Lake Tapau and Rotorua

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on Tuesday we drove from Clifton to Lake Taupo which is the largest lake in NZ and Australia. We spent the afternoon on a short river cruise down the Waikato river to the Huka waterfalls. Yesterday we then drove to Rotorua which is famous for its thermal activity. Just before then town we stopped at Wai-O-Tapu which is a huge area of thermal activity and looks just like something from the movie set of Jurassic Park! Lots of bubbling mud pools, huge lakes coloured by chemicals and steam and the very strong smell of sulphur! It took us over an hour to walk round. It was just fascinating. We then drove into Rotorua and stayed at a lovely site next to another lake. In the afternoon we went to the Te Puia Maori cultural centre. This was another very interesting place where we saw the Pohutu Geyser Which is the largest natural spring water geyser in the southern hempishere, rising to 30 meters regularly (which we saw). The centre also put on a display of Maori dancing and singing and they also did the Haka. They then asked men (it can only be men) from the audience if they wanted to be taught the Haka and of course I had to have a go! The centre also had weaving and carving areas where these skills are still taught today. We then went for a walk around Rotorua and all in all had a really lovely day

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