Day 79 – Wet wet wet

Rain, lots of it, for the whole day! This put bay to my plans for mountain biking or any other sports I’d thought of in Rotorua. Instead we took trip to the thermal park on the edge of town. The park, at first glance, is like any other but then you see the steam rising and the smell of rotten eggs hits you. Some of the vents are tiny and others huge; some bubble through the mud and others steam from the surface water.

We hoped to escape the rain by leaving early for Tortuga, located on the coast, early. It didn’t take long to get there and find the YHA and the weather had gone back to being just muggy. Speaking to the receptionist, who had a pet cockatoo in the hall, we were pointed in the direction of Mt Maunganui. The “Mount” as its known is a large conical hill that rises out from the harbour peninsular.

The climb to the summit took around half an hour and, although the clouds were low, provided great views of the area. Because of the location of the Mount the view wasn’t just out to sea or over land it was looking back down the peninsular with the sea crashing on one side and calm in the port on the other.

Seeing the surfers riding the waves made me consider hiring a board but by the time I got back down the Mount the conditions looked a little beyond my skill level. Instead we headed into town. Not much there; in fact its pretty Americanised, having numbered avenues and shops in blocks plus the tell tail Starbucks and Subway (which we avoided this time).

Not much else to do but buy a pizza and a few beers and relax in the hostel.

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