We spent 3 days in Rotorua which is known for it's geothermal activity. It is based on a lake and has a lovely smell of sulphur most of the time. You can see the geothermal activity all over the city. Steam rises from drains and random parts of the earth. In the park sections were cornered off due to the activity.
We went to the largest geyser in the Southern hemisphere which is an area where, once the water under the earths crust had reached a certain amount of pressure it is release in a tunnel of steam. The one in Rotorua usually goes off roughly every hour.
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| At the geyser, the earths crust is only 8km deep! It felt like we were on a film set and all the smoke was special FX! Some of the hot pools are boiling and our guide even cooked us some eggs on one of them.  The many uses of the pools, such as cooking, heating and bathing are what attracted many Māori tribes to the area when they first landed on the island. They had come from the warmer climates of Polynesia and so the warm pools appealed to them. Whilst in Rotourua we also went White Water Rafting and went down the largest commercial waterfall in the world at 7m. It was EPIC!!!! Rachel even managed to fall out the boat and had to be rescued by the safety team. We went with Kaitiaki Adventures and the guides were relaxed and typically kiwi. They were just having a laugh and a good time! It was a wicked afternoon and well worth 90 bucks. We even got a free pizza and pint because we booked through out hostel. On our last day in Rotorua we went luging. This is where you basically go to the top of a hill and then get on a go-kart type thing and ride to the bottom as fast as you can! SUPER FUN!!!!! We started off on the scenic rout but by the end we were pelting down the advanced course with all the sharp turns. We headed to Taupo this afternoon and stopped by Huka Falls which are Awesome!!! Check them out!!!     Ciao for Now!!!! Jess xxx |
