Sunday 26th Feb Rotorua (23 degrees)

I spent a few minutes this morning enjoying the peaceful, calm outlook from our unit, looking across Lake Rotorua, as well as checking out the beautiful garden on the property. We headed out this morning to visit Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. It took us about 30min. to drive there and after purchasing our tickets we  drove a short distance to see the Lady Knox Geyser that apparently would shoot up around 10.30AM. I found it interesting that you could predict when it was going to happen. We had a lovely woman doing the presentation and she explained that the Geyser was actually formed by man, over 100 years ago. Prisoners from a near-by jail were busy working for the government planting trees, and discovered the geo-thermal waters of the area. They regularly relaxed in the warm, mineral pools after a hard day’s work and eventually started bringing their washing to there do as well. One day a man dropped his soap into a deep hole where the water was coming up from. After a few minutes, a geyser went up into the air, scaring the prisoners and scattering them. Over the years they continued to do this and a large mound was created. It became a tourist attraction and here we are 100 years later, still visiting it! The guide put a natural soap into the hole and after a minute or two we watched as a geyser shot into the air. (Yes this was a historic, man-made geyser!) Following this and as part of our ticket, we went for a long walk all around the geothermal area, looking at various caves, ponds, pools, lakes etc. and smelly sulphur steam rising everywhere. It was a very active morning with lots of walking. My favourite lake was an electric green lake that we saw towards the end of our walk. We spent the afternoon driving around the whole of Lake Rotorua. Tonight we are booked into an “Authentic traditional Maori experience”, including a hangi meal. We are looking forward to this.

Our night at the Mitai Maori Village was excellent. Rob and I were placed on a table of 10, with a group of Czechoslovakian farmers who were doing a 3 week tour of New Zealand and also Fiji. Luckily, a lovely woman sitting next to Rob spoke very good English and was able to chat to us during dinner. Later the young woman next to me also spoke in excellent English so we were able to have a good conversation with her too.  After a general introduction to the evening by our host, we were treated to a wonderful canoe performance on the nearby stream. We walked down to the stream through beautiful rainforest. A recent heavy downpour made everything feel fresh. From here we walked to a large open air but covered auditorium, to watch an exciting and energetic cultural performance. Returning to the dining area, we sat down to a delicious “hangi” feast. The final activity for the night was an optional walk through the forest to see the stream and spring at night as well as more beautiful glow worms.