Rotorua

Rotorua has some really crazy weather - strong gusty winds, 15 to 30 minute downpours followed by sunbreaks. Rotorua is also geothermally active, with geysers and steam vents all over, so it smells faintly of sulfur everywhere.

My original tour was to Rainbow Farms, which has sheep shearing, rainbow trout, and other agricultural displays. That sounded really boring so I changed it and instead went off and did my own thing: 1) Te Whakarewarewa, 2) Hell's Gate, and 3) Zorb.

Te Whakarewarewa (Whaka for short) was partly a Maori cultural tour, followed by a look at a boiling mud pit and Pohutu geyser. The culture tour featured wood carving and linen weaving, and a description of the Maori welcoming ceremony: three warriors come out to greet strangers, and leave a stone on the ground (pick it up for friendship, leave it for war). If friendly, a woman would then sing a welcoming song and everybody would go inside the home. The home represents the body of an ancestor, so the frame has a carving of a head, arms and fingers along the front of the roof, the spine at the top to the back of the roof, and then the legs and feet.

There was a small kiwi exhibit, and I was able to see one of these native nocturnal birds hopping around. After that, we saw boiling mud pits and Pohotu geyser. I took a movie using my camera so I hope it turns out.

Boiling Mud at Whaka


Hell's Gate was a large geothermally active park, featuring a hot waterfall, and dozens of small bubbling pools of water and mud. The landscape was bizarre: green trees and grass in the background, and blasted white/yellow rock venting steam in the foreground. We were allowed to dip our hands into one of the pools, called Sulphur Lake, and I did. It was probably 120 degrees F or so. The park also had a hot waterfall, and plenty of swirling steam.

Devil's Cauldron


At Hell's Gate Sulphur Field


Finally, Zorb. You may have seen this on The Amazing Race. Basically, you crawl inside a large plastic bubble and roll down a hill. I did the "Zig Zag Hydro Zorb" ride, which meant the inner chamber was partly filled with warm water, so I could slip-n-slide all the way down. Instead of the straight path down I was rolled down the side track which had two or three hairpin turns. It was a huge amount of fun!

Zorb!

Note: I took a movie of the Zorb rolling down the zig zag course; I'll post it soon.

After the day's activites, I walked around Rotorua, visiting Government Gardens and then Kuirau park. Both of these parks have beautiful landscaping, and more thermal areas. Kuirau park especially - it has flowers growing all around signs that read "Danger: Thermal Area". How in the world do the flowers grow around a geothermal steam vent when I have a hard time getting flowers to grow in my home garde? The landscaping was pretty, and I stood there and admired it until the wind shifted and I got a nice lungful of sulphurous steam.

Government Gardens


Thermal area flowers


Steam

I am there amidst the steam!