A letter to TLM's nanna

At the boy's request, here is a post to tell his mum all about our day today (holiday day 4).

Having lost about a day and a half, I was pretty keen to be out and about today. I reckon the boy was a bit antsy too, though TLM would probably have been quite happy to stay in and play Mouse Trap (her new board game) all day.

First up was a visit to Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland, which is a geyser-y tourist trap between Rotorua and Taupo. The mud pools, as always, were awesome. the geyser was cool too, but it was hard to get a photo of it without also getting an unintentional photo of several gaudily dressed tourists. My favourite was probably the Champagne Pool, all yellow and green, and the smaller pool we saw on the way back which was a fascinating plastic tiki shade of green. It was of course, smelly, as are most areas in and around Rotorua. (You could think of it as an hell-fairy-land - misty and pretty but hard on the olfactories). TLM got plenty of shoulder rides, but managed plenty of walking too - straight-ankled and pain free.

Then we had a short rest back at the motel (Wylie Court - it's a good 'un) before visiting the lovely Blue and Green lakes. The Blue Lake wasn't particularly blue, due to it being overcast and drizzly, but the area itself is gorgeously green and surrounded by tree ferns and covered in mist.

And lastly, before we headed back to our motel unit to soak in our private thermal plunge pool (sigh), a walk around the Lake Rotorua lakefront whilst being stalked by greedy black swans.