New Zealand – Day 13 – Monday, March 6th, 2017

+22C light winds good weather continue.

Today our journey takes us to Rotorua about 194 km south of Waihi. This section of the drive is known as the thermal explorer highway and does not have any stops along the way.

On arrival in Rotorua, we decide to check out Kuirau thermal park in town and not far from the city centre. This park is an urban setting that has steam vents and bubbling mud pots right in the middle of a city park.

Following lunch, we wandered around downtown then settled on going to Te Puia which is another thermal park featuring the Pohutu geyser that could spout up to 20 or 30 meters but today was not a good day and it could only manage some angry steaming. Some of the more interesting exhibits were of how the native Māori used steam vents for cooking food. Corn on the cob cooks in about 10 minutes. They would also use some of the pools of boiling water to cook other foods. The key was to know which of the pools were the right pool to cook with, the same for the steam vents. Water that was murky and smelled of rotten eggs was to be avoided while cleaning smelling vents and clear boiling pools could be used without any impact on the food.

We also saw the elusive nocturnal Kiwi bird although it was in captivity. The entire event was capped by a traditional Māori cultural performance.