Ok, apologies to Kathryn, yes it has been ages since we've kept the blog update so here goes.
Si had been away on North Island fo 5 weeks doing his Sgt's course in the depths of Wairouro during September, so I decided to make the most of not seeing him and flew up to Hamilton to meet my old colleague and resident matelot Dave Ardern and his wife Lisa, children Harriett and Melissa who live in a place called TE AWAMUTU, which is on North Island, to then meet Simon for the weekend.
The story goes, that once upon a time, during the firefighting strike, Dave and I were working in Penzance fire station covering the strike with our green goddess fire engines! Whilst usually bored on nights, Dave would spend time on the NZ property site, looking at properties to buy for when he emigrated to NZ the year after. Who would have thought 3 years later, Si and I would be here as well.
So after a great evening residing in Dave's new house (v. nice) and a great dinner, the next day we headed south to a place called Rotorua, which is aka RotoVegas by the locals - unsure why as it is nothing like Las Vegas.
It was a damp, cold day which is unusual, but 30kms out all you could smell is the pong of the thermal pools from the sulphar and volcanic areas.
We had a walk round the Whakarewarewa, the authentic, living thermal village which has been there since 1863.
Set amidst a landscape of erupting geysers, hot thermal springs and bubbling mud pools, is the living village of Whakarewarewa. Here you can experience the unique lifestyle of a natural, Maori village setting. Once walking round you can view view bubbling mud pools and mineral springs where people have bathed for generations. Then from our viewing platform, see the awesome power of the 'Pohutu' and 'Prince of Wales Feathers' geysers.
