Rotorua

Rotorua is known for its proximity to a number of geothermal "attractions". It didn't take us too long to figure out that private entrepreneurs have gained control/ownership over some of the most interesting features and have turned them into "tourist traps" with bus loads of Japanese tourists. A little different than the concept in the USA where most of these are part of the National Parks system or Niagara Falls which is managed by an agency of the government. We decided not to pay $50 each to see a geyser or a pool of boiling mud.

Consulting Trip Advisor, we found the #1 rated outdoor attraction was the Redwoods Whakarewerewa Forest. A huge area of 5600 hectares with a multitude of hiking, mountain biking and equestrian trails. The weather was fine again today so we decided that hiking was going to be the activity of the day.

We are staying at a Holiday Inn so, instead of $50 for breakfast, we decided to head to McDonalds down the street for an "English Breakkie Wrap" and coffee. They sure know how to do coffee at NZ McDonalds..... even though it cost $25 for breakfast.

We did a 10 km trail which started in a California Redwood forest.

It climbed to a couple of overlooks of the Rotorua, some geysers and the lake.

Continuing on, the trail looped around to provide an overlook in the opposite direction.

Along the way, there was lots of Silver Fern, the "unofficial" national symbol that is part of just about every national sports teams insignia.

Another prolific type of vegetation is the "wheki" or "rough fern tree" that provides a significant canopy.

This huge preserve has a large number of mountain biking trails of all levels of difficulty.

They have also constructed an area with a circuit that incorporates a number of ramps and jumps. We happened to see a young fellow about 10 years old having a great time on his bike. I shot a series of photos of him negotiating a number of jumps.

After doing our hike we drove to Lake Tarawera, about 10 km away. We stopped at a lake side cafe and had a cold Steinlager while enjoying the view of the lake and the distant volcanoes (these had erupted and destroyed a Maori settlement in the late 1800's).

From here we went to to Blue Lake and did the 6 km walk around the circumference of the lake. A really nice trail and there were a few nice beaches but we had left our togs in the car.

After we were done with that, we were done with hiking for the day. Chris's pedometer had logged 23,000 steps so it was back to the hotel for a hot tub and swim. We stopped and picked up some take out supper so we could relax in our room tonight.

Kiwi "Word of the Day" - cafe - pronounced {calf}; "once you pass the scenic overlook, there is a nice calf on the right" - huh?