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Our last destination on this long trip was New Zealand’s North Island. We flew into Auckland from Queenstown and drove down to Rotorua. Although there was significantly more traffic and the scenery was not as picturesque as the South Island, it was still fun to see the vast pastor lands and many, many sheep (and even a few cows). Once we reached Rotorua we were greeted with the wonderful smell of sulphur from the geothermic hot springs and mud pools. We walked around the beautiful Waimangu volcanic valley, the landscape created by the geo-thermal system was such that we would not have been too surprised if a brontosaurus popped its head above the dense foliage. We also stopped by the Wai-O-Tapu thermal area to see the bubbling mud pools.
The next day we drove to Waitomo to visit the glowworm caves there. As the guide wisely pointed out, the glow was coming from the maggots, but glowworms sound more appealing to tourists than glowing maggots. These maggots use the light to attract insects that then become lunch. The glow from these maggots on the cave ceiling was beautiful, but tough to capture in pictures.
We spent the last day
Waimangu Volcanic Valley
The water in the "frying pan lake" steaming and bubblingof our trip in Auckland, walking around the bay area and shopping for souvenirs. While this has been an amazing adventure, we cannot wait to not have to lug our backpacks and duffel bags from one destination to another. Tomorrow we are homeward bound, and very excited for the same, in spite of the looong flight back!
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Dave
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Fly safe!
And try not to snore so much :)