Hell's Gate Wai Ora Spa

Hell's Gate is on tribal land but now owned by a private firm. Many of the employees are members of the land's original Maori tribe. It is said to be one of the most active thermal areas in Rotorua.

We took the shuttle (The Mud Bus) about 15km out of town toward Whakatane to the spa. The first hour includes the walk through the thermal reserve. There are dozens of boiling pools, thermal vents, bubbling mud, sulphur crystals and a real mud volcano. (Apparently, the volcano was a few meters higher a few months but it blew itself apart again... as it does every few months.)

The mud baths are like stepping into a vat of muddy water with thick, dark grey mud. You can scoop the mud off the bottom of the pool and apply it to your whole body. It feels really wonder. The icy cold shower afterward closes your pores and invigorates your body. (It really sucks.)

After the mud is the sulphur bath. It's a huge hot pool full of yellowish-greenish water. The sulphur is supposed to be good for your skin. As a note: Jeff did not wear his rings into the water... but there is so much sulpher in the air, the rings turned brassy. They're a mess now.

The massages were wonderful. As always, too short.