From Hamilton our New Zealand friend took on the role of tour guide. Being a geologist, he did a fine job of showing us around Rotarua. Instead of going to the most popular thermal area, he took us to his favourite one – a valley that was the end of a crack in the earth that split the distant mountain in this photo:

I was expecting the unbearable stink of rotten eggs that had been described to me, but instead it was a mild odour of sulpher which, strangely, made me feel hungry. There were boiling streams…

Lakes the fill and then surge up and empty themselves every 38 days or so…

Tiers of many-coloured deposits…

And hot water bubbling up from the ground…

The next day it rained, so we headed for attractions that, um, weren’t outside. First the Waitomo glow worm caves, which were sculptural and pretty (but perhaps a bit on the pricey side for such a short tour), and then a bird sanctuary where we saw some rather horny kiwi, and many other distinctively local species…

We kept stumbling upon yarn stores without meaning to – Woolbar in Morrinsville, Rowan Tree in Te Awamutu, Casual Touch in Cambridge, and a shop in Rotorua – but it being a long weekend, they were all closed. But I wasn’t too frustrated, because my suitcase was already half full of yarn and I didn’t think I wanted anything more than just one more ball for the knee rug.

Next: a road trip and one last slpurge.