It ain't half hot, mum

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Right, let's say a boiling hot day is probably not the best one to go and visit hot lakes and geysers - but it's gotta be done, hey? But it was a seriously hot affair, I can tell you.

So today was the day to "do" the geothermal stuff around Rotorua, where there are several places to chose from, each of which rip you off left, right and centre to get in. Luckily locals accompanying guests (that's me) don't pay or just pay a much smaller amount than the normal fee - which are all around 30 dollars (more than 15 EUR just to go in and sample natures power. this should be free I reckon, but maybe that's just my crazy view on life. I don't know). With prices like these I probably won't get to see Champagne Pool (which is in another area with yet another price tag), so one geothermal adventure will have to suffice.

Anyway, you pay and try to forget about that aspect as quickly as possible. Actually the place we went to (Te Puia) included a Maori Concert in the price, so I suppose that wasn't such a bad deal in the end. We saw the performance in the Marae (that's the meeting house) and then headed off to explore the thermal activity, including the "world famous" (this is a favourite line in New Zealand, world famous) Prince of Wales Feathers Geyser. I must admit the sight of all that boiling hot water being forced out into the sky is awe inspiring. I was particularly keen to see the attractive bubbling mud pools, that you see on postcards and such around here, but it seems as if they only happen in cooler weather. The mud pools we saw were all rather crusty and caked, not swirling around :-( oh well, can't have it all.

After over an hours wander round the Te Puia grounds we were ready for a nice iced coffee! I'll just let the photos tell the story, rather than go waffling on...

So while that was today, yesterday was Kiwi-day! We visited the Kiwi Encounter just down the road from the Evans residence. Another expensive entry, but at least that goes toward the conservation of the kiwi. Basically it's a working save-the-kiwi-project that allows visitors to take a look behind the scenes to see what goes on there. They collect eggs from all around North Island, taking note of where each egg was found, and then take it to the Kiwi Encounter place, where it is then put in an incubator, hatches and then is tought to eat etc. When they reach a certain age and strength they get relocated in the wild, in the same region where the actual egg originated from. This is necessary as kiwis are poor parents and the young have to fend for themselves, making them easy prey for introduced predators such as possums and stoats.
At the centre you get to see real kiwis at several developmental stages: first the egg, then we got to see a fluffy little ball that had hatched the day before and at the end you actually get up close and personal with a few adult kiwis in a nocturnal house. They are interesting birds: they have nostrils at the tip of their beak (not near the head like most birds) and make loud sniffing noises. The feet are huge and well equipped with claws. The most amazing thing about them though is the size of their eggs: the egg is a quarter of the size of the female!!! No wonder she hands over the responsibility of sitting on the egg to the male after it is laid!

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Photos

hot pool somewhere in Rotorua
this was actually free - just by the side of the road, and to tell the truth it offered the best views of hot pools in pretty colours.

a blue pool in Whakarewarewa
Sweetcorn is cooked in here

some mud
big deal

prince of wales feathers
can't see the geyser for the steam!

kiwi
A stuffed kiwi in the display area - look at the size of that egg!