Bubbling, gushing, cascading in Rotorua

Yesterday we checked out of our Queenstown hostel, said goodbye and gave chocolates to Holly, the very helpful receptionist who pretty much saved us the last two days, and flew most of the day to Rotorua. We had two very turbulent flights (it was a rainy day), which Hannah mostly slept through while I clung to the seat in front of me and thought of what the world might be like without me while two different things people in the aisle behind me got motion sick into their paper bags.

Upon finally arriving in Rotorua (and kissing the solid ground), we took a shuttle to our hostel and were excited to once again have a private room, this time with an ensuite. We unpacked and found a local Thai place that sounded good. We walked to it and had a Thai feast for dinner before returning to our room and watching Men in Black.

This morning, we had our geothermal tour scheduled. It was pouring rain, but our guide took us to a lake at Rainbow mountain to show us how the water steamed. The birds were circling continuously over the water for warmth. We then went to the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland Park and saw an amazing variety of geothermal features. We also took in more than our fair share of sulfur steam, and the humidity around the features was crazy.

     

 

     

We next visited the Lady Knox Geyser for the daily eruption. I learned that it doesn’t actually happen daily, about once every 24-72 hours, but they induce the eruption daily for tourists since it’s irregular.

We then visited the mud pits and saw the bubbling mud, which is sold as mud masks in all the gift shops around here. It blew my mind.

   

We drove to watch a flood gate open to allow water to flow into another river. We next visited a glass blowing shop, where we had lunch of sausage roll and salad, walked around a the shop wishing we had more money, and watched a glass blowing demonstration.

We then headed to a honey store and sample many types of local honey. Lastly, we went to view the Huka Falls and the amazing amount of water coming off the falls.

We were dropped off at Countdown (NZ version of Woolworth’s) and we shopped for breakfasts and dinner the next few days. We plan to sleep in tomorrow (YAY!) and make breakfast of eggs and bacon, do laundry, and explore town before our Maori dinner in the evening.