January 31 – Rotorua

We are staying VR Rotorua Lake Resort which is close to Rotorua – a large town of homes, businesses and a relatively large downtown. It is obviously a vacation paradise with 3 bike stores, a large lake in the back ground and many exciting thermal parks. We visited two areas that were about 1/2 hour away.

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland was exactly that – It included 3 loop walks with varying thermal pools, collapsed craters with streaming hot steams, thermal caves, then bizarre and then beautiful landscapes. It was a lot of walking up and down areas with excellent information along the way.

But first we headed to the Lady Knox Geyser that erupts everyday at 10:15 (if not earlier due to heavy rains). It was a hot water pool used by workers to cook and wash clothes until someone add soup and the geyser spouted – very scary for them. Over time the workers added rocks around the pool, building up the cone we see now. Now it is a popular draw to the area and we were lucky to have lovely Maori singing during the “eruption”.

We finished by having lunch at the park and then headed nearby to Waikite Valley Hotpools – needing a little relaxation after all that walking.