It's a thermal wonderland!

This week was very eventful to say the least, so my blog post is about our last few days in Rotorua and Blake will take you through the interesting set of events we experienced yesterday. We got several days of good weather this week and took advantage by going on several hikes after work. Our favorite hike of the week, and one of our favorites so far this trip, was up to the top of Rainbow Mountain. The name is fitting as the mountain contains beautiful red and orange earth, complete with lush greenery all around. Starting out up the steep hill, we were shocked to see a bright turquoise thermal pool on the side of the mountain. After a pretty strenuous uphill, we finally made it to the top where we had a 360 degree view of the valley below. After the hike, we drove a few miles to Kerosene Creek. It looks like a normal river, but it’s geothermally heated so it feels like a hot tub! We planted ourselves underneath a waterfall that empties into a calm pool, perfect for relaxing.

Side view of Rainbow Mountain

Turquoise pool

Blake attempts the waterfall!

I can't stand up in the waterfall!

More Kerosene Creek

 

Blake loves beer and I love pretzels, so when we saw advertisements all over town for the Okere Falls Beerfest, we knew we had to go. It definitely lived up to our expectations. We had brats and beer for dinner and I even found a beer I liked! After the super healthy dinner, we decided to keep it going by ordering a giant soft pretzel with brie for dessert. It was definitely worth it. We stayed for a few hours listening and singing along to the awesome band.

Brats and German beer

I was too excited for the pretzel

 

On Saturday, we drove out back by Okere Falls to visit Hamurana Springs. After a short walk we came to the springs, which bubbles up about 50 meters from underground. Everyone else was throwing $2 coins into the springs and making wishes. We are cheepos and threw twenty cents in, so it’s doubtful our wish will come true. Taranaki (the rugby team was saw play in New Plymouth) was playing in the ITM finals, so we found an Irish pub to watch them play. Surprisingly there were quite a few other Taranaki fans there we were able to cheer with. What looked like a blowout, quickly turned into a close team, but Taranaki pulled out a win! Blake was proud to wear his jersey for a few days after that.

You can't tell from the picture, but it's about fifty meters deep.

Tuesday, we decided to pay for one of the tourist attractions, but we are so glad we did. Waiotapu (meaning Sacred Waters) is a reserve with tons of different kinds of thermal ponds. We followed the map and viewed all 30 thermal attractions, while we learned how the vibrant colors we were seeing were caused by different minerals. Our favorites were the Champagne Pool, Devil’s Bath, and the green pond that we can’t remember the name of.

Champagne Pool

Green Lake

Devil's Bath

 

Rotorua turned out to be a town I fell in love with. I will miss my morning runs through the beautiful Redwood forest, access to so many hikes, chai Lattes at Abracadabra Café, and the friends we made staying at the Funky Green Hostel. We are off to spend most of the next two weeks camping, which means more camping for me than probably my whole life combined. Wish us luck!