Redwoods in Rotorua

We went to the town of Rotorua today. The name Rotorua means "Second Lake" in Maori and it happens to be the second lake we've gotten to know.

Here's our first lake (Taupo) on my morning run today:

It's different every day - and really even more amazing than the photo can show. These are all from today at different points on my run:

 Looking back towards the town of Taupo.

Hot springs that flow into the lake need their own warning signs.

I love these black swans with red beaks.

You can see the steam rising from the springs here.

Someone needs to tell the flowers that it's WINTER. There are seriously plants blooming in the wintertime. Our neighbors have daffodils in their yard.

This sign reminds us of home - and our next door neighbors, the Hirtzels.

The later part of the day we traveled to Rotorua, the town that's famous for geothermal activity. The air smells of rotten eggs and there are lots of burbling mud pools and hissing steam vents throughout the town. This place is known to me as the nearest hospital with a cardiac service, which is to say - it's not that far away, and we'll likely make several day trips.

We arrived in the center of town, checked out the playground, and Jasper was immediately attracted to the people flailing about in giant plastic orbs floating on the lake's surface. He wanted to do just that - and we called it "zorbing" although that's not technically at all accurate. It's just fun to say. It turns out, both boys felt up to the water zorbing challenge but Jasper got a bit more excitement than anyone had planned on.

Here's Jasper flailing about like he had imagined he would.

Below, you can watch Aidan getting loaded up into his Zorb.

Here, he's fully loaded and ready to go. This is about when Jasper's plastic balloon sprang a leak. Yes, our child was in a plastic bubble on a lake in New Zealand that was slowly filling up with water. Everyone at lakeside could watch him very calmly raise his hand to indicate that there was trouble.

Needless to say, he was fine - and recovered very quickly. He did walk around the remainder of the day totally comfortable in his swimming trunks - the only extra clothing I'd packed. Did I mention that it's winter here?

Aidan, playing in the lake.

And now, for more sightseeing:

Yes, it's a stinky burbling mud pool.

And another - they really do discolor anything that dares try to grow nearby.

Best playground in Rotorua!!

After playing for a long time and buying some fruit at the farmer's market, we headed for the (mostly) redwood forest. Seriously amazing. See below:

And Jasper beheld the glory of the wheat-like grass that has no name, at least no name known by foreigners like us.

Whatever it was , we all enjoyed it.

We hiked to a view of the lake.

The view from up there

And another view from up there - no, I did not climb up on top of that scary rock. And yes, it was too hot for jackets.