We packed up the car and headed to see the Lady Knox geyser and it's friends at the Wai-o-tapo Thermal Wonderland. I kid you not.
God's Toilet
Now, let me just say that we really enjoyed our visit despite getting absolutely lashed on and constant reek of a hundred builders in the site office after breakfast. It was quite otherworldly and made you well aware of the fragility of the ground on which we stand given the whole area is just a very thin volcanic crust.
The Lady Herself
However, as the groundsphincter belched it's contents into the air and a few hundred drowned rats stood oohing and aahing with their recording devices I became convinced this was not going according to plan and that we had to cut our losses and run. So after a futile trip to the luge track (drowned rats steering go-karts down a hillside) we gave up, had lunch, and headed for Palmerston North.
The four hour drive was very enjoyable. After about an hour the skies cleared, our clothes had almost dried out and we were equipped with coffees from a petrol station where they were apologising for the flooded floors.
We caught some beautiful countryside on our way down to what was a really nice college town. The main highway is generally a one lane affair where the traffic just moves along at a solid pace. People are reasonably civil on the roads and the speed limit is strictly observed. Great touring conditions.
We eventually made in to Palmerston North, which was a lovely town. They're generally very American type affairs in their layout. I'll post some pics. We visited an old friend of Cathys, where she was delighted to play with their new baby and Caleb made a couple of new friends in their very well trained dogs, and that was it. Back to motel and now we're out for the count by ten-thirty, which is now our standard bedtime. Tomorrow morning is the capital, Wellington.
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