We woke to a cloudless morning in Hamilton, and enjoyed a fantastic cooked breakfast at our Italian styled villa B&B.

We had a last wander around the property and took in the views before we jumped in the car and started our drive south to Rotorua.

On our way, we stopped at a quaint town called Kowhai, where we found a restaurant that reminded us of home.

Walking along the main high street we came across some sheep related structures with shops inside. All a bit random but super to look at and a great reason to stop to take a photo.

When we arrived in Rotorua we headed straight to Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. The main attraction was the Lady Knox Geyser. It’s named after Lady Constance Knox, the second daughter of Uchter Knox, 15th Governor of New Zealand. The geyser is induced to erupt daily at 10:15 am by dropping a surfactant into the opening of the vent. Eruptions produce a jet of water reaching up to 20m and can last for over an hour, depending on the weather. Unfortunately we arrived at 11am so missed the star of the show and instead marvelled at the park area with several paths taking you around the various geothermal sites across a 5k route.

A geyser is essentially a spring with an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. The formation of geysers is fairly rare, and is caused by particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in a few places, notably in Rotorua.

As today was a little warmer and the sunshine appeared, we were able to take full advantage and spend a good few hours enjoying the sights and smells (!) that emit from this geothermal environment.

Some of the colours that have been created due to the combination of the minerals and gasses produce the most amazing deep yellows, greens and oranges.

The scenery on the walk included eruption craters, marginal forestry lands and a whole range of views.

The amazing colours from the champagne pool behind us was a result of the deposit of certain minerals suspended in the water and the retraction of the sunlight. The pool varies in colour being brighter on sunny days and darker on duller cloudier days.

The walk eventually took us to Lake Ngakoro and Mount Tauhara. The latter is a dormant volcano over 1,100m above sea level. The name relates to a Māori legend and means isolated and alone.

The Taupo Volcanic Zone is one of the most active volcanic areas in the world. The zone is about 250k in length and between 30-80k in width. There are 17 major hydrothermal fields located within the zone.

The Sinter Terraces and the Champagne Pool began to draw visitors in the late 19th century and it soon became known as the ‘New Wonderland’.

After an enormously enjoyable morning, we returned to the centre of Rotorua for lunch and took in the centre of the city and the various street art designs that exist.

After a late lunch we went for a walk around the Blue Lake (Tikitapu) where we did a 6k hike through stunning bushland.

The hike was a wonderful way to experience the stunning scenery and the quiet serene surroundings.

From there we dropped into our latest B&B stay and left our bags before returning to a nearby woodland where we got up close to the incredible redwoods.

The Redwood trees we saw and walked past were huge and exceeded over 100ft in height. Many are over 100yrs old and the resulting forests felt like we were walking in our own jurassic park, such was the scale of the trees and the overgrown ferns.

We had a wonderful 90min walk around the redwood forest before the evening sun disappeared and we then returned to our B&B, via a stop at the local Woolworths to take on supplies (beer & wine!) and some food for dinner.

Tomorrow we plan to head to the nearby Māori village that sits within the geothermal area where they use the heat to cook and bathe. From there we will be driving on to Lake Taupo and catching some more waterfalls and breathtaking views of the lake and the surrounding scenery.