26 degrees, partly cloudy
Left Whitianga today and headed to Rotorua in the centre of the North Island. We stopped in a small town to get a hat for Clare and asked a shop assistant where we might find some for sale. She said to try the CHIMIST, then said ‘oh, you’re English, do you say Chimist or Pharmacy?’. We said neither, we call it the CHEMIST with an E! This led to an interesting discussion regarding accents and how quickly the New Zealand accent is moving away from a British accent. She then told us that she spent 3 years or so working in the UK and when she came back they thought she had a posh accent! Turns out she worked at Tewin Bury Barns, but a few years before Eric & Sue married there. Small World!
After a fruitless search to find bread for lunch (seems bakery here means pie and cake shop!) we ate boiled eggs, cheese and crisps on a lovely beach we passed (we are on a budget after all !) We drove onto Hells Gate, a geo-thermal and spa park close to Rotorua and went for the works. First a walk around the boiling mud pools, steam vents, sulphur lakes, and mud volcano, then into the spa for a mud bath and sulphur pool dip for us.
Found our way to the hotel and spent ages trying to get the mud our of our costumes and hair! Smelled faintly of sulphur all evening.
It’s really strange that there is very little visible evidence of Christmas approaching here, no street lighting or decorated houses and only the occasional tree which makes us remember Christmas is just round the corner when we do see one. It’s quite liberating! Bah, Humbug!