24th April (rest day)

We booked to stay in Rotorua another night so that we can have a date day! It started off with a wander through Kuirau park next to the site. We walked through the first part to see some eggy steam… and found some pools eventually!

Next we spotted some foot baths. The water was slightly oily but it felt awesome. Very warm, a little bit steamy, very comforting!

Finally we found the pools. The wind made the steam whirl over the surfaces, and when the steam blew over us we caught the smell of sulphur. It’s really quite a strange experience. Like a smelly sauna.

We next wandered through the Maori village alongside the lake. It was interesting to see the houses existing in such a precarious situation! We found a couple of puppies, they were so cute.

next we walked through lots of preparations for Anzac Day (tomorrow). Large white tombs were adorned with poppies.

we saw lots of birds at the lake side, the cloud really made this a striking place!

We found a park bench for our lunch near the museum which was closed due to earthquake damage. It was a Tudor style building. Massive.

The afternoon was spent looking in all the touristy gift shops followed by a drink at Brew. The new avengers movie ‘End Game’ came out today and we went to the cinema to see if we could go, apparently that was everyone else’s plan too, so we walked back to Top 10 and had a dip in the mineral pools instead.

Good day of relaxation off the bikes!