Starting our day with a wander over to the Duke for a beer and burger deal for brunch – $28 for a craft pilsner and beef burger – but we are worth it!

Next, we get into the car and drive to Te Puia for the Pohutu Geyser

We find out it costs just under $100 per person to get in… we opt to drive just down the road and get a view of the geyser from a car park right next to it

After, we head to the Redwood Forest – this is where the land has been logged and they’ve replanted these Californian native trees

Instead of paying to go up the tree walk, we take one of the walking tracks through the giant redwood forest – called the Waitawa Walk – it takes you meandering through the 100-year-old forest, over an old thermal pool, past the silver ferns and back around to the car park in just under an hour

Following our walk, we drive 10 mins down the road to get to the Blue Lake, we park up at the lookout and walk down to the lake – take in the air and head back up – we reach the lookout where you can see both the Green and Blue Lakes at once

The public are allowed to swim, fish and boat on the Blue Lake but not the Green Lake as it’s owned by local iwi (meaning people or nation in Māori)

We head off on the road a few minutes to the Lake Okareka Reserve and Walkway – it takes about an hour walking down the boardwalk watching the variety of birds nestled at the edges of the lake

There are lambs, Fantails, Rabbits and finally with our path blocked by some Black Swans, we head back to the car

Back to Rotorua, we park up and head for a wander through the public park, Kuirau Park, to see the geothermal activity around it

It hosts a whole load of hot steaming vents, bubbling mud pools and the boiling waters of the Kuirau lake which has a Māori legend connected to it:

• A beautiful young lady, named Kuirau, used to swim in this lake
• Tamahika, Kuirau’s husband, said that the lake belonged to her however a large Taniwha (a sea monster) lived in this lake
• The Taniwha would watch the girl swim until he could stand it no longer, and one, morning he rose up and seized Kuirau
• Mãori believe that Kuirau either died of, fright because she was so terrified, or that she was taken back to the Taniwha’s lair.
• Whatever happened to Kyirau, she was never seen again. The Gods were so angry that they made the lake boil to get, rid of the Taniwha

Knackered from the day, we head to Lincoln restaurant for a bargain steak and deal – but alas they were not doing food!

So, with both our watches buzzing that we have passed 20,000 steps today, we make it to Capizzi for a couple of wood fired pizzas and a glass of wine ????

We stroll back to Haka House and call it a day