Roturua

We recently made a trip down to Roturua, renowned for geothermal wonders from inactive volcanos. It was an incredible spot and made for a memorable day, to say the least!

We started off by visiting Wai-O-Tapu, a geothermal wonderland.  It's home of Lady Knox geyser, which was discovered in 1900 by prisoners when they realized that their laundry soap made it erupt  - so to this day, at 10:15 each morning, the geyser is purposefully set off using an environmentally friendly soap (which otherwise would erupt spontaneously every 48 hours or so).  

After the geyser, we walked around the park - which was incredible.   There were acidic & boiling lakes of all colors.

At the end of the park was a boiling mudpool - 

Next stop - Kerosene Creek.  This river and waterfall had warm/steaming water, so people just jumped right in for a swim

 Our adventure continued in the Redwood forest.   These trees were planted in 1900 as an export from California as essentially an experiment for possible logging use, and their growth took off (but they still look tiny compared to the California Redwoods we saw at Yosemite!).   We went for a long hike to explore the woods & surrounding trails:

The is the New Zealand fern that seems to be their unofficial national emblem:

We finished our day by taking up a Gondola, and then riding the "luge"  - these sled-like things on wheels to ride down on a track.  I was a bit skeptical at first, but Ross talked me into a ride and they were so fun!  We had to take up a lift with the luge attached, and then raced downhill.

View from the top of the luge hill:

Overall, our trip to Rotorua ("Rotovegas") was a total success and an unforgettable adventure.  If anyone visits NZ, you should definitely spend a day in Rotorua.   There were plenty more geothermal sites that we didn't get a chance to see but looked amazing, with geysers, hiking, & colorful bubbling pools galore!