Day 12 Rotorua

A misty, wet day today and the seaplanes didn't move off their moorings and so no chance of that activity.  We decided to do the essential Rotorua interests of Maori culture and the thermal geysers etc.  Because of the weather there were less tourists at Te Puia centre (occupying part of a Maori homeland) than usual and so we had excellent attention from our very good Maori guide.  We had a quick look at some gurgling mud pools, and a gushing geyser before it was time for our introduction to the Maori culture.  We were some Maori phrases and greetings in a traditional meeting hall and the "haka" was demonstrated!  It was all good stuff but don't ask us to repeat or remember how it all went.  We then went on a guided walk round the thermal park and managed to see the geysers perform to their optimum. We saw demonstrations of carving and flax weaving.  One highlight of the tour was that we were able to see a couple of Kiwis in their enclosure - they are a threatened species and nocturnal and so we were not able to    photograph them.  We spent 41/2 hours in the      

place and enjoyed every minute although the weather was not too kind.

You can see below a handsome chap with a passing stranger.

After this experience we decided to go what is now called the "Government Gardens"  which is an area of the centre of Rotorua which was a former spa used formerly for medicinal purposes.  We cannot convey the smell of these places but there was definitely a concentration of sulphur.  The gardens are very well kept and the cental building now holds the local museum - somewhat better looking than the Isles of Scilly museum building.

I'm afraid something has gone wrong with the alignment of text and videos today which I can't easily sort out.