VictoriaMay 8
The weather definitely feels like fall. Crisp air, fallen leaves and bright blue skies. I’m so lucky to experience my favorite season twice in one year!
We went back to the Redwoods Treewalk to get a daytime view of the forest. Our birds-eye perspective of the forest floor and treetops above was peaceful and serene.
California redwoods are the tallest living trees on earth, reaching over 370 feet! By contrast, the trees in the Whakarewarewa Forest are 72 feet high. Fast grown NZ redwood is a soft timber whereas the slower grown CA redwood is a hardwood timber. NZ’s more frequent annual rainfall contributes to the faster growing trees.
In addition to the redwoods, there are over 70 different species of trees in the forest.
After our treetop walk, we decided to see the massive redwoods from the ground, so we went for the two mile Waitawa walk through the forest.
Eastwood Cafe was a quick coffee stop before we headed to our next, and more relaxing, activity at Hell’s Gate.
A mud and sulphur spa, Hell’s Gate was virtually empty on a Wednesday afternoon. Warned beforehand about the sulphur potentially ruining our bathing suits, we opted to rent them for $5 each. We also left our jewelry at home, as sulphur can tarnish silver.
When we arrived there was a rack of bathing suits to choose from. Most weren’t the right size for me. I chose two and after trying them both on, opted for the comical “Bride Squad” black one piece suit.
We entered the mud pool first, luckily private due to the lack of people at the spa. For health and safety reasons, we were only allowed to soak for 20 minutes. We rolled around like pigs in 100 pounds of diluted mud, frolicking and smearing it all over our bodies. The muddy water was the perfect temperature, somewhere between 98 and 104 degrees. Rich in mineral and nutrients, Māori have used mud pools for generations to ease joint and muscle pain and rejuvenate the skin.
After our allotted time, we showered and tried to wash all the mud off, then headed for the sulfur pools. Filled with naturally heated mineral water, sulphur is known for its therapeutic properties. We enjoyed the two different temperature pools overlooking a geothermal landscape.
Relaxed and rejuvenated, shriveled and famished, we got out of the pools. We showered, trying hard to scrub the sulfur smell from our skin.
We decided to squeeze one more adventure into the day and headed to a lookout between Green Lake and Blue Lake. From the lookout, people say you can see two very different colors of water. At first we walked down to the Blue Lake shoreline before quickly realizing that wasn’t the lookout. So back up we climbed to the parking lot and spotted the sign for the lookout. However, when we got there and took a gander, we didn’t see much difference in color between the two lakes. Perhaps we needed to do it at a different time of day to get the full effect.
Defeated, since we hadn’t eaten lunch, we went for an early dinner at The Fainting Goat. We stuffed ourselves with pita and three kinds of hummus, grilled fish tostadas with mango salsa and salt and pepper squid.
Back at the house, we showered again, but alas, we still smelled like sulfur and our eyes burned. Apparently, that’s a common problem we learned that can happen to you from being in a sulfur pool. Who knew about that side effect?
