The Geothermal Wonderland

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Geo: -38.1398, 176.247

This morning, we caught the ferry back to Auckland from Waiheke Island. Then, jumped on a motor coach for a 5 hour drive to Rotorua. (Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, with a population of 660,000. The total population of New Zealand is only 4.5 million, and it is 2.4 times the size of Virginia.)

Once we were out of the city and driving through the center of the north island, the landscape reminded me of southwestern Virginia; a lot of farmland and cattle, with mountains resembling the Blue Ridge in the distance. As we got closer to Rotorua, we drove through more dense forests, with large ferns and palms.

Rotorua is a geothermal wonderland in the central North Island that is also home to rich Maori culture and heritage. We checked into our hotel around 6:00 pm, and walked the lakeside town center. There are hot springs surrounding the town, so we caught a frequent scent of sulfur.

We had dinner on a popular strip of restaurants and bars on "Eat Street", saw some live music, and headed back to the hotel.

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Photos

Information Center
This was the information center in one of the little towns that we drove through.