First stop was St. Faiths Church & Te Aomarama Hall in Rotorua. The church is a mixture of Anglican and Maori beliefs. The graves above ground are ground are of Maori chiefs. One Captain Mair, a white person, was elected a chief after a great service for the Maoris.
On the way to the Waiotapu thermal wonderland area we saw lots of dead possums. The possums were brought from Australia their fur. Apparently, after they are killed, you pluck the fur off like plucking a chicken and then sell it for around $150/kg (about 20 possums). The fur is made into clothing just like Merino wool.
The Waiotapu area is a lot like Yellowstone NP in the US. Mud potholes bubbling, steaming vents, and pretty colored lakes. One difference is that the birds take advantage of the hot ground to help incubate their eggs.
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| Pied Stilt watching mate on next |
he bees were really busy in the Manuka trees getting pollen and nectar to make the famous New Zealand Manuka honey.
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| Pollen bags are just about full |
Afterwards we stopped by Huka falls and then went to Taupo for lunch with a great view of the lake and volcano across it. Huka falls drains lake Taupo and the channel narrows from 100m to 15m right before the falls which makes for these great pictures.
On the way to the last hike of the day, we had a great view of our hike tomorrow - the Tongariro Crossing over the Tongariro volcano. We will be hiking between the center and right peaks.
Last hike of the day was to Taranaki Falls. Notice how we are not in farmland any more, but more brushy area. You can see the farmland in the distance.
The interesting thing here is that the cliff was formed by a lava flow that just stopped and moved in a different direction. Any ideas as to what could stop a lava flow that high (answer below)?
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