Our next stop in the North Island is Roturoa, a town well know for its geothermal activity.

As you get closer to the town you can smell the sulphur in the air which has led to its nickname of ‘Sulphur City’.

We went to the Orakei Korako Geothermal Park to see some of the best examples of the area’s geothermal activity, it was sensational.

The colours, smells and noises in the park make walking through it quite a sensory experience. Watching the bubbling mud pools was mildly hypnotic.

There are around 23 geysers in the park and a number of terraces which contain mineral deposits and the bright colours are the microbes flourishing in the warm waters.

The water temperature varies across the park, in some places around 35-59°C, but in other areas as high as 90°C.

You see steam rising across the main areas but also out of holes in the earth by the pathway and in the distance behind the trees in the forest.

The next day we headed north to Auckland, leaving the smelt of rotten eggs behind, a unique and fascinating experience but I really do hate eggs!