Nicara Lakeside Lodge Rotorua

אזור טרמלי (Thermal area) הוא אזור בו פעילו 14; געשית מתרחש 14; סמוך לפני השטח וגורמ 14; לתופ ...

... to see the geothermal activity. I was not disappointed.












On our way to Rotorua we found a great cheese factory. As we normally do we stop and try.








All the way around there were lots of volcanic mounds. Too many to take pictures of - this one was at a ...

... terrain from the north west. The odour increases towards sun down which was the time we entered the town. By then steam can be seen rising from the sulphur pools dotted across the open country around the main through highway. We headed for a campsite that boasted hot open air bathing.
The pool closes at 10pm so we got straight into a hot tub big enough for 30 people at a temperature of 38 degrees.
Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand paulngail

... Tracy's tour. I figured it was worth the money as there were a few things quite a bit oot of town that i wnated to see and i could do it on my own time. So i went to Wai-tu-pu, a thermal wonderland with a erupting geyser. I felt like i was on another planet, like mars with all the boiling points, mud pools, the heat, the colours, the steam. Im hoping pictures will describe it better. Then went for a drive by some lakes ...

... irish men are not to ever be seen topless - certainly not alongside 20 something beautiful people who can't afford to eat. Let alone in front of 20 women. FOOK!!! We are put through the routine by the Maori sons - one of whom is about 6 with a mullet and is splitting his sides laughing at our efforts. I am quite good at remembering stuff being in my thirties and get the moves down to a tee. Not so good at pulling the Maori tongue out, eyes wide ...

... up with here. The Wai-O-Tapu park is a sight to behold. Once you get past all the steaming craters, most of which are called "Devil's Crater" or "Devil's ink pots" or "Hell's hole", (OK so those are slightly made up, but you get the idea!), things start to get more colourful. Yellow sulphur patches line the rooves of caves. Its all good as long as you don't think about the fact you are walking over huge underground craters that could collapse at anytime. They have to check ...

... by the lake where a free concert is being held, its classical music not really to my taste but certainly tolerable sitting by the lake in lovely weather. 01/02/2009 Im renting a car for my trip around the East Cape and I pick it up a day early so I can set off at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I use it to drive to Whakarewarewa Forest ...

... perfectly, making it harder.  Beyond that, in some languages (like Polish) hello changes based on the time of day and he hit both the morning and the evening greetings.  Plus, a bunch of the languages were reasonably obscure.  I was impressed.   He then turned us into a proper tribe with a proper chief.  He told us and our chief what to do and how we would get greeted.  The Maori apparently show off by doing some dances with spears, making orc noises (Cousin Ben ...

... So we moved on and went on the Skyline Gondola and the Luge (www.skylinesskyrides.co.nz ) Going up in the Gondola was lovely with beautiful views and we also had beautiful views from the top. Then we went on the Luge which was wicked good fun and back up on the chair lift to come back down on the Luge again. I went on the Intermediate course three times. Ian and Terry went on the Intermediate course once ...

... treaty has been exploited and abused numerous times by settlers, but still forms the basis of Pakeha (Europeans) and Maori integration. There is a comitee that decides on property and other claims falling under the treaty by the Maori. Large sums of "Reparation"-type money are paid to Maori annually for successful claims. The big issue right now is the claim of the Maori for possession of all Sea and Shore rights which would have big implications on the fishing ...