After breakfast we set off to Hell's Gate, a thermal reserve just outside Rotorua.

It's called Hell's Gate because GB Shaw, the writer, declared he wished he'd never seen the place, as it reminded him too vividly of the fate foretold to him by theologians... The mud pools, volcanoes and mineral lakes have names such as the Devil's Bath (95 degrees Celsius), the Inferno (100 to 115 degrees Celsius), Sodom & Gomorrah (fierce boiling mud craters) etc. The area even has a hot water waterfall.

One however, is called Hurutini, after a Moari princess who jumped into it because she could no longer stand being abused by her husband. The Maori actually used some of the pools to boil their food in.

As cool as the whole park was, we walked through it quickly, as the sulphurous fumes are absolutely foul and smell like hell indeed. We went back to the holiday park and played some more bowls (I won 5-2). After lunch we were ready for some more stinky stuff and we drove to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. The Maori name means 'Sacred Waters' but as sacred as they are, they are still a bit whiffy. They are not as active as Hell's gate though they have loads of different colours due to the various minerals.

The most striking we saw was the Champagne Pool, 65 metres across, 62 metres deep, 74 degrees hot and 700 years old! The Devil's Bath is bright green, from excess waters from the Champagne Pool mixed with sulphur and salts. The Opal Pool is a creepy yellow, the Oyster pool a murky turquoise.

After the smell got too much for us, we went back to Rotorua and stopped for internet and icecream.