Kia Ora!
Today was a relaxing and busy day, depending on who you were…
Suzanne and Brad went off and had a relaxing day at the Polynesian Spa, while Antja and Nina went on an adventure to see a marine volcano--White Island. At the spa, Suz and Brad chilled in the 36 degree alkaline water, soaking and relaxing and taking in some phenomenal lake views. They then had an hour long massage—a first for both of them—which was absolutely AWESOME followed up by lunch (with phenomenal fruit and freshly made juice…yummm!). We then got to go back to the alkaline pools for a final relaxing time. Then Suzanne and Brad went back to chill at the hotel watching some good ol’ American TV—THE SIMPSONS!
White Island was one of the activities that Antja had recommended that we must do and Nina decided to do it with her not knowing really what exactly to expect … Surprises are fun. Nina and Antja woke up at like 6 am in morning to set out on one of the most scenic, active adventures of the trip of seeing White Island, the only live marine volcano in New Zealand, located 49 km north of Whakatane district. The drive to Whakatane was about 1.5 hours long with the most twisty roads of New Zealand with some amazing views of lakes and rolling hills. We set out on a boat to head to the volcano. On our way there, schools of dolphins were playing and riding along the boat waves. Dolphins are amazing :-). Approaching closer to the volcano you could see how active it was with the vapor coming out forming a cloud at the top of volcano. We then got into a smaller life boat to get on the island. We were given masks and helmet to wear for our 3 hour hike there. We have never seen something like this before, live, bubbling mud, sulphur, water, steam … everything was yellow, orange, green, blue, white … all colors mixed. We approached the crater and colors were just stupendous. Cameras don’t do any justice here. Looking around, people looked like ants. World felt so huge around you, so remote. White Island also has one of the New Zealand’s seismic measuring instrument that measures the earth quakes. After our 3 hour hike around volcano we headed back to Whakatane via boat. What an amazing experience to share together. We couldn’t stop talking about it when we got back with Brad and Suzanne. This is when Nina decided to start ranking the top places, activities of the trip making White Island at the top of her list… little did she know what was about to come and everything in the country of New Zealand will be ranked at top ….
When Nina and Antja got back from their adventures we all went to walk through the streets of Rotorua and finally settling on a Thai restaurant for dinner. We then went back to our hotel and went to sleep for the night—all tuckered out!
