We arrived in Wakatane with plenty of time to spare for the White Island tour with the Pee Jay Company which was good since I needed to buy a new pair of sunglasses since I had lost mine in the bay of Islands. I didn’t have too much choice at the Pee Jay’s gift store but I picked out a pair anyway. There were not many people on our tour so the boat was very empty. The ride to the island was terribly rough and the sky was overcast so it did not seem like a good day. Even though I had taken pills I still felt woozy and my friends did as well. We sat in tortured silence for the 1.5 hour boat ride just hoping we could keep our breakfast down.

White Island

Once we arrived to the Island we were taken from the big boat over by a dingy a few people at a time. We were given yellow helmets and gas masks to wear when necessary.

My first impression of the island was that I had never seen anything like it and that it was out of this world. It was like walking through ash while jumping across neon yellow streams and having sulfur bubble at you from all directions. The only thing bad was that it was overcast which made it all seem so dreary. We walked in a single file line behind a guide. I had a short sleeved shirt on but also had my jacket with me and felt burning on my arms and raindrops on my skin. I asked Hendrik whether it was raining considering it was overcast but the guide behind me overheard my question and said it was acid rain. I quickly put on my jacket, even though I wasn’t cold to prevent the burning and was really glad that I had bought sunglasses because that was the only protection I had for my eyes.

Hendrik, me, Lissa, Simon, and Beata at the crater of the volcano

I think they should have also provided us with safety goggles because the rain did blow under and over my glasses making my eyes burn like crazy. It could not have been good for my eyes or skin. We were told we were there on an especially bad day and the tour even had to take a different route to avoid the rain. Before we went on the tour we were instructed to bring a rain coat, and then it made sense. It was for the acid rain. I just wished they had said that, considering I had brought my umbrella. It was completely useless since acid rain didn’t just fall from the sky but it was more like a mist that just clouded you.

Sulfur

No sooner then the rain began that it became very difficult to breathe and it hurt my throat to breathe and I would cough. We all put on our gasmasks at that point and didn’t take if off through the majority of the tour. At the very start of the tour when we had just gathered from the boat a man asked the guide if he would advise us when to put on our gas masks. He just chuckled and said “you’ll know.” Sure enough once we neared the crater we simultaneously started coughing. It was hard to breath through the gas mask and I could hear my breath so it was very Darth Vadarish. It was also very hot in the gas mask and coat, but still worth it. Once we had passed the acid rain zone it was great taking off my coat since I was a ball of sweat.

Walking in a "river bed"

I absolutely loved the Island and being in such a unique environment. I had never been so close to an active volcano and it was truly spectacular. About half way trough our tour the sky opened up and the clouds cleared and it was sunny making the whole place look even more remarkable. I loved seeing all the bright colors that are normally not found in nature and making my way through the mud which was like quick sand. If you stepped onto a wrong area and you sink it would burn your skin.

Old sulfur mine on White Island

Once we were back on the boat we had some really nice views of the Island. The journey back to mainland was much more relaxing since it is only rough one way and we could bask in the sun. Afterwards we drove to Taupo. Days later our clothes which we had worn on the Island still smelled of sulfur and our bags which had metal on it like my backpack’s zippers were corroded. Luckily, Hendrik’s new camera was not damaged.

White Island as seen from the boat when leaving

From Auckland we drove to Rotorua where I was set on going Zorbing.Zorbing was invented in New Zealand and I had wanted to do it as soon as I heard of it.Basically you get into a giant ball, and it rolls down a hill.I had wanted to do the dry zorb out of sheer laziness of not wanting to get wet and bother with changing but they only offered the hydro-Zorb in Rotorua. In a hydro-Zorb you aren’t strapped in in any way, like for the dry one, and bounce around in the ball. The water has to be there because otherwise your skin may stick to the ball and you would most likely get injured. My boyfriend also wanted to go, but our other friends didn’t, so at least we had someone to take pictures. We had wanted to go in one zorb together but we were also advised not to since Hendrik is bigger than me and we would probably flail and fall all over each other and I would get hurt.  Also because you cannot go down the zig-zag course with 2 people, so we both went down the zig-zag course by ourselves.

As we rode up in the ratty van and I mean really ratty the seats were totally falling apart up the hill one of the other guys which was going up as well asked me if I was scared.I wasn’t scared at all.Usually I get scared before roller coasters but this didn’t seem too scary at all.Once it was my turn I had some trouble getting into the ball, but once I was in I didn’t have to do anything.As it rolled I was flailed all around to the right, left, up, down, and it was very scary.Instantly, I was disoriented and the whole way down I screamed.Even though it was over fast it was still crazy fun, and nothing like I’ve done before.

Who knew mud could be so fun!

After that activity we had lunch where we voted on which thermal park to go to and Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) Thermal Wonderland unanimously won.Following our GPS it directed us to a building on some empty road, which was clearly not Wai-O-Tapu, but we stopped in the parking lot anyway and then realized we had to use our own devices.Finding the park wasn’t hard at all once we turned the GPS off.We first saw the mud pools and after we got over the stench of rotting eggs, which was everywhere around Rotorua, we were completely mesmerized by them.I’d never seen boiling mud before bubbling right in front of me, and we spent a lot of time just staring at it and trying to take pictures right as a mound would burst.

Champagne Pool

The park itself had lots of spectacular sights, including the famous Champagne Pool, which is a famous landmark for New Zealand with its orange rim.Unfortunately the wind was working against us and kept blowing steam in our direction so we couldn’t get a clear photo of the pool.Other sites included the Sulfur Caves and Mounds since sufur is abundant in the areas of thermal activity, and one of my favorites, Devil’s Bath, which is a pool of water that was neon green at least when we were there.  I had never seen nature in such odd colors and formations, and it was spectacular.

Me in front of Devil’s Bath

The next day we had a tour booked for White Island but I couldn’t find accommodation in Wakatane so I booked one in Kawerau, the Kawerau Thermal Motel, which was only a half an hour away.  The hotel was on the main road but we couldn’t find it as we drove back and forth trough the tiny factory town. Our GPS kept sending us onto closed roads and into the factory where they processed wood. Kawerau is a logging town and we found ourselves on roads that only loggers were supposed to use.The GPS hadn’t navigated us well anywhere yet so it fondly received the nickname of many curse words.  Finally I spotted the motel, since the sign was overgrown and we were taken aback that this was it.It looked pretty dumpy and I was asked if I had paid for it yet, I hadn’t so we could still run.We braved the office though, and a talkative friendly man checked us in ASAP and poured us a jug of milk to take with us to our room as we stood there thinking if we really did want to stay there.

Even though it looked run down from the outside it was better inside though both could use a face lift, but it would do.  We were excited about the pool but when we saw it we were also disappointed since it seemed small and unkempt and we decided we probably wouldn’t go swimming.We went to get dinner in town but seeing only 2 take away grease fast-food places we decided to buy food in the grocery store. Even though Kawerau is the size of a Wal-Mart, they had a decent supermarket.  We bought pasta to cook in our room and when we returned to the motel the owner asked us if we wanted to go to Karaoke with him and some others.   We didn’t because we were hungry and because its Karaoke, but we thought he was very nice.I just wondered where he was going to find Karaoke in Kawerau.

After dinner we discovered that the pool was warm, and therefore, we gave it a shot and surprisingly it was lovely and we spend a few hours in it playing games and relaxing.  Minus the first impressions we ended up having a lot of fun at the motel.