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Poster for a "Life Of Brian" play outside a church in Auckland. Thought that was kinda funny..
Another Auckland church.
Nice park in Auckland. Was relaxing here a couple of hours in the morning (landed at 4am so not much else was open yet..). The 200m spire in the background is Auckland's tallest building and like most other things tall in NZ you can jump off it with a rubber cord for about 100$..
Auckland street.
Rotorua
Boiling Mudpool outside Rotorua.
more bubbles.
more mud.
Supposedly 300 degrees hot a meter or two down here. Decided to take their word for it..
The Lady Knox Geyser. Starts conviniently at 10:15 every day so that all tourists can be there just in time between their morning coffee and first siesta.
The geyser starts at 10:15 every day because that's when they pour a few kilos of soap into it to kick it off. This phenomena was according to the legend discovered by mistake by settlers in the early 1900's trying to wash their clothes.
Wai-o-Tapu geo-thermal area. I really like the place-names in New Zealand. Another thermal area outside Rotorua is called "Whakarewarewa". ..which in turn is short for "Te Whakarewarewatanga o te Ope Taua a Wahiao"
Wai-o-Tapu geo-thermal area. I really like the place-names in New Zealand. Another thermal area outside Rotorua is called "Whakarewarewa". ..which in turn is short for "Te Whakarewarewatanga o te Ope Taua a Wahiao"!
The "Champagne Pool" in Wai-o-Tapu.
The water in this pool has most of the rainbow colors covered.
Luckily, for anoone finding it tempting to dip their feet in this smoking sulphur hole in the ground, there is a warning sign informing you that this might not be a brilliant idea.
View over Wai-o-Tapu.
Devil's bath. Many of the areas around Rotorua have cute names like that. "Hell's Gate" is another termal area (that was described by George Bernhard Shaw in 1934 as "..the fate theologians have promised me"!).
Rainbow mountain. It has calmed down a bit since it was given it's name - used to have more smoke and colors. I asked the busdriver on the way back from the termal park to drop me off at the foot of the mountain for a good walk to the top
Rainbow mountain. It has calmed down a bit since it was given it's name - used to have more smoke and colors. I asked the busdriver on the way back from the termal park to drop me off at the foot of the mountain for a good walk to the top.
Little crater lake by the side of the rainbow mountain. Had to walk down to take a closer look.
"took this photo just before a refreshing swim.."
These fern-trees grow almost everywhere in New Zealand. Makes the forests look very nice and ancient.
View over the hobbit-landscape from rainbow mountain summit.
Another view from the summit; "Maungakakatamea lookout".
Same view..just playing with the zoom a bit..
Me (or what's left of..) after the 1.5 hour walk to the top.
The path up the mountain.
Too many signs telling you to keep to the path to not wander off into the moss forest a bit..
You see this everywhere in Rotorua - smoke coming up from under the street.. And the smell of sulphur everywhere.
Taupo
Black swans. Things are pretty much the same as home in New Zealand...people speak english and culture's the same...except for all these funny little details - the swans are black, the stars constellations are all different, the trees looks like it's 300 million years ago, and people have cinnamon in their cappucino..
Taupo 47 meter bungee jump.
Waitomo
Forest near Waitomo.
Back in Auckland.
Auckland aquarium.
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