Mud Pool

Mud Pool may be my favorite place in the North Island (oh wait, maybe I said that about Ngauruhoe, Tongaporutu, and Waitakere forest too. Ooops, sorry) It sort of seems that Tourism Waiotapu would have you believe that Mud Pool is part of their park, but it’s not. It’s outside of Waiotapu and it’s free.

Oh Mud Pool, how I love thee…let me count the ways…

1. FREE!
2. The best mud pool in Rotorua—the locals agree.
3. Spluttering mud makes me laugh — the belching holes flinging mud burps at each other seem like little kids fighting….LOL.
4. The sound effects of Mud Pool test my thesaurus…seething, belching, hissing, spluttering, plopping… squonching, pluffing, bllummp, sssplip.
5. “Mud Pool” is such a DOC name. Make up a new name…how ’bout “Devil’s Arse?”
6. Happy hour at Mud Pool is a “blast!” No tourist crowds. It’s intoxicating to sit with a cocktail on the railing, marveling at how the mud becomes funnier the more you drink.
7. If the mud volcano near the fence is plopping, it’s fun to lean over and try to catch a fling of flying mud. Where else on Earth can you do this? Catch one and you’ll swear—“Damn, it’s HOT!!”……but then you’ll reach out again…so fun! (Holding my friend’s arm as she leaned over the volcano to catch a splatter, I’ll never forget the shocked look on her face as she shook her hand to get the hot mud off! Laughing with glee, she reached out quickly to snare another hot plop—unforgettable!!)
8. A drip in a cave is called a “cave kiss.” What’s a mud splatter-scald called?

Finally, splattered with mud, a bit of a mud buzz…head to   Kerosene Creek for the perfect rinse. NZ Frenzy!

Excerpt from "NZ Frenzy Guidebook" by Scott Cook