Day 13 - Thursday 25th September

Today is my birthday and we woke to a beautiful sunny day which would be ideal for our outings here in Rotorua. We had a buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant.

This morning, we'd booked to go on the half-day Ecothermal Wonderland Tour with Elite Adventures.

The tour operator divided the group into two because each of their mini-buses had a limit of 11 passengers.  Once again we arranged to go with Yolanda and Peter.

Our driver's name was Trent - a former rugby player with a significant limp caused by numerous rugby injuries.

The bus left the hotel at about 8:30am and headed south along the same road we'd taken last night to go to the Tamaki Maori Village. After about 20 minutes we stopped at Waiotupu Scenic Reserve where we saw hot mud pool bubbling and spurting hot mud into the air.

The next stop was at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. Our guide took us on a fascinating tour that included steaming lakes, craters and lakes of various colours.

Next he drove us to see the Lady Knox Geyser. Here the crowds gather at 10:30am each day to see the geyser erupt.

The next stop was at Waimangu volcanic valley. As we walked down a gravel path, our guide showed us botanic items of interest and pointed out thermal lakes and streams. There was even steam coming out of the hillsides and cliffs.

At the final location, he took us up several flights of timber stairs to a beautiful blue thermal lake.

A bus was waiting at the bottom of the track to take us back to entrance of the visitor centre. He then drove us back to our hotel in Rotorua.

After lunch a hotel courtesy bus took us into town. We had booked to go on the Rotorua Duck Tour. I didn't know what to expect. It turned to be a tour in a World War II amphibious vehicle (landing craft).

It was clearly designed to be a fun trip. The driver kept up a very amusing banter for the entire journey. He started by issuing each of us with a whistle in the shape of a duck and encouraged us to blow it at anyone we saw.

Initially he drove us around some of the streets in the town and then headed off into the country area to the nearby lakes. He carefully launched the vehicle into the water and toured around the lakes. At the second lake, we stopped at a cafe for coffee.

At one location, we encountered a group of Asian tourists who seemed bemused and amazed at the sight of our vehicle. They took photos of us as we took photos of them. It was very entertaining for all of us.

After we got back to the hotel, we decided to go for a swim in the the hotels's thermal pool. The thermometer said it was about 35C.

In the area adjacent to the hotel, we could see steam coming out of the ground.

We had a buffet dinner at the hotel. After the main course, they presented me with a desert platter with a candle to celebrate my birthday.