Rotorua at last!

The motel room I stayed in last night was quite luxurious, and I slept like a log - again! As usual I like to have a look around the place I have been staying in, so had a quick drive to the Copper Kettle to get a take-away breakfast, and then had a walk up and down the main street. It struck me last night as I drove in that Taumarunui reminded me of Princes Street, Edinburgh... shops all along one side, garden on the other side and the railway behind that - hidden, like it is in Ed. I still had that feeling today as I walked along. Instead of the art galleries at the foot of the Mound there was a community arts centre - today being used for a course on weaving. I wouldn't have minded gatecrashing that one, but I didn't! Kept on walking. sometimes crossing to the gardens side to take photos of sculptures and trees! I almost expected to see a castle as I walked along and looked up to behind the gardens!!! It was a strange feeling!
So then I headed out of town towards Hamilton, but turning off on side roads that would eventually take me to Rotorua. I think that the centre of North Island is a huge bowl filled with sand! More countryside like yesterday's for some of the way, and where it opened up into the plateau great numbers of dairy cows, often Jerseys, were crammed into smallish paddocks. I crossed over the railway line several times - Stop, look and listen! There are no gates or bars, just warning signs, and sometimes lights! No trains! Shame! I'd like to have seen one!

I stopped at one small town, Whakamaru, still in King Country, where the lake is a reservoir, and the dam a power station. I took several pictures along the lakeside, especially as there were dozens of black swans preening their feathers and revealing that they do have white feathers as well.

Views along the way

It was a gentle drive down to Rotorua, and the first thing I did was to look for the Anglican church of St Faith's, because I missed seeing it last time. Margaret (in Auckland) told me that her sister-in-law designed the etched glass picture of the Maori Christ in the window of the Galilee Chapel, so I had to see it! I found the church close to the lake facing the Marae, the gathering courtyard outside a meeting house, and the Maori meeting house itself. The church itself is Tudor in appearance from the outside but inside there are Maori carvings and designs all over, though it is traditional Anglican in style. I found the window of the small side chapel, and was quite amazed by the etching! Christ wearing a Maori cape appears to be walking on the water of the lake outside. Quite stunning, as was the rest of the church. Coming out of the church I noticed for the first time that steam was emerging from drains and vents in the road. Behind a fence I found a small pool with a large hole in the bottom of it, and the water surface bubbling occasionally as if it was a boiling pot, steam rising into the air and being wafted around in the breeze - getting a bit breezy now! Slightly sulphurous smelling, but not unpleasant!

Then I decided to have a drive around the town centre to try and get my bearings, something I didn't manage at all last time, and then I made my way to the YHA KiwiPaka. It doesn't look any different from last time. I remember it pretty well! I am sharing a room with two others, one Irish and the other English, both on a year out travelling the world!

There's a cafe here at the hostel and a bar, and internet facilities. I can even do my laundry or go for a swim in the thermally heated pool. I could have cooked my tea in the communal kitchen - but didn't - or play a game of pool in the games room. Instead, I had tea in the cafe and when I am finished here I will go and read the Lonely Planet Guide and decide what to do tomorrow! There's a Maori concert tomorrow at midday, if I can find Te Puia, and I might check out the Thermal baths. I saw so much last time that I think I will give those things a miss and concentrate on two or three things only! Haven't felt any earth tremours yet, and after experiencing one last time, I think I will be quite disappointed if I don't feel one this time - just a little one will do!

Maybe I'll visit this geyser!

So that's it again for another day. I am here again tomorrow night so talk again then!

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