Rotorua, New Zealand (Aotearoa)
38° 0' S 176° 0' E
Nov 19, 2003 05:22
Distance 0km

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Birds. And things that hiss and explode.

Text written in: English

After we were done at Hell's Gate we had to hang around the parking lot looking for someone to drive us back to Rotorua. It took a while, but we eventually got a lift from some Calgarians, who took us to the end of a walking trail into town. The trail went past more thermal stuff, and a bird sanctuary full of swans and pukeko. It ended up near the museum, so we went in for a look. The building was originally a bath house - back in the 19th century, Rotorua was marketed as a spa town, full of mineral water and mud treatments that would cure all your ills. A lot of rich people came here from Britain and the empire, and the town was pretty rich. But the mineral water was too harsh, and all the pipes and tubs corroded, and the whole enterprise fell apart after about 10 years. There are still really expensive spa treatments in Rotorua, and the whole town is really, really touristy.

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Photos / videos of "Birds. And things that hiss and explode.":

The Rotorua bath house. Lawn bowling! Croquet! No fun in the blue baths. Sulphur Bay, in Lake Rotorua. Source of healing mineral water for the Rotorua baths. Source of healing mineral water for the Rotorua baths. Sulphur Bay, in Lake Rotorua. Sulphur Bay, in Lake Rotorua. Sulphur Bay, in Lake Rotorua. Pukeko - the funniest bird in the world. Scary devil gulls (note red beaks). Black swan. Maori canoe. Black swan. Swans and cygnets. Cygnets looking for food while Momma Swan supervises.
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