Sunday, June 14, 2009

It's a wrap!

What a wonderful long weekend, started last Thursday in the wee small hours of the morning, when we (Rowing man and I) boarded our early flight to Rotorua...(off on our journey to the 4 day conference for General Practitioners and Practice Nurses), we got as far as Wellington, and the ongoing flight to Rotorua was put on hold due to fog at Rotorua. We ended up flying into Tauranga, and busing the hour road trip to Rotorua, which in actual fact was really rather pleasant..

This is the Rotorua Art Gallery and Museum, and is very typical of the Tudour type architecture that settled colonial Rotorua, they are set in really lovely grounds, the surrounding grassy areas being croquet and bowls lawns, hence the fine manicure.. that you don't quite see in these late afternoon photos.

and of course, Rotorua is well known for the hot thermal springs, that are just every where, and is one of the main reasons that Rotorua was settled as early as it was. It was very much an area that was very popular for therapeutic treatment for aches, pains, and of course arthritis treatments.. so a number of therapy spas and treatment sanitariums were set up,

an Rotorua is also a popular touist attraction for the Maori Cuture and the Maori Village, and of course there are many Maori legends and folklore, detailing the history of this area.

Today, (Sunday), the last day of the 4 day (GP) conference, the weekend was finished off very nicely, when I left rowing man at the conference listening to a talk on "the use of statins in cardiovascular disease"... tough choice, yeh I know~

...for a wonderful wonderful mud wrap, and facial head neck and shoulder massage at the Polynesian Spa, if you have ever had one of these you will certainly agree with me that they are just to die for!!!,

They take the mud from these hot mud pools, heated by the grounds natural thermal springs, then dehydrate it to remove the sulphur content(which is what makes it so pongy), it goes to the spas in powder form, where they add fresh spring water and reconstitute it to spread it over the body, how wonderful!

The mud stays on whilst you have a steam bath, and then you wash it off in the shower afterwards, it is amazing to watch all that mud running donw the shower drains, ...... followed by a GREAT rub down with manuka honey and some really lovely oils... I was so so tired on the flight home this afternoon.... I was supposed to have this treatment yesterday, but when I turned up for my appointment, they had made an error, and I rescheduled for today. How lucky it turned out really, as if I had had this yesterday, I am sure that I would not have been able to stay wake long enough to enjoy the dinner dance, let alone the replay of the rugby game (NZ All Blacks vs France) 'til the very wee small hours... and then get up for the early breakfast lecture which started at 6.45am... hmmmm not such a great game huh...

So I did also spend some flight time doing these.. haven't crocheted for absolutely ages and ages, but I do have a project in mind...

can I just leave you then with these great photos of Rotorua lake front...





I do rather like this one..

off to bed now, nite all! .....

8 comments:

Abby and Stephanie said...

Gorgeous photos and your mud wrap sounds luxurious! I do love the last photo of the 3 men obviously solving the worlds problems or discussing pipe tobacco?

Unknown said...

Oh lucky, lucky you. We used to go to Rotorua every year for our holidays when I was a kid.

Cardygirl said...

Looks like you had a great time...love all the pics!

Leanne said...

It all looks very nice. I wonder what world problems they were solving in the bottom photo.

Deb said...

Gosh the mud wrap sounded gorgeous when you mentioned it on the phone then seeing that picture of the mud I was sooooo pleased you explained what the process was to get to the mud wrap. So did you make any purchases when you were slipping the net and away from the conference.
(so pleased they get rid of that sulphur smell-lol)

Deb Robertson Writes said...

Great photos! Isn't is great having a blog, it makes you take the time to actually take the photos! Sounds like you had a great time.

zigzago said...

What a beautifull place! Thanks for comming by at my blog! Have a nice and creative week! Renata.

Sew Useful Designs said...

Oh wow Shiree! What a fabulous weekend you have had... thanks for sharing your adventures and your beautiful photos with us!

Hugs! Vikki x