Red Rock Thermal Motel Rotorua

... place Rotorua, a couple of us went to the Te Puira geo thermal park where there are is a whole range of volcanic activity going on: geysers, mud pools, thermal water pools, steaming rocks etc. Most of the group then went to the Tamaki Maori Village in the evening for a show and some authentic food. Was OK, started reslly well, but then seemed a bit of a circus. The lamb and wime was grand however.<br>

... a 30second ride...so no). Wandered around the hot springs and mud pools in the center of the city(H2S what?). Met a really nice lady that showed us her ground spring hot tub. Saw some black swan sex, quite rough. Went to Tara's and had some pizza, a good talk, and a few drinks before bed.

... some leafs on the ground in front of the chief of the visitng tribe (us - and the chief was a japanese guy who looked a bit lost) picked the leaves up as a sign of submission and then we all walked into the main house together. Our chief, Yoshi, then went up and had to touch noses with all the performers and then the performance began.<br><br> We saw several dances and they sang beautifully - there were only nine of them but ...

After the chilled night in Taupo we caught the bus to Rotorua!!! was a really short journey, typical the first time we actually want to recline on the bus its only an hours drive... boooo!!!! Arrived in the town of Rotorua it absolutely STANK!!!!! its all geothermal and sulphur comes out the ground EVERYWHERE!! we have officially started to become little travellers now as got a new little scam!! hee hee ...

... around which is Te Puia. It is a geological park, Maori village, and arts and crafts school all rolled into one. There was even a traditional Maori dance show in a marae (Maori meeting house). We were mainly after the thermal sights. We saw some boiling mud pots and a geyser or two. The geysers are very regular and the blast for a good half an hour at a time so we spent some time in awe of them. Then we ...

... a ton of money and get an all day pass.  It would so be worth it.  Check out the video to see me zorb. Then we hopped the bus over to Rainbow Springs.  The bus wandered around town for a while before dropping us off.  I'm pretty sure that you can flag the bus down whenever, wherever, just by waving at it he right way.  There doesn't seem to need to actually be a bus stop anywhere.  Same with getting off.  I don't think there are ...

... here, consider the trade off of a lake view for a stronger sulfur smell. The whole place kind of smells like rotten eggs due to the thermal activity, but it is stronger at the lake. My first day was spent hiking the lake shore and hitting the museums with plans for some more intense activities the next day. One of the things most people do here is attend a Maori concert and Hangi. These events include traditional dancing ...

... all have a lot tattoes on them, which are all animals, such as bats and owls. For dinner, they cooked chicken and lamb, with vegetables, potatoes and kumara, which is like a sweet potato, this is one of the original veggies that the Maoris brought with them when they emigrated from the Pacifc Islands to Aoterea (New Zealand) somewhere between AD1000 and AD1400. The food was buffet style and there was an excellent selection. Afterwards they showed ...

... work!), where I read a chapter of my Freakonomics book before realising that I was over-heating and probably smelled like a rotten egg. <br><br>We decided to go into town for dinner, and settled on an Indian place which had won all sorts of local awards. It was alright, but nowhere near as good as the one we had in the Blue Mountains. <br><br>We had a quick squiz ...