Day 8 – Monday

Today we leave for Napier and Google maps tells me it’s 240km and 2hr 40mins to get there. We plan on doing a few things along the way so it will definitely take longer. We pack up and were are on the road by 8:30. Our first stop is the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland which is about 25km out of Rotorua. Here we can see the thermal mud baths, the hot springs and the Lady Knox Geyser. We get to the Thermal Wonderland just after 9am and it’s not very busy. We read that the Geyser goes off at 10:15 every day and it is recommended to buy tickets before 9:45. The lady at the ticket counter tells us we don’t have time to do all three paths around the thermal wonderland before we will need to drive back about 5 km’s to see the Geyser and we need to leave at about 9:50. We walk around the main path and I soon realise that this is one of the most amazing natural wonders I think I’ve ever seen. There is steam pouring out of the ground all over the place and mud baths bubbling away. We eventually get to Champagne Pool which is the pool you see in all the brochures with its boiling water and yellow and ochre pool edges. I had read some reviews on trip advisor about this place and some people we suggesting it was a place that stunk and was a waste of time. I’m not sure what they were looking at because we loved it. We went back to the car at 9:45 and already there was a throng of people making their way to the geyser. We drive the short distance and park the car and head in to see the geyser. It’s set up like an amphitheatre and the place slowly starts to get packed. I reckon there is about 500 people here. The geyser doesn’t actually go off naturally, instead a guide puts some detergent type substance down the hole and the geyser slowly goes off. It starts off foaming and within a minute its squirting huge amounts of water high into the sky. As we leave to head back to the thermal wonderland the car queue is massive and slow. We decide to bail on the parts of the thermal wonderland we didn’t get to see before and get back on the road because the place is going to be ridiculously busy. We make our way to Taupo and stop off to check out the Huka Falls which are about 5-10kms prior to reaching Taupo. The falls are pretty specky and we continue on. As we come over the hill into Taupo we notice the lake and then on the horizon over the lake is the massive volcano with it’s white snowy top which blows our minds. We stop in Taupo for lunch on the grass of the foreshore and we reckon this place looks pretty good and wished we had of stayed here. We continue on again and like our last drive the scenery is incredible but only better this time. We make it to Napier which looks nice and we book in to our accommodation which is on Marine Parade overlooking the beach. We dump our stuff and go for a walk through the town. The town is known for it’s art deco buildings which were built after an earthquake levelled the joint back in 1931. After that we shower up and head down to the harbour where there are some restaurants and bars overlooking the water and boats. We have a drink in one bar and move to another for a bite to eat. A great spot to have a drink but the food was crap and overpriced. We decide to head back to the accommodation where Kris and I have a spa (which is open and in the main area of the room) and a glass of wine while the kids hide out in their rooms hoping to not get a glimpse of their parents in the nude.