Sun14 Aug day 51 Rotorua ROWAN'S BIRTHDAY!

Rowi's Birthday! Hurray! At last the day has come - we have been plagued with the countdown to it since before we left the UK and are all pleased to have finally reached August 14th!  When we open the curtains we find to our surprise that the Silver Oaks Hotel overlooks one of the two geo thermal visitor parks in Rotorua - and we have a free and fantastic vantage point overlooking the famous Pohotu   geyser which spurts up to 30ft in the air throughout the day.

It is also another fantastic sunny morning. A real bonus! Everything seems so much better after a good nights sleep and a free continental breakfast and we console ourselves with the fact that we are actually only paying $20 more a night here than we have had to in some previous places and the fact that it is warm and there is a double bed for the grownups and singles for the girls. We have had many and varied sleeping arrangements along the way - single bunks, topping and tailing, bed base and mattresses to name but three! Rowan reads her birthday emails and cards and unwraps her few little gifts, bits and pieces which we have picked up along the way and which wont take up too much space. The best birthday surprise we save till last - a morning at the Luge - a massive and very fortunate discovery and also the one thing which we probably should have done when we were in Queenstown.
Rowan had asked at the time to do the luge runs(along with every other activity and day out on offer!)  but conscious of the cost we had said no - not realising until a few days later when she was drawing in her journal just how disappointed she was that we hadnt done it. A picture speaks a thousand words and when we asked what she was drawing she said "that's the luge that we didnt do" - promptly bursting into floods of tears! We hadnt realised that the same setup was in place on the North Island until we reached Rotorua and stumbled across it in the "What's on Guide". A real coup and a complete stroke of luck.

The best person to tell you about the day has to be Rowan herself so here is her journal entry for the day.
My birthday! I had birthday emails from Granny and Grandpa, Auntie Carol, Auntie Janet, Izzy and Mattie lots of presents. I had a kiwi keyring and a kinder egg and a NZ tshirt and IOU letters for ice cream out, cake out, birthday supper a new pair of pyjamas and a luge leaflet. We went to the luge for my birthday. I did not go on my own - I went with Daddy and it was sunny. It is a sledge with wheels that doesnt need snow it needs a track to move down quickly. We had lots of goes each. We had to wear helmets. We got to the top by a chair lift. When I went with Mummy  crashed and fell out and I hurt my knee.  Mummy tried her best in the day to make cakes. She made little buns with chocolate on top and they were sort of lemon flavoured. I had seven candles to blow out and Daddy, Mummy and Tiegan sang Happy Birthday to me. I chose new pyjamas at the shops. We saw the Pohutu geyser from the hotel window and it blew lots of steam and a water spout all through the day.We went our for birthday supper at the Bad Dog Cafe and I had pasta, garlic bread and an ice cream sundae.

Sat 13 Aug day 50 Taupo to Rotorua

We leave Taupo, but not before visiting the lake front and experiencing the geo thermal phenomenon of a hot beach! We head for the steaming shoreline and have giggle at the ducks enjoying a sauna and jacuzzi! We brave the chilly morning air and in true Brit style we take off our shoes and socks and go for a paddle.is a very odd sensation - burning ones feet on the gravelly lake beach, feeling hot water bubbling between the toes and then only a few inches away being in cold water again.

Our next stop is the Huka Falls. Here water surges through a narrow gut from Lake Taupo, NZ's largest lake and meets the longest river (Waikato) at the start of its 425km journey to the sea south of Auckland. Over time the water has carved a channel about 15 metres wide and 10 metres deep and hour after hour water churns towards the Huka Falls.  We watch for a while, deafened by the noise of rushing water before heading for the Aratiatia Dam a little way upstream. Aratiatia means a series of pegs stuck into a steep ascent in a zig zag pattern to make climbing easier.  The water used to flow freely down stream but is now controlled by a series of man made dam generating hydro electric power all the way to Auckland. The dam gates are lifted 3 times a day for 30 minutes filling the empty pools beside. We arrive in time to see the dam gates slide open and water rushing over the rocks, there are several viewing points along a track and we are able to watch the filling and then emptying process from different vantage points.  Then the gates shut the pools drain, a bit like pulling the plug out of the bath!

We make one last detour on today's travels to a little known, local geo themal pool used mainly by the locals - Butcher's Pool. It is located down a dirt track, in the middle of a farmer's field but there is a changing hut and safety fence and a sign board. The pool was gifted to the local community in 1927 by Mr Butcher, an early settler who arrived in 1894, purchasing 48,000 acres of land. At this time the hot pool was used by the family as a bath! For the second time in one day we disrobe and head towards the murky depths, treading carefully down the algae covered steps. The sun is shining - in fact we couldnt have asked for better weather - and the water is hot hot hot! It is too deep in the middle for the girls to stand up but there is a platform around the edge for them to sit on. Water fizzes and bubbles from the bottom which they say feels like ants crawling up their legs. Who needs expensive spa treatments?!

After lunch we head to Rotorua, the tourist capital of NZ and plan to spend a couple of days here so that  we won't have any driving or car time for Rowan's birthday. Sadly we have our worst evening yet trying to find accomodation. We find that the town has many events on this weekend and that much of the available bed space is taken. Either that or the backpackers are grottier than a grotty thing and not ok to spend Rowan;s birthday at. We spend 3 hours on the phone, driving around - jumping in and out of the car viewing rooms and at McDonalds using their free wifi to try and find somewhere to stay. As darkness falls we have all lost our sense of humour and harsh words are exchanged. We end up at the Silver Oaks - a hotel on the outskirts of town and have to head out for supper. Tired and grumpy we head back to the hotel and the girls sleep while Nicole wraps the present not realising the surprise we have in store for us in the morning.