From Taupo we headed to Waikite valley. We had booked a camping spot that was located at the premises of a thermal spa. For the price of a tent site (22$/person) we could use their facilities as much as we wanted, including 6 natural hot pools and showers. 

On the way we stopped at Rainbow mountain to walk at the top. Here we learned a lesson. Always keep on the track! After walking about half an hour and passing two beautifully coloured lakes, we saw a small path straying from the track and going straight up hill. It looked intriguing so we took it. After walking for a while, basically climbing up the hill we started to realize that there was no more trail and the forest started to get so thick that we could not get trough. So we decided to go back. The problem was that we did not know anymore where we came from. We tried to go down but we could not find the right spot. The way back was slippery and covered with thick bush all around. Eventually we found the track again and walked back to the car.

In Waikite thermal spa the camp ground was one of the best so far. We were the only campers with a tent so we had the grassy area all to ourselves. Also the hot stream went just next to our tent. The steam coming from the stream made it a nice backround scenery. After setting up the tent we headed for the hot pools. At the spa there was also a small nature walk beside the hot stream. Good thing about camping there was also that we could use the pools in the morning before normal customers came there. So after breakfast we headed again to the pools to relax for a while before driving to Rotorua.

Our plan was to go mountain biking to Redwoods but when we arrived to Rotorua the weather wasn’t looking so good. So we had to change our plans. We had booked a hostel room for the night and we had some time before we could check in so first we went to a small Maori village, Ohinemutu, in town. 

Then it started raining so we decided to see a morning movie, after which we had lunch in a really nice restaurant with intriguing name Abracadabra. We spent the evening in the hostel researching and making dinner on the hostel. We did also a little walk in Redwoods that turned out to be pretty different forest from others we had seen, making it an interesting walk. It was also popular among local runners and dog owners.

The next day we set out for biking. We hired mountain bikes for two hours and headed to the forest with numerous well-marked short mountain-bike trails. We had a blast especially with a track called Digger, which was not especially difficult but fast and fun.

After biking we went again to Abracadabra for lunch, and then set out to see our next camping spot on a lake. The lake was small and clean so Ville went for a swim. The water was still quite chilly that time of the year. We also bought Valeria a new sleeping mat as her old one was leaking since Auckland. After we did our evening walk, again in Redwoods.