The earth has music for those who will listen….

I know I’m slow in getting all of this travel story up but I am getting there in between that thing we call life which seems to distract me constantly.. so the story continues…….

The next day we set off to travel to Taupo via Rotorua. The countryside is just glorious. It all felt so familiar but so different. This place is amazing. We stopped first at Hamurana Springs. The water was some of the clearest I’ve ever seen and there were swans and ducks everywhere with lots of babies floating by after their parents. You could easily see huge fish swimming under the water because it was so clear. Across the road was another beautiful water vista which looked more like a beach than a lake. It’s so hard to realise that the hills and mountains you see are more than likely a volcano. It feels quite surreal.

We kept going onto Rotorua where we stopped at the waterfront. Such a soft and smooth water view with more swans in the distance. Now I think two of the black swans must have been models in a previous life, because as soon as they saw someone with a camera, they started swimming from a fair way out to the shoreline. As I was taking photos, one got closer to me and suddenly stood up and flung his wings straight out to the side, posing for me. He really knew how to work a camera. Unfortunately, I got such a shock that I missed the money shot and by the time I took the photo, his wings were on their way down by his side again. But they definitely posed for me and you felt strongly that they knew what they were doing.

We had a lovely lunch and a walk through the park. Now it amazes me that you walk through a park and there are hot pools steaming up the skyline. These pools are hot and there are warning signs that say how hot the water is and you must not enter but this is in the middle of a park where kids play. Now this is not a criticism, I was enthralled with the concept that people are treated like they have common sense and know to stay away from the hot pools. It’s definitely not a nanny state and I appreciated that. I know a lot of people say Rotarua smells of sulphur but I didn’t find it as strong as I was expecting.

From there we headed on to Wai’o’tapu Thermal Wonderland which was incredible. It is an active geothermal area in New Zealand’s Taupo Volcanic Zone. Now, I am not a fit person, but it was quite accessible considering the rugged landscape. The tracks were well kept and it was all well set out and signposted so you could take your pick of walks. You can choose one or all of the three walk and they take between 45 and 90 minutes. There are a number of stairs in some places along the tracks and while we did quite a lot, we did miss the very last bit, though Mike continued on while we girls wandered back at a leisurely pace.

The smell there was a lot stronger in some areas but it wasn’t too bad considering what I thought it would be but to hear the bubbling mud and see how deep some of the craters were, I knew for sure that I wouldn’t want to fall in there. The colours of the lakes were unbelievable. It was bright orange around the edges with smooth, bright green water. It was probably made more vivid by the white steam everywhere, so pops of colour really stood out. All in all, it was an experience that I felt so privileged to have seen. It’s certainly not something that I had ever seen before.

We headed onto Taupo where we would stay the next few nights in a beautiful second story unit. It was so well appointed and had the most divine views overlooking Lake Taupo. By the time we had a look around the unit and unpacked the car, we were ready for pyjamas, wine and dinner. There were boats out on the lake and it was so still you could hear the muffled conversations of the people on board as they floated on the calm water. There was a small beach area a bit further around from where we were with boats anchored and bobbing rhythmically.

It was all too beautiful for words. I felt so very spoiled and so, so blessed.

Happy travels…Livvy xxx