Broken Roads

So this weekend we went to Rotorua for a weekend away. The drive down reminded me a bit of Route 66 as it had a few diners and buildings with big old-fashioned signs and such.








Once we arrived in Rotorua, we started in the town to see some of the geo-thermal activity in town. One thing that was most striking was how the steam seems to emanate from every crack in the hot spots. Apparently in some areas the ground can be solid asphalt one day and an erupted steam hole the next. Pretty insane to think about all the activity that goes on beneath our feet. I even saw a drain gutter that had glowing red rocks and steam rising from it!

Just next to the hospital, there's a small park full of mud, tiny lakes and lots of steam. As soon as we walked onto the boardwalk in the park, it felt as though we were in a sauna. You could barely see 10 feet in front of you at sometimes due to all the steam and the sulfuric smell was overwhelming. Later on we stumbled upon a 'geo-therm landscaping' park overrun with a tourist bus and then found the weekend market where we bought a small morning snack.





After the park, we walked through the small town and ended at the government house and blue baths, which have some beautiful lawn bowling greens in front of them.






 





After walking around town, we hiked through the imported California redwood forest (only about 100 years old) and caught a glimpse of Geyser Pohutu shooting water. It really was a neat area to see so much activity happening underneath the earth.







We finally got to see some splattering mud up close that so far I'd only seen in post cards and heard about in the guide books. It was fun to watch it gurgle up and explode at random intervals. A Haiku inspired by the mud pools:

Sploosh, splash, splosh, kerplunk,

Gurgle, bubble, splurt, glip-glop,

Geotherm mud pool

 

We ended the day with a relaxing dip in the hot springs. We stumbled upon this pool driving to the mud pools and stopped by to check it out. It wasn't too crowded when we arrived, but got busier as the sun started setting. What a wonderful way to end a day full of geo-therm adventures!







On Sunday, we went to church at St. Faiths. The service was in Maori and English and all the songs were in Maori. After the service, the congregation met in the hall for morning tea and fellowship. It was a really nice group of people. I hope to find that soon in Auckland as well!

After church, we went to Lake Okataina and did some hiking around. We found a trail that went by two small lakes nestled in the craters of old volcanoes. It was a beautiful hike and looked like a rainforest or jungle.






After the jungle hike, we drove a few more kilometers around Lake Rotorua to a waterfall popular for rafters and kayakers. We got to see a group descend the falls, but not before stopping to see the old power station for hydro-electric power. Apparently, Rotorua was the 4th city in New Zealand to get electricity.

Watching white water rafters down 7m waterfall

Our little gnome Jack at the old power station

Some Haikus inspired by our trip home:

Sheep graze green pastures
Rainbows appear around curves
Leaves fall, flowers bloom

Oncoming traffic
Fifty-five mile per hour turns
Bumpy road concealed

Rolling stones play on
Driving home from Rotorua
Rolling hills pass by