They don't mention the smell in the Guide Books!

Ben + steaming pool.
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Wow - Sulphur really does stink!!

Anyway, following our 500km drive from the Bay of Islands, we arrived in Rotorua which is situated towards the centre of the North Island and is the hub of the geothermal activity in NZ. We left early to get to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland to see the Lady Knox Geyser that erupts at 10:15am each day (with a little prompting from some household soap, bizarrely!). The event was worth the wait as water shot up 20m into the air and bubbles spilled onto the rocks below! Following this we entered the main park and were greeted with the smell of rotting eggs wafting around in pockets of extra strong strength that would occasionally knock you back a bit to catch your breath! The thermal pools were really cool - brightly coloured due to minerals from the rocks reacting with the waters from underground. We did the 3km walk round the park and took in waterfalls, a Champagne pool 63m deep, and the Devils Bath (which was bright green, and didn't look like real water!)

Champagne Pool.
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In the afternoon, we went to the Kiwi Encounter. This was a Kiwi sanctuary that helped breed and protect the endangered Kiwi in the North Island. This explains why the only Kiwis we'd seen, thus far, were in the Supermarkets!! (not the bird, for the slow people!) We saw little baby chicks in incubation, as well as two "juveniles" (under a year old) walking around a simulated night room - they're nocturnal so all the other Kiwi's on display were sleeping. We followed this with a round of Mini-Golf, as i'd missed out on this in America! Now, once we've posted this, we're off to a Polynesian Spa for some relaxation after a hard day's touring! I hear it's due to snow in England today... :-)