On August 11th, still in Rotorua, we went back out to Waiotapu to see the geothermal park. I mostly experienced this from a wheelchair, due to my mobility issues, in a notably wheelchair-unfriendly environment. danjite is a true hero for pushing, pulling, grunting and sweating to get me through. After the park, we headed over to Huka Falls for some shots, then home again to our hotel in Rotorua,

The geothermal park is very much like Yellowstone — a major hotspot over a very large volcanic formation, where the ground occasionally just opens up in fissures of boiling mud and steam. This lends a certain je ne sais quoi to wandering about the place.

First we visited the Lady Knox geyser. The story of how this was discovered is fairly hilarious, at least as the guide recounted it to us.

We then headed over to the main area of the geothermal park.

We saw some other cool things as well, such as a fantail, and some industrial grade honey processing. Also, a side trip to Huka Falls was in order.

Lots more at the Flickr set.

Next, visiting Hobbiton!

---

Photo © 2013, Joseph E. Lake, Jr., B. Lake, and Lisa Costello.

This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr., B. Lake and Lisa Costello is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.