Did I mention that you can smell rotten egg gas everywhere in Rotorua? You lose the sensitivity from time to time, then catch another whiff.
It comes from all the thermal activity in the area. We went out of town, about half an hour, to Wai-O-Tapu, a state owned, but leased to private enterprise, facility that has acres of thermal manifestations. The big deal is the Lady Knox geyser, that is triggered at 10:15 each morning (as it has been for the last 80 years) by adding a surfactant. The natural cycle would be about 36 hours, maybe less depending on water levels, but this way it performs to schedule. And very impressively! There had been a penal work detail in the area, planting trees, and the hot spring had been used as a laundry. Some soap got dumped in - and that is when they figured out the geyser could be triggered.
The balance of the park is spectacular. Hot pools, boiling mud springs, sulpher deposit mounds, caves with coloured sides reflecting different minerals. Did I mention the rotten egg gas?
The day started cloudily, but cheered up half way through our walk, for which we were VERY grateful.
In the afternoon we went to Rainbow Springs Kiwi Wildlife Park. They are the central facility for incubating kiwi eggs taken from all over NZ. They keep the young kiwi until they are big enough to fend for themselves, then reintroduce them into the wild. They have a much better survival rate than would otherwise be the case. The problem is the introduced predators - cats, dogs, weasels, stoats, and possums (fur-bearing, not the same as ours). We saw a baby kiwi being tended to - very cute.
They also have captive wild birds of various species, huge trout (they raise them for release) and lizards.
We returned at night to see the adult kiwis in their enclosure - four of them, each with their own piece of territory. They are very busy birds! No touching, but we were within a foot of them at times. Sadly, no photos, as they are sensitive to light. What a great memory!
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