Steamy times in Rotorua

TOURING NEW ZEALAND: Robert and his wife Joyce from Surrey and Walter and his partner Kim from Singapore were our companions over dinner at Peppers on the Point, an up market lodge in Rotorua, New Zealand’s best known centre of geothermal activity.
In a lodge, which is a step between a boutique hotel and a grand country house, it is customary that guests dine together. Our evening was turning out to be a formal affair with the tone set by the genteel general manager, David. Although a Kiwi, his mannerisms are at times more like those of a British butler.

After sparkling New Zealand white wine and canapés we move into the grand high-ceilinged dining room where the large wooden table is laden with polished silver and crystal glasses. The food and wine, which New Zealand is increasingly becoming known for, were sublime.

Over the second course, Robert and Walter thrashed out in great detail the finer points of the standard of service offered when flying first class on various airlines. “Cathay Pacific wins hands down, you have to try it especially to experience the airline lounges,” says Walter to Robert, who insisted that Singapore Airlines was superior. In the end Walter agreed to try Cathay on his next trip.

With Robert admitting to having spent almost ₤500 fees recently for a game of golf and two t-shirts, it was obvious that our fellow guests were used to the finer things in life. With our camper Spaceship parked outside, I suppressed the impulse to boast about the quality of its foam mattress or rave about the charming little DVD screen on the roof that you can watch while lying in bed.

After dinner, Sharon, David’s colleague tells us that the lodge is built on what was once a Maori Pa site, a fortified enclosure where warriors retreated when attacked by other tribes. “The sculpted terraces carved into the hillside are still visible,” she said, pointing them out just near the lodge’s front door.

The town of Rotorua itself is the biggest tourist attraction on the North Island. Driving in, the first thing we noticed was the rotten eggy smell that comes from the sulphurous steam bubbling out of the ground. The main visitor draw is the boiling mud, gushing geysers and natural thermal mineral pools that force themselves up from under the earth at various spots in and around the town.

Before taking to the road again, we had a soak at the Polynesian Spa, one of the many places where the minerals from the hot springs are said to have health giving properties. Immersed in the 38-degree C water, it certainly felt health promoting to me as the stiffness acquired from the long hours of driving faded out of my neck and shoulders. By Mary Salmon