It's Been a Day

I woke up Tuesday morning still miserable, having spent the night popping throat lozenges into my mouth so I could catch some sleep. Within a few minutes of waking up, I gave myself an honorary medical degree and diagnosed myself with strep throat.

Our mission on Tuesday morning was to get me to the nearest urgent care to see a real doctor. Before urgent care opened, we grabbed breakfast at a cafe in town. While at the cafe, Taylor and Wyatt went off to check out the kids' room (so many places and spaces in this country are kid-friendly!). Tim and I both commented that one of the gifts traveling gives us is this closeness between the kids -- without any other distractions, they realize they're good friends. And we all soak it up. 

Fast forward to 8am. I checked into urgent care and within minutes, was taken to an exam room. I was given a COVID test and then told to wait for the doctor. About two minutes later, the doctor showed up (#efficiency). He asked me some questions and I told him I suspected strep throat. He looked for the tell-tale signs of strep throat, and ultimately said, "We're not going to know if it's strep throat unless we swab you and send it to the lab. But I can prescribe you some antibiotics." I pretty much jumped at that -- YES, give me antibiotics! The doctor suggested that perhaps I wait 24 hours to start the antibiotics, to see if there might be any improvement or if it did indeed seem to be strep throat. But he also said I could start the meds now. 

Because I felt like there was a massive fire going on in my mouth, and therefore my entire head, I opted to take the antibiotics now. Let's just hope Dr. Sarah was right with the strep throat idea.

By 9am, I had my amoxicillin and a good dose of optimism. I took my first set of pills and hoped for the best.

We checked out of the Holiday Park by 10am and got on the road to Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, just a short distance from Rotorua. Waiotapu is an extensive geothermal system and is considered to be New Zealand’s most colorful and diverse geothermal sightseeing attraction. I got as far as the Visitor Center, and then turned around to head back to the car -- where I scrunched myself into the back seat and slept for 90 minutes.

Tim and the kids had a great visit to Waiotapu; they loved all the different colors of geothermal water they saw.

Looks pretty hot down there.

Gulp.

Wild color!

Wild color?

Just...wow.

I'm getting major Halloween vibes.

After Waiotapu, we drove toward Taupo, which was the next stop on our itinerary. Tim had scheduled us on the Hukafalls Jet, a jet boat that would get us up close to the famous Huka Falls, New Zealand's most visited natural attraction. Huka Falls are the largest waterfalls on the Waikato River, in Wairakei Park, near Taupo. The Huka Falls name was given from the Maori word 'Hukanui,' meaning 'great body of spray.'

This jet boat ride was 30 minutes, and that was plenty. It was a ton of fun -- we spun around 360 degrees multiple times, went super fast, twisted and turned on the water, and held on for dear life. I think some of the germs got knocked out of me on the ride... Unfortunately, the Huka Falls themselves weren't as large as they normally are when we visited; the flow volume was way down. Our jet boat driver said when the flow is typical, the Huka Falls could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in five SECONDS. Dang.

A selfie on the Hukafalls jet boat. Taylor did like it, even though her face here says otherwise.

The Huka Falls at only 20% of what they're typically like. Normally, we were told, the falls get up as high as the rock -- same level as where you see the tourists on the upper left.

We were a tad wet after the jet boat, but it didn't matter because the next place we headed was our motel for the night: Lake Taupo Motor Inn. We wanted to see Taupo because it's a fairly big town on the edge of Lake Taupo, the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. And Taupo is also where Ironman New Zealand takes place (and a couple of us in this family are Ironman fans). 

After checking into the Motor Inn, we changed into some dry clothes and then walked to dinner. I was feeling, dare I say it?, moderately human. Could it have been the amoxicillin??*

Once dinner was over, we returned to the Motor Inn and yet again fell into bed. It had been a good day, and I just really hope I have strep throat and not a virus. 🤞

*Btw, Taylor told me this line was cringey and I shouldn't write it. But there are a lot of things she tells me I can't say, and as author of this blog, I pull rank. My cringey line is staying!