and flopped around for a bit before trying to get back in. Wallabies are smaller than I had thought and this baby was really small.

Mummy and baby wallaby.

At the end of the path was the last enclosure was the nocturnal one where some kiwis were kept. As far as I could tell there was one adult and one smaller younger one which we never saw. We only found the big one because it was so clumsy we could hear it, with its long beak tapping the glass trying to find food. It was much larger than I was expecting, but was exactly the cute but ridiculous shape depicted on just about every logo. I found it comical more than anything else, as its method of looking for food was very inefficient as it kept doing exactly the same thing over and over and bumping into the same thing each time. Anyway, it was worth seeing.



We had selected a campsite on the edge of lake Rerewhakaaita which turned out to be very well serviced, with flushing toilets, drinking water, bins and a shelter for cooking. It was a dry clear evening and the best so far. The sunset over the hills next to Mt Tarawera was beautiful and the crescent moon was in the shape of a smile. The lakeside was full of birds and the surrounding fields full of cows. The sound of a field full of cows is one I've never heard before - a constant but chaotic munching sound.

Tea at the campsite on Lake Rerewhakaaita.

Once the sun set it never really got properly dark as there were so many stars. Neither of us have ever seen so many at once. I estimated there must have been of the order of 1000 visible - the Milky Way was very clear and we identified Jupiter and Venus. We couldn't find the Southern Cross (only visible in the southern hemisphere) as there were so many other stars. We climbed up onto the roof of the camper and spent a while star gazing (and satellite gazing) until we got too cold, so I went down to get a blanket but rather ungracefully fell off instead, so we decided to stay down after that.

View of night sky at dusk from the campsite.

Needless to say, such a gorgeous evening was followed by a glorious sunrise over the lake. We both agreed this was the perfect holiday.