Sunday, July 3, 2011

How I lost Mr Madness on the mini break....

 Lake Taupo looking south across the lake towards the mountains

Back home safe and sound and refreshed after a fabulous mini break.

We arrived in Taupo, 3 hours drive from home, on Saturday afternoon and checked into our cabin at the De Bretts Thermal Spa Resort and  immediately went for a lovely long laze in the hottest pool we could find. The temperature was 37 degrees Celsius.

Mr Madness came with me for the first swim, but decided he wanted to watch the rugby on tv later in the evening so I went on my own and stayed until they closed at 9.30pm.


Here's the campground with the row of little cabins early this morning. The over night air temps dropped to -5 and the car was covered in ice. It was lovely and toasty warm in our cabin, but do you know what I really wanted to do?
Go for another soak in the hot mineral pools!
Mr Madness came with me. It was freezing!


A glimpse of the outdoor pools through the trees... There are a number of pools all at different temps.


Here's the hottest outdoor pool, it is kept between 37 and 40 but this morning it was 41.5. Bliss! There
were only a hand full of people using the pools at 8.30 in the morning, the best time to go. We decided to try the private pools, they were 40.


This one will do nicely....


Too hot to sit under this chap!
And then Mr Madness lowered himself into the steaming hot mineral water....


And I lost him! He was in there somewhere!
Only one thing to do,
Go in and find him!!
Can you see him in the steam?


I think we need to shift to Taupo! Absolutely relaxing! So after feeling blissed out we headed home again.


Then coming home today, the sky was the prettiest blue and there was snow on all the ranges and mountains.
And then around the corner.....


There she was, Mount Ruapehu looking charming and glorious dressed all in white.

Here's to a lovely week, and to my friends who are celebrating on the 4th July -have a great day!

Carole :))

20 comments:

Bunty said...

Looks like a lovely relaxing break Carole. I think you are very brave going into a spa outside in Winter!

Glad you had a lovely weekend.

Have a great week.

Barbara :)

Joanna said...

Beautiful photographs, those pools look so inviting. I bet you feel thoroughly refreshed after your mini-break (no Bridget Jones head scarf?!).

Jennifer said...

Looks as though you had a lovely soaking time. We drove on the Desert Road on our trip to NZ several years ago, in late September......in a blizzard! Couldn't see Mt Ruapehu, couldn't even see the side of the road. Thanks for the pic, now I can see what we missed!

Raewyn said...

Great photos Carole - imagine loosing Mr Madness like that!! You'll be well and truely refreshed after all that soaking :-)

Shane Pollard said...

A weekend in Taupo is wonderful!
There's nothing better to revive a tired worn body than a good long soak in a thermal pool - bliss!

Wishing you a lovey week!

Charlotte Scott said...

Oh, jealous much! Lovely photos.

ShabbyChicShaz said...

Wow, now that's a mini-break and a half. Great photos, hope you're all chilled out now and ready to face the week, have a good one, love Sharon x

Joy said...

What a lovely relaxing break you had .... those pools look heavenly :o).
Hugs,
Joy ;o)

Linda Jo said...

The pools like soooooo inviting! What a wonderful little trip you had.... thanks for showing us the snow covered mountain! Looks wonderful!

~*~Patty S said...

ahhhh
looks fantastic
thanks for sharing such lovely pics

I think I could live there too :)
oxo

Mrs A said...

looks fabulous, but im not sure i would take anything off in -5! I would love to ski off those fabulous mountains!

Sparky said...

Wow...puts a whole new spin on steam baths lol

Margaret said...

Lovely steamy shots, no wonder you lost your bloke!! I can't see him anywhere!

Christine said...

We would have joined you if we had known!!! Spent Thursday to Monday in Taupo. Did you read where Waiouru was -9 on Monday? A lot of ice and icicles on the Three Sisters on our way back.

cait said...

Glad to hear you found him again - they come in quite handy, LOL ;-)

Kiwifruit-Shiree said...

sounds like a fabulous weekend break away for the Madness couple!! Enjoy your week, all relaxed and chilled like.

Unknown said...

Sounds like heaven! Yes, I think you need to move there-- and host artist retreats!

Debrina said...

Ahhh...lovely. Those steamy hot pools transported me into a spot of warmth on this cold, damp Manawatu night.

Jill said...

That place looks soooo relaxing! I'm glad you had a good get away!

Unknown said...

Oh how wonderful We stayed on a homestay called Kooringa - overlooking Lake Taupo - and me Lottie even have a game of bowls in Taupo - it was far too hot when we were there for the hot pools = it looks really magical where you went