Week 4 Rotorua continued

David, my cousin once removed, and his wife Sue have a Bach, a cabin, on the edge of Lake Rotoiti, the lake next door to lake Rotorua. The Bach has a small harbor and palm trees on the shore. 

Rotorua is a city on top of geothermal springs. Steam can be seen rising from gutters and vents in the ground. Also the air is sulfuric on the day we arrived however their was only a faint smell of rotten egg in the air. 

After my skydiving episode, Sue and I went to the geothermal village, Whakarewarewa, a Maori community living among geysers and thermal hot springs. Maori children in the river welcomed us, they earn their pocket money by diving in the cold water after coins thrown by tourists. I got to experience some of their dances which were very similar to Hawaiian dances, and toured their home. They cooked their food by either submerging it in the hot springs or placing them in wooden boxes over steam vents. For $2.50, I bought some exothermically steamed corn. It was not bad. 

Sadly, I did not bring my camera to Whakarewarewa, instead I have pictures from my visit to a public park in Rotorua. In that park is a wading pool for people to soak their feet in. Sue and I spent our time there. We then walked around the park observing steam rising from open hot springs and bubbles bursting from mud pools.

On the way back we stopped at a tourist stop for ice cream. Just across the street the information center and a wool shop stood made out of corrugated metal in the shapes of a dog and a sheep.