Bubble, Bubble, Boil, and Trouble

The next stop in our north island itinerary was the geothermal wonderlands of the Bay of Plenty region. As we picked up our rental car in Auckland, we experienced our first awkward feeling about tipping. As Dave went to tip the man, he refused the money and firmly said "Do not tip people in NZ, mate!" We had read this about their culture, but just couldn't understand why someone would refuse money. New Zealanders drive on the left side of the road and as in England, the driver sits on the right side of the car. Dave was thankful for this as it was a friendly reminder that driving is different here. We immediately noticed that nearly every km was a new sign promoting safe driving techniques-- "Tired, Take a Power Nap," "Speed and people DIE," "NVR TXT N DRV," and "Don't Drive Drugged." Definitely grabbed your attention. There weren't a lot of radio stations in this region, but the one we did find was a mixture of Christian music from the 'states and local artists singing about the Lord. It was perfect for our Easter Sunday drive so far from home. Upon arrival into Rotorua, we had our first geothermal experience at Hell's Gate. We dipped our feet in mud pools, saw sulphur lakes, mud volancoes, and boiling mud. We learned how to carve symbols on wood.

Hell's Gate

For dinner, we attended the Matai (my-tie) famly Hangi feast. This is a meal prepared from the steam underground by the Maori people (these are the indigenous people of NZ) and consisted of lamb, chicken, potatoes and rolls. The evening began with the warriors rowing up and down the river in their waka (canoe) chanting. These canoes are homemade from trees and are what the tribe arrived to NZ on (they had 70 wakas each holding 1300 people). After honoring their ancestors, they gave thanks to the unseen Creator, Father sky and Mother earth. They welcome us,, the 4th winds tribe of many nations (over 17 represented!) with chants, offerings, singing and games. Our highlight was the Poi dance ("Girl, Come with me, your boyfriend is no good). After enjoying a very delicious meal, we hiked to the very clear creek filled with glow worms. The bubbling on the bottom makes the water extremely cold and very clear-- the depth appeared to be 1 foot but really was > 9 feet!

Our 2nd day in Rotorua was spent further south at Wai O Tapu. We enjoyed watching the Lady Knox geyser erupt to heights over 20 meters. While the geyser erupts on it's own every 24-48 hours, they force it to happen during daytime hours each day with soap. Lady Knox Geyser

We walked the 7 km loops through the Devil's Bath, Champagne Pool and the 74 deg C (165 deg F) Lake Ngakoro. The green color of Devil's Bath (below) is caused from excess water from the Champagne Pool mixing with sulfur and ferrous salts. I must admit, I've never been somewhere where steam rises from the ground, the sand is red, the lakes green, and mud boils in pools.

The stinky Champagne Pool and resulting Devil's Bath

After grabbing lunch at doing a bit of shopping at the locals' lakefront market, we went to the Whakarewarewa Redwoods forest. We hiked through rows of Sequoia's on a soft, cool path with ground to sky giant trunked California-like redwoods. It was one of our favorite hikes! We even ran into a husky! This is really not a dog-friendly country, so imagine our surprise to find a husky!

We ate dinner at the somewhat funky and eclectic Fat Dog Cafe. The chairs were all painted in different colors and the menu on a chalkboard. The portions were gigantic, but the prices weren't. We seemed to be one of the only tourists, so we felt we had a real locals' experience. While dining, we fell in love with one of the split-panoramic photos on the wall-- so much so, we purchased it! We capped the night off with sundaes at a local shop (go figure!). We hit the hay early itching and scratching from sandflies as we had a long day of driving ahead of us.