We were up early ready for Bevan's 10am helicopter safari to White Island. Getting that far had been something of a saga; weeks ago I booked him for 1.30pm today, but there wasn't enough people for the minimum In fact there wasn't anyone else wanting to do it today, so he was booked for 3pm yesterday. Except then the weather was too windy and misty and it was cancelled and rescheduled for this morning. Except then the weather still wasn't any good, so it was cancelled and rescheduled for 2pm with a 1:45pm pickup, only 15 minutes later than my original plan. I'm so glad everyone - including the weather - agreed to cooperate with my itinerary.
So instead this morning we headed to Te Puia, which is another Maori sacred site, hot springs and geyser. We had enough time to browse through the gift shop before our tour started. Our tour -which covered lots of the Maori history and handcrafts that we didn't learn about last night - reached the geyser just as it started to blow. As we headed back the kiwi house was empty and we were able to go in alone for a better look than we got as part of the tour crowd. We got back to the cafe for lunch just before a few large tour groups. And as we walked past we could see the gift shop was absolutely teeming with people.
Back home for Eleanor's nap and confirmation from Volcanic Air Safaris that the 2pm flight was going ahead, which was a huge relief for everyone. Bevan headed off to the waterfront, Eleanor headed off to bed (and despite insisting she wasn't tired was crashed out cold within 10 minutes) and I headed to the couch for some TV and some more work on my sock knitting.
She woke to a choice between a visit to a lion park or a swim in the motel pool, and she emphatically chose the pool. The end with the steps was just the right depth for Eleanor and in the shade, so we spent almost an hour in there. Going to meet Daddy and see his helicopter land wasn't a strong enough incentive to get out, but the fact that there's a fantastic playground there was, otherwise we'd quite possibly still be in the pool.
Sadly we were about 5 minutes too late to see the helicopter land (OK, so not such perfect timing on that one), but just in time to see Bevan walking up the pier with the happiest, most satisfied look in his face. White Island was the one thing of our entire trip that he really had his heart set on, and I'm so glad it worked out. Apparently they had a smooth flight and plenty of time for a tour of the crater and the sulphur mine abandoned in 1914 when a larger than usual explosion killed all the miners in their sleep. As you can see in the photo, hard hats are compulsory and they even had to don gas masks a few times.
As promised, Eleanor got her time at the playground before we switched babysitting duties and I headed off to the Silver Fern day spa for a Rototua mud pack facial and foot massage, both of which were wonderful (thanks Louise!)
Dinner tonight was a steakhouse that we knew had a kid’s menu. Luckily, since it was Eleanor’s bedtime when we eventually got there, they also had a bucket of markers and some colouring in paper. As you can see, Eleanor has been so inspired by the Maori culture that she self-attempted a face tattoo before we could stop her.
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