January 24, 2019
This was another day where the weather was cloudy with light rain in the morning but cleared in the afternoon. We drove to the Z gas station to fill up. Then we drove to the Starbucks in downtown Rotorua to get a You Are Here mug for my niece Liz. They did not have a mug for Rotorua, but they had one for Queenstown.
It was a 20-minute drive south to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley, and we were there in time for the opening at 8:30. That gave us less than 2 hours to see the valley before our reserved boat tour at 10:25.
Inferno Crater Lake was a beautiful blue color and a highlight of the walk. Nearby the Bird's Nest perpetual spouter at the base of the hill up to Inferno was fun to watch.
There was no sign of where Waimangu Geyser used to be: the crater is completely filled in.
We managed to do most of the walk but caught a shuttle bus at 10:15 to get us to the boat tour in time. For future visits I think it would be better to reserve a later time for the boat tour to allow us enough time to finish the walk through the thermal areas beforehand. The 10:25 time made it feel rushed.
The Lake Rotomahana boat tour was totally worth it. We were first on the boat so got good seats at the back. A tour of 25 people filled up the remaining spots on the boat. The highlight was getting to see Pink Terrace Geyser up close.
After the boat tour we took the shuttle bus back to the spot where we needed to finish the walk. We took the steep side trail to see some craters but we did not think they were worth the extra effort. There was a very nice overlook of Mount Tarawera and Lake Rotomahana.
We stopped in the gift shop where I found a couple of T-shirts and a magnet to buy, and Heinrich bought several books.
Since it was still early afternoon, we decided to drive to see the redwoods. This is a very nice park on the outskirts of Rotorua with lots of hiking trails. We spent about an hour walking through the main redwood grove.
Back at the cabin we had chicken carbonara for dinner. I spent a half hour soaking in the geothermally heated hot tub. I was the only person there.
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