a deal for $195 on the way and $167 on the way back. Bonus!! However, when we checked e-mail we found one a few days old from Hel’s Mum saying that her Nan wasn’t well at all. We managed to speak to her Mum though, and it turned out that she had made a remarkable recovery and was feeling much better.

There were lots of attractions in Rotarua, and we’d have loved to have seen them all, but they were all around £10 each, which would have made it a little steep!! We decided that the museum was a must though, and that was a little cheaper. It was a fascinating place, set in the old bath house. First up was the story of the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera. Back in the 1880’s, the Rotarua area was becoming a real tourist destination. On nearby Lake Rotomahana were the pink and white terraces, which were like glaciers made from silica built up as the water flowed out of Mount Tarawera.

Staggered shell shaped pools formed in the terraces, and were used for bathing. The further up you went, the hotter they got, the water spilling out of the boiling cauldrons at the top. There were paintings and even some early photographs of these terraces, and they did look absolutely amazing, so much so that they were counted among the natural wonders of the world. One of the local Maori chiefs was apparently very concerned about how the place was becoming very money orientated though, and one day there were two separate sightings of a Maori Waka, or War canoe, on the lake. The Chief was told of this, and said that it was an omen that the Gods were angry, and that destruction would come to the whole area. Turns out he was spot on, as early in the morning of the 10th June 1886, Mount Tarawera erupted. The resulting eruption created a 17 km long rift with 22 craters, and spread mud and ashes over an area of 15000 km sq. The pink and white terraces were blasted several kilometres into the air in millions of