It is an understatement to describe Rotorua as sitting above a thermal area. The earth's crust here is only about 1 km thick, as compared to 30 - 50 km on average for the continents (less for the ocean floors). Good, old Wikipedia has a nice article describing average thicknesses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crust_(geology)
There was a small group of young people who joined us from a local camp, and immediately had a cigarette before starting the climb. They were out in front most of the way, having younger legs. At the top, they had another cigarette and after climbing into and out of the crater - you guessed it - had yet another. Guess who stumbled down the trail dead last as we finished the hike.
Climbing out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crust_(geology)
As a result of living in a thermal area, there are many vents, mud pools, geysers and fumaroles - in town. Also as a result of living in a thermal area, the town has a constant sulphur dioxide smell. Yup - stinks like rotten eggs. On a breezy day, it seemed that more people were out and about. Hmmm.
Here are some pictures of city park.
Note the sign.
Occasionally, a new vent opens, and park maintenance adapts. Real estate developers must be very, very good about site location in this community. VERY good.
Lake Rotorua. Rotorua means "Lake Two" in Maori. Rotoiti is "Lake One."
Rotorua has at least 4 companies offering cultural performances. Tamaki took us into a replicated Maori village, whereas Mitai does not. But Mitai does a little better job describing the history and demonstrating dance and song. Tamaki allows guests to roam the village and interact with the residents. A bit surreal, but extremely interesting. We were greeted with a haka, which was OK to film, and was a very solemn ceremony. Each busload of tourists had to choose a chief, who was challenged in the haka before being allowed to enter the village. We eventually were treated to a hangi or feast, prepared the traditional Polynesian way by cooking over hot rocks in a pit, covered with leaves and sand. Really good stuff. I think the deserts were baked in a traditional oven, however. I don't see how meringue would survive being buried.
Another highlight for me was climbing Mount Tarawera. This volcano last erupted in 1886, and the 7-crater series extends for 6 km. We climbed the largest crater, then went down into it. The most recent eruption was in 1886, and involved over 2 cubic kilometers of tephra (look it up, or see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tarawera).
This was one long and large crater. Here we are climbing up to the crater rim.
There was a small group of young people who joined us from a local camp, and immediately had a cigarette before starting the climb. They were out in front most of the way, having younger legs. At the top, they had another cigarette and after climbing into and out of the crater - you guessed it - had yet another. Guess who stumbled down the trail dead last as we finished the hike.
View from the rim.
Climbing out.
A beautiful day.
This is a snapshot of a poster describing the Taupo Volcanic Zone in the central North Island. I show it here because I took a side-trip to Whakatane (Fah-kah-TAH-nee) to dive White Island - an active volcano. I feared for the safety of my camera on an open boat, so didn't take it along. Big mistake. One of the other divers (over 900 dives!) is an amateur photographer who has had pictures published in Australia Geographic. His equipment was awesome, and he agreed to share his pictures with us. His wife took video. These haven't been posted yet, and when they are, I will both amend this particular post and add a post informing all of the change.
What an awesome dive site. In fact, it is described as one of the world's 10 best. Lots and lots and lots of fish, great visibility, little current (although a bit of surge), and great close-ups of the volcano huffing and puffing.
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