In and Around Rotorua
Whakarewarewa Maori Village
Another bright sunny day.
We head out to the city centre a check out the Government Gardens. They are stunning in the sunlight. We decide to come back later in the day when the sun is shining on the museum.
We next head to the Whakarewarewa Maori Village to watch a cultural performance. This is actually a living Maori village (meaning people live there). The show is very good with singing, dancing, poi balls, stick toss and of course the famous Haka. Click here for a short video.
Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest
John’s highlight for the day is the redwood forest. These trees are so huge. They are beautiful and take my breath away.
We take one of the trails and the light through the forest makes it truly magical. Click here for a short video.
At lunch we meet a group of Canadians and it turns out that one of the guys grew up in my hometown of Sudbury…now what are the chances.
We drive out to the Green and Blue Lakes. We trek up to a viewpoint where you can see both lakes and we don’t see any colour difference. Apparently the light has to be hitting them just the right way.
In Rotorua Town
We now head back to Rotorua and walk the town. I am sooo hot. I pop into a store and buy a sleeveless top while John waits outside. I pretty well grab the first thing that fits in my size. In hindsight not the most attractive top (John describes it as baggy), but it is much cooler.
We start at Kuria Park which is in the middle of town and has lots of steam vents, boiling water pools and the smell of sulphur.
We walk around the lakefront which is pretty and has a lot of geese, ducks and black swans and a whole flock of Canadian Geese. Heaven help us if Canadian Geese are our 
ambassadors as they can be such nasty birds.
We continue walking to Sulphur Bay Wildlife Reserve. I am very excited because it is a geothermal area habituated by a number of threatened birds. But turns out it’s closed for renovations to the paths and bridges.
Government Gardens Area and Evening at our Airbnb
We walk around the Government Gardens area before picking up a bottle of New Zealand wine (and yes I did choose this bottle because I love the label) and head back to our pretty Airbnb for a relaxing evening. We have an early morning tomorrow.
