Rotarua!

Hey! My bad on the blog delay, I was busy enjoying life!! Sooo, time  travel back to Rotarua, ahhh I can just smell the sulfur-scented air. As geothermal capital of New Zealand, there were many geological phenomenon going on in the area, enough to make the air have a very distinctly Rotarua smell. The next morning, I headed out to 'Waipato thermal wonderland' - a themepark where the main attractions are bubbling mud, geysers, acid pools and more. It's hard to describe these incredible features in words, and, I've found it even harder to capture the bright colours on camera, so I guess to fully appreciate them, you'll just have to go see them for yourself some day. But here goes a try. First stop was a lake along the side of the road, in any other place, normal enough. In Rotarua, it was a steaming, hot water lake with funny colours in its crystal clear bottom. Next, was pools of bubbling, boiling, slopping mud. Also very steamy, these pools made lovely slurping noises as they churned away - very fun to watch!! Next was the Lady Knox Geyser, a shooting jet caused by a combination of geothermal heat and a bit of soapy, man-made encouragement! Next was an area filled with boiling water and mud, craters from geothermal activity, brilliant colours around pools of hot, acidic water fittingly named artist's palate, terraces of crystalized minerals and a bright red pool of acid. After that beautiful display, I headed back into town and walked around the harbour area, and the local, in-town displays of geothermal wonder - more bubbling mud and acidic pools out the back door of the hostels. Overall it was a very cool display of geo phenomenon, and for those of you who know me, you know just how exciting I find that!! In the evening, there was a night market in the city's downtown with a fun, festive atmosphere and lots of music and international street food - a great end to a great day!

 

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!

The next day, I found a cheap ticket to a local tourist kiwi experience attraction. There, I saw all sorts of beautiful native birds and reptiles, birds preforming in a cool show, andddd, drumrollll, kiwis!!! Not the fruit, not the people, but the threatened, flightless, nocturnal birds. They were in an indoor enclosure as part of a conservation project, and I loved watching the small, funny-looking but beautiful birds go about their business. They have a lovely, hilarious and awkward walk/hop and were  a joy to watch! After the kiwis, I embarked on the next part of my adventure  and hopped on a bus to my home for the next three months - Gisborne.

Champagne pools steaming away!

No, not a river - a terraced slope of crystalized minerals! Wayyyy cooler!