First Day out in Rotorua

A leisurely start, a call to a highly efficient Tourist Information Office and the obligatory late morning coffee saw us (with Chris and Sally) walking through the woods to the Hamurana Spring.  Weather not too good but a days downpour made a welcome break from the daily sunshine we've had since we've been out here - at least the rain is warm!

 

Water from the spring was exceptionally clear and it is believed that it takes 70 years for the water at its source to percolate through the volcanic rock to the spring, delivering 2 Olympic size swimming pools of water / hour to Lake Rotorua.

The water also feeds the Dancing Sands Spring where it comes through the sand in 'bubbles' and hence the name of the spring.



Having seen the feed into Lake Rotorua we went and saw the water leaving the lake over 3 waterfalls, the largest being the Okere Falls, as well as the adrenalin seekers flying over the falls in kayaks and rubber boats - sorry present company excluded from these mad antics.

 

 

Of course another well known feature of the volcanic landscape is the hot mud flats, which are in abundance in the Rotorua area, leaving that well known smell of rotten eggs in the air - we drove out to Waiotapu Geothermal Valley.