position S035 19.100 E174 07.200
Ocean Rival Journey Log
Adam Power Diana Power
Wed 5 Dec 2018 09:35
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Up early for a look round town- attractive gardens surrounding the tudor style timbered museum building that was closed for earthquake repair/strengthening. I think we must have done the town and baths on the Friday afternoon.   We enjoyed a lovely soak in the adjacent municipal thermal baths -a warm swimming pool with just bearable hot pools to the side hotter than I like my bath.  We drove out to a burried village , Te Wairoa. A spa village that was popular in victorian times with tourists who came to enjoy the terraced pools -hot thermal water trickling down over the pink and white terraces, cooling as it reached the bottom so you could work your way up as you became accustomed to the heat. The terraces were obliterated by the volcanic eruption of 1886 and the village which was the other side of the lake was buried by ash. What you now see has been excavated but the houses were not substantial so you see a few fireplaces and they have found various pots and pans. It is well presented though with interesting signs and stories of people staying there at the time.  Bakers oven. There is a nice short walk from the village along a stream, down some steep wooden steps to an impressive waterfall and back up.    Steaming lakes  Pungent Smells   Our last stop of the day was another soak in a thermal bath- this one a series of hot pools with bush views.  Finally our bnb in Turangi was a 'Yurt' on a self sufficient market garden run by an enterprising and hard working lady with Maori tattoos on her lips and chin.  I helped her shovel some wood chippings from a council site which she uses as mulch. She also uses lambs tails for compost, and cheap labour with backpackers who stay for free in her huts.  There were composting loos and solar showers, all of which worked well but the Yurt was a bit cold- there was a gas fire which we didn't trust to light. Diana refused to take up the 2nd night that I had booked as we had a big walk planned for the next day and she required a warm room with walls to recover. |