Artist's Palette and Champagne Pool

Devil's Ink Pots

The second major thermal area at Rotorua is the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve. We follow its extensive walkways which give access to the geysers, pools of boiling mud, sulphurous springs, and accumulations of silica

After two sets of thermal activities, we turn our attention to parks and gardens. Driving into the centre of Rotorua,  we find the War Memorial Park which overlooks Lake Rotorua, where there are lots of Black Swans. We walk through Government Gardens with its many bowling greens, lovely flower displays, and an example of a Norfolk Pine.

 

Our objective in this area is to visit the orchid gardens, but this turns out to be the tropical garden we saw last night at the bus changeover. Instead, we find somewhere to eat - a restaurant recommended in The Rough Guide: the Fat Dog.

 

Jeanette has venison medallions which she finds too rare and too saucy. David has chicken breast. Sweets are a huge fruit salad (J) and blackberry and pear filo (D). Large helpings seem to be the standard at the Fat Dog - the hearty portions being served to diners sitting at a strange selection of mismatched furniture.

 

After getting some supplies at the Countdown supermarket, we return to Malones to find our laundry all complete

 

 

After our very pleasant stay at Malones Motel, we now continue driving south on North Island. Our first stop (after 75-kilometres) is at Huka Falls where the Waikato River funnels into a narrow chasm, then plunges over a 10-metre shelf. After scones and muffins at the nearby Hive Cafe we drive a further 10-kilometres to Lake Taupo. Here, we walk by the lake and then take a miniature train ride before joining Highway 1

This next section of Highway 1 is known as the Desert Road and it takes us between the Tongarino River and the Tongarino National Park. The scenery is striking but desolate, an area of semi-arid plains dominated by three volcanoes. We get a distant view of Mount Ruappehu (2,797-metres) when we stop at the highest point on the road: Desert Road Summit, 1,074-metres. Continuing through the impressively bleak and barren landscape of volcanic ash of the Rangipo Desert, we pass through Waiouru to reach the town of Bulls

The main interest in the small community of Bulls is the signs that have been erected with a pun reference to the town's name. These include the police station (Const-a-Bull) and even the litter bins (Respons-i-Bull).

Our next stop is made some 70-kilometres from Bulls, just south of Levin, where we find the Papaitonga Scenic Reserve. A short trail/boardwalk takes us through dense woodland to overviews of Lake Papaitonga (below).The foliage of the walk, which includes some huge flax plants, makes the trail very dark in places. This reserve  is a refuge for may rare birds, but we do not spot any before continuing south on Highway 1 towards Wellington.

 

 

 

We decide to take this short cut and at Waikanae turn left onto the Akatarawa Road. This transpires to be a very narrow, snaking road, with a number of one-way bridges, that we negotiate very slowly, particularly on the first section as we climb to a 450-metre pass. There are very few other cars on this isolated, scenic, 35-kilometre-long road that follows the Akatarawa River. Eventually, the road meets Highway 2, where we drive the short distance to Wallaceville House in Upper Hutt.

Wallaceville House is in a remote location and consists of a large conference/wedding facility in a parkland setting with a motel block separate from the main house. We have a suite on the upper floor of this block, with pleasant views over the complex's gardens. The large suite is well equipped and is light and airy thanks to there being lots of windows. On the advice of the hotel's owner to our request for somewhere to eat that serves good, plain food, we drive into Upper Hutt to eat at Cobb & Co.  The food lives up to our requirement: breaded scallops; roast beef with a variety of vegetables; and an old-fashioned sundae - the beef is particularly good