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You know how you're tempted to make a particular aspect of a trip your photographic emphasis or focus? An area is know for wild flowers, so you take pictures of all the different flowers, or such. Well, I initially thought the trees were amazing here, then there was the dozens and dozens of different types of ferns, then the clouds are changing all day long, then the sunsets are wonderful every night, then we see rainbows several times a day, ...what shall we do?
Anyway, the drive to Rotorua was very interesting. The North Island is primarily volcanic, which is supposed to be quite different from the South Island. The country side is full of various sized hils that are remnants of volcanoes. Some of the volcanoe cores remain after the earth has eroded away, leaving stone pillars.
We finished the day by going to a waterfall that is way off the beaten path, but supposed to be worth it. The picture does not do it justice, but you may notice the water is coming out the side of the mountain. I could not get back far enough to show the top of mountain and original top of
waterfall. Earthquakes have developed faults where the small river now goes underground at one point and out the side of the mountain. It was weird to hike next to the stone riverbed that is now dry, but you can heard the rumble of water rushing below the surface.
We got to Rotorua after dark and had not got an email response from the lodge how to get there. They did not answer their phone, so after dropping into an internet cafe and getting their address we headed off to, what seemed like, the middle of nowhere. It was a trout fishing lodge which looked neat from internet, but didn't think about finding it after dark. We did find it, and they gave us a good place to grab a bite...best fish & chips around. Ends up being a little place that only does carry out, but they did have amazing fish and mussels.
Early morning I get up to watch the sunrise while Ruth wakes up and showers. Grabbed a cup of coffee...they know how to make great coffee here. When I got back we walked the property, Ruth kept saying guy and I would really get along.
He has a couple of acres right on a trophy trout stream and he is obviously spending a lot of his time planting all kinds of plant material.
The trip to Taupo was fantastic...it's known for all the thermals similar to Yellowstone. There were thermals and rising steam all along the drive and in distant views. It's fun to see the sense of humor of New Zealanders. There was a small community with several buildings made by a company that uses corrugated sheet metal to make buildings in the shape of animals. (The ladies can skip this thought I saw on a T-shirt..."If a man speaks deep in the New Zealand forest, and there is not a woman....is he still wrong?)
Also saw a New Zealand version of our travel trailer, next time that's how we'll travel. We also saw how they are taking harvesting the thermal energy..Roman and Amy, you're ahead of the curve.
Wai-O-Tapu was everything people said it was, but nothing compared to our own Yellowstone. We thought it a little strange that their premier geyser was so punctual that all the guides make reference to it going off at 10:15am each day.
Well we now know a park ranger adds a bag of "detergent" to initiate the geyser. Not sure if true or folk lore, but according to the story, the prisons used to plant trees in the largest manmade forest in the southern hemisphere, figured they wash there clothes in one of the thermal pools and ended up having their clothes launched skyward. The pools, mosses and rock formations showed an amzing variety of colors...the pictures don't do justice.
As I mentioned, we were in a timber area and the one picture shows how efficiently they harvest the trees, amzingly level and grade the land for grass...all the cows came running toward me as I took the picture.
And I'll end with another of the beautiful sunsets.
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