The forecast for all-day rain proved to be accurate. Clearly, we were not going to be able to do the Pinnacles hike today. Besides, Melanie's leg was really bothering her, so even on a nice day she may not have been able to do a big hike. We considered going to the Whakarewarewa Māori village - the Pohutu Geyser is there, and it is New Zealand's largest geyser - but the admission is $99 per adult, and I wasn't inclined pay such a steep price to sit in the rain hoping to see a geyser erupt. The Whakarewarewa Māori village charges so much because it is meant to be an all day attraction, but there wasn't anything besides the geyser that interested me there.
A friend of ours who visited the North Island prior to our trip there told us about the Polynesian Spa, and said it was a great stop (thanks, Leslie!). A spa seemed like a good idea - we would be in pools, so getting wet from the rain wouldn't matter, and maybe the warm theraputic waters would make Melanie's leg feel better. So we spent the morning there instead. I did not bring my camera into the Polynesian Spa, so I have no pictures from our visit. Below is a map of the grounds, we spent three hours in the light blue area labeled Pavilion Pools. We tried the alkaline pools and the acidic pools, and the various temperatures. Because it was a Monday morning, the spa was not crowded, though the parking lot was completely full when we departed at about noon. The biggest pool was at 100F, 1.4 meters at its deepest point, and 1.2 meters at the shallow end. The pools are open to the air, but the rain didn't bother us.
It was a three and a half hour drive up to Thames, and the rain varied in intensity but it never ceased. We stayed at Waiotahi Valley Lodge, which was really a house that rented out 3 rooms on the lower floor to guests. We had a shared bathroom and a shared kitchen and big front room where we could sit. We stayed here two nights.
