Rotorua - February 11 to 16, 2007

After the Hawke's Bay area, we drove up the centre of the North Island, through Taupo to Rotorua. We'd visited Rotorua on our trip 20 years ago, so it didn't hold many surprises for us. In fact, it was a bit disappointing after all the beautiful country we'd already seen. Rotorua is a facinating place with its geysers and thermal areas, but it lacks some of the beauty of other areas of New Zealand. Plus, it has become more of a tourist destination, and with tourism comes more traffic, more crime and less of what makes New Zealand so neat.

Our pictures begin with the bungee jumping area on the Taupo River. The incredible blue colour of the water is very natural (and not retouched in Photoshop). We waited for about an hour on a very hot, sunny day but no one jumped. Following that are various shots of the Wairakei Golf Course, the Wai-O-Tapu thermal area, the Arikikapakapa Golf Course, and the lakes around Rotorua.

The thermal area covers quite a bit of land and has many colourful pools, geysers and a lot of bubbling mud. Parts of it were simply too far on foot for us to visit.

Next stop: The Coromandel