Today we seem to have been going round in circles, which to most people would be quite frustrating, but to us is just all part of the adventure. We’ve racked up several hundred kilometres, but are now just 10 kilometres shy of where we left off this morning!

After another leisurely breakfast and soak in the pools at Waikite Valley, we departed for Rotorua again, having previously spied some end-of-line dinnerset pieces at the local Briscoes that just happened to match the campervan dinnerset. And as it happens, they only had one bowl left, and we were only one bowl short in the campervan, so it seems that once again all the planets are in alignment and our world is operating in harmony (we can’t have mismatching crockery can we!!).

Then it was off to Valentines for an all-you-can-eat lunch. Yes – there has been this consistent theme of gorging on food while in Rotovegas. Nice lunch, but not up to Valentines Wairau Park standards!

With stomachs full, we departed for Taupo – but as we were bored with the route we had just driven up from, we took a right and travelled to Taupo via Atiamuri.

At Taupo, Peter insisted we stop to look at boats at the marina, then we went to look at motorhomes at Barrons RV Centre. Lots of glamorous motorhomes and caravans, but nothing quite as fabulous as ours (even if ours looks like a travelling handbag given all the stuff we have crammed into it for our adventure).

Bored with Taupo and the usual tourist trail, we consulted the NZ Motor Caravan Association handbook and headed north to Reporoa (yes, just south of Rotorua) and found a little local gem known as Butcher’s Pool.

Butcher's Pool (Reporoa)

This is a free thermal pool maintained by the local council. After work, all the locals head here for a dip, and the motorhome handbook said this is a place we can camp overnight for free. So here we are. Night custodians of Butcher’s Pool.

P.S. I think we should rename our adventure Adam and Peter’s tour of thermal pools in New Zealand given that we’ve spent most of this trip sitting in hot pools (when not busy gorging at all-you-can-eat places!)

Tomorrow the plan is to head to Wairoa, then Napier, then Ruapehu later in the week when the weather improves…