November 19, Monday & November 20, Tuesday

November 19, Monday

Checked out of the motel at 10 am and headed north east towards Hells Gates, a natural spa, where I was planning to have a “mud bath” in a mineral spring.  It’s on the north eastern edge of Lake Rotorua, on Highway 30.

 It was very interesting to say the least. I had seen a travel show where a young lady had done one of these and had ruined her bathing suit. I did not want either of my swim suits to get ruined with mud and sulphur, so I booked a private bath where I could go in without much on. I opted to keep my panties on and tried not to think of the bacteria content in the mud bath. It turned out to be very watery with mud at the bottom of the water. You had to stir up the mud to end up with a bit of a “mud” bath. I put some on my face, but everything I tried to spread on my body was immediately washed off by the water. I had 20 minutes in the mud bath,
had to take a very cold shower to get all the clay off my body, and then went over to the hot sulphur bathing pools. I opted to use one of their two piece swim suits and was assured that they were dry cleaned after each use. Again, I tried not to look at what was floating in the water and just relaxed. Had a great discussion with two New Zealand women who were treating themselves to a long weekend away from work and family. I was there a total of one hour and really felt good after showering one more time, this time with nice warm water.The yellow panties I had kept on in the mud bath were now completely grey, so I was very happy about my decision not to use my own bathing suits.

Hells Gate Mud Spa

 It was a bit over one hour drive from there along highway 30

They're coralling the sheep at this farm
I was heading to Whakatane (pronounced Fakatane) where Lise and Fred H had lived while they were in NZ.  It was too late to take a cruise to While Island, and I wasn’t crazy about going on to another active volcanic crater which had been on the news a few days before.I did not have the time to wait and do it the next day, so I decided to have some lunch before taking off again.

 Near the Tourist Information Office on the water front.  There has to be some affiliation with dolphins!  Beautiful statue.

 The harbour at Whakatane

 I drove up Hillcrest Road and Seaview Road to try to get a view of White Island, 50 km away.  Doesn’t look like what I saw in the brochures. Maybe the crater portion is on the other side of the island.


 Lise & Fred:  Here's a photo of your house.  Really nice in a quiet neighborhood.  You must have enjoyed life here.  Too bad I’m three years too late to visit you. Whakatane is quite a pretty town. 

My drive back on Highway 2 led me past the paper mill where I assume Fred worked while he was here.

Doesn’t look like the factory is operational, but there are huge logs in the mill yard.

 I drove back on to Highway 2, and stopped at a beach near Matata, with views of the South Pacific Ocean.  No, White Island looks no different from this angle.  

 South Pacific Ocean.  Looks like a nice beach.

The plan today was for me to drive up the eastern coast on highway #2, then on highway # 25 to Kuaotunu before cutting across to the western side of the peninsula to Coromandel.   By the time I reached Waihi however I realized that I would be arriving much too late and changed my mind.  I decided to cut across the base of the peninsula instead taking highway # 26 to Thames.  It was actually a beautiful ride through the countryside and I arrived in Thames at 5 pm.  Staying at the Shortland Court Motel for the night and have to decide if I go on to Coromandel tomorrow morning, or head straight for Auckland.

November 20, Tuesday

Left early today, having decided to forego the Bay of Plenty peninsula and headed for Auckland instead in order to resolve my flight problems to and out of Fiji. My intention had been to stay on highway #25 around the shoreline of Hauraki Gulf, but I must have missed a turn off somewhere since I ended up on Highway # 2 instead of the Pacific Coast Highway. Must be fate, so I continued on to Auckland. My plan was to head towards the airport to find a hotel, since that is where I would be dropping off the car and as I was driving on highway 20A looking for a specific motel, I spotted an Ibis Hotel. Made a quick right turn and booked a room for three nights.  
I thought that the Air Pacific Airline would have an office at the International Auckland Airport, but was advised that it was downtown instead. Oh well!