Saturday, March 23 - Rotorua, the heart of New Zealand

Our campground for the night had thermal pools, included this one big
enough to hold Olympic trials

    Rotorua is a lake and town near the center of North Island the embodies the cultural and physical spirit of the land.  Formed when a volcano exploded and collapsed into a caldera 250,000 years ago it is a highly significant place for the Maori people.   Europeans began to arrive in the 19th century and took most of the land away from the Maoris.  Part of the attraction of the region were the hot springs and sulfurous muds that were seen as medically healing, but also the exotic presence of the Maori people.  Over the past hundred and fifty years the Maoris have been an integral part of the touristic development of Rotorua.
     Now people come from all over the world to enjoy the thermal wonders of Rotorua, and to experience the Maori culture firsthand.  It has been lucrative for the native people, but also educational for the tourists.

We started off our tour of Rotorua by eating.  The Saturday market in the
thermal park in town had some tasty treats.

Then we went for a walk looking at the earth burp, steam and bubble

Not as big as Yellowstone, that's for sure, but interesting, since it was right
in the middle of town.

The hot areas keep moving around, sneaking outside the fenced areas

Art and nature

The town fathers decided to really go whole hog and try to compete with
the big thermal baths of Europe.  The bath house was built in the 1880's in a style
sure to appeal to tourists.

It never worked out very well, partly because the highly corrosive vapors
from the baths blackened pipes, weakened plaster, and molded wood trim.

The baths closed in the early 1940's after being used to treat returning
WWII wounded soldiers.  Then it was a restaurant and disco until the 70's.
Finally it opened as a museum, with exhibits about the history of the town,
geology of the surrounding area, temporary art exhibits, and best of all,
a well done examination of the past, present, and future of  Maori
culture.  We had an hour and a half tour through the museum lead by
a Maori woman that really made the history come alive for us.

View from the roof

Most of the building was open for us to explore, from the basement to
the attic.  It was cool to see the framing of the roof.

       We stayed at a campground in town and got a second chance to soak in hot springs.  With the cool air of the southern autumn at night it felt pretty good.