Gordon's Birthday in Rotorua

Happy Birthday Gordon! And as a special treat we went on a "Duck" trip, the WW2 amphibious vehicle that his Grandfather drove. This was our 6th trip on one and it is a bit of a passion! We particularly like the duck whistles you get to frighten bystanders!

The trip took us through parts of Rotorua and into 2 other lakes. We were unable to go into Lake Rotorua itself as they re having a terrible water weed problem here in NZ and these must not be transferred from one place to another.

It was a good trip and even the sudden down pour as we went into Blue Lake did not deter us.

After the trip we had a walk around Sulphur Bay which is a nature reserve and a geothermal landscape. It really smells bad at times but apart from the occasional dreadful pong the constant background odour is not at all unbearable.

One of the parks by the Lake is called Government Gardens and was absolutely delightful. There were old bathing pools, one of which is now a museum, ponds, rose gardens, statues and bowling lawns.

One geothermal hot spring which made us laugh was called "Rachel's Spring" after a lady from the UK who came over and started advising people on the youth bringing properties of the water! Not sure if it was true or went down well but she built up quite a reputation for herself. No comment!