Lazy Bathers

Friday 2nd March 2010, 6.40pm, Urban Retreat Lodge - Taupo

This country is full of surprises. On a baking hot day, the hottest since we've been here, you can be wandering around the lake side town of Taupo and decide that what would be really lovely after all this walking in the heat would be to go for a swim in the river. So you climb up and down a few hills before joining up with the public footpath that leads to the bank, drop your bag and shed your clothes, jump in to the water for that refreshing dip you've been after, and find yourself floating in the bath water temperatures of a natural thermal spa.

All this volcanic activity in the North Island has created pockets of land where the springs are heated to lava like levels, so much so that in some areas huge clouds of steam billow in soaring turrets from wells and potholes. The river that we went for a swim in had a small waterfall nestled in to the rock face and it was from this source that boiling hot water flooded in to the stream, so hot in fact that it was impossible to stand under it without being scalded; Ella went an alarming shade of rose pink that reminded me of a lobster in a saucepan.

We had had all sorts of grand ideas for our itinerary today. One of them was to trek the 24 kilometres of the Tongariro Crossing, up and over Mount Doom (yes, as in Lord of the Rings). That one soon went out the window when we realised that on a pain to enjoyment ratio, this activity was drastically imbalanced against us. The other idea was to do bungy jumps off of Taupo Bridge. After about 20 minutes of observing other people jump into oblivion, during which period I gagged 3 times and Ella's forehead came out in beads of perspiration, we hobbled away from the bridge on wobbly knees and concurred that bungy is just One Step Too Far. The last idea was to hike along the river for a few hours up to some waterfalls at the Northern most point, this plan of action was in full swing and looking quite promising, that is until we came across the natural thermal spa only half way on our walk upstream.

We did not make it any further. We sat around in that crystal clear outdoor bath like we'd popped in to use the jacuzzi at the gym, and all thoughts of hiking or jumping or any kind of exertive activity were quickly forgotten. Seeing as the weather was so perfect for it and having already given up the day to the pursuit of horizontal decadence, we then spent the rest of the afternoon comfortably snoozing on the riverbank in our bikinis, hoping to reinvigorate the tans that are fast fading from months in Asia.

The South Island was beautiful, too extravagantly magnificent for me to communicate adequately, but mountains do not make for relaxing playgrounds. However, outdoor thermal springs where the river is so blue that it just looks like a liquid continuation of the sky, mossy hillside lounging areas and cloudless yellow light, well, now we feel like we're on holiday again.