After our hike, we continued south, to our second and final cultural stop, Rotorua. Rotorua is a large lake that was once the crater of a volcano. The whole city is geologically and thermally active. Walking through a park near the lake, a railing surrounds a fissure in the ground from which billowing, sulfurous steam emerges. There are many thermal spas, lots of extreme sports (no fewer than two Zorb establishments on the way in), and vents everywhere, with pillars of steam scattered throughout the city. 

In addition to all of these, Rotorua is a center of Maori culture. In the 19th century, Maori from villages in the area became guides for dignitaries to the local pools and geysers, and traveled to Australia and London to perform ceremonies and share their culture. Today, there is a large museum and several active villages that provide tours. We went to the less glitzy of the two, Wharakarewarewa. Our guide showed us the pools in the village, ranging from 90C to a jacuzzi-like bubbling cauldron that is 190C. Several smaller vents have wooden and cement boxes built around them, with lids one can close; these are for cooking. You can put food in a pot, put it in the box, go to work, and when you come home dinner is done. Or, you take food and hang it on a rope on the end of a stick and swish it through a pool, like shabu-shabu at a grand scale. They siphon off some of the hot water, which runs through channels in stone or cement for tens of feet, cooling, before emptying into bathing pools. She said that much as other people in other climates have evolved to extreme conditions, some people in the village can bathe in almost 70C water (158F). 

The rain started to grow heavier, so we decided to head back north. On one hand, we would like to go to Tongariro, to see the volcanoes (Mordor! Mt. Doom!). But with this rain, they will be shrouded in mist and hidden from view. Plus, that will be further south and so mean a longer drive back over the next few days. So instead we are heading to the Coromandel Peninsula, where there are amazing rocky beaches that look like they could give Ton Sai in Thailand a fair comparison, gold rush trails and tunnels, and Hot Water Beach. Tonight we’re at the Dickey’s Flat campground right by Karangahake Gorge. We think we will likely spend our last night (Wednesday) at Ray’s Rest, a beachside campsite on the west shore of the Firth of Thames, so we can quickly get to the airport the next morning. So tomorrow night is up in the air – we’ll see how things go and maybe make our ways up the west coast of the peninsula. 

– The Professor