December12

Today we drove from Whangarei to Rotorua , a distance of some 400 kilometres. It took us close to 7 hours to drive this route. New Zealand has a very hilly topography , that coupled with the narrow roads make for challenging driving. Both of us are feeling a little more comfortable driving on the left side , but still remind each other first thing in the morning.
We are staying at a delightful bed and breakfast on outskirts of Rotorua, population of 60,000. It is an easy town to navigate around. Every city in New Zealand has many round about s which help with traffic flow but can be unnerving during rush hours. Having arrived late in Rotorua we headed over to the local burger joint and had one of the best hamburgers yet.

December 13th
Today is our first full day of rain. We shall not complain much since it is the first taste of bad weather in a month of travel. We bundled up with our fleece and rain gear and headed over to the Rotorua museum which was a famous bath house in the early 20th century, famous for it's geothermal ,sulphur hot springs and mud baths. It had many fascinating displays on the bath house history, including a period in the 1960 - 70's when it was turned into a night club. We took a guided tour which pointed many seldom know facts.
After the museum I and Mary did an historical walk of the surrounding gardens, geysers, cottages and even included a totem pole given as a gift from Canada.