Waiting on some culture

January 17 We left Wellington under grey clouds and blowing wind. Wellington is continually windy, some days more so than others ... similiar to Lethbridge except they blame it on the merging of the different bodies of water off the coast here. As we travelled north we found the sun. Drove thru the "desert oasis" as they refer to it, and into the land of volcanos as we neared Rotorua. More huge lakes. Had lunch on the side of a large one visiting with two black swans and their four young. After checking into the hotel we made our way to the private mineral pool at the Polynesian Spa on the edge of Lake Rotorua. Rotorua means "evil smelling place" in Moari. This area is a large geothermal bed of activity from the volcanos. The sulphur smell actually isn't too bad ... it comes and goes with the breeze and your proximity to a release point. We had a late dinner at a fabulous bistro ... pricey but very good. A late b-day dinner for Dave. January 18 Woke up to RAIN this morning. We hummed and hawwed about going out to Waipatuo to view the geysier (sp?) and suplhur park. In the end we ended up going as the rain seemed to be lightening up. We just made it in for the eruption of Lady Knox geysier. She goes off at 10:15am every day ... seems if you put a little soap (actually something more environmentally friendly but I forget the chemical name) into her she starts to foam like a washing machine and then once the surface tension is broken the pressure and heat rise. Pretty neat. The rain then decided to come harder ... thank heavens for good old Stampede rain poncho's ... we tramp thru the park viewing sulphur and other mineral pools, hardenings, and lakes. The sun did eventually decide to make an appearance. On the way out of the park we stopped by the mud pools to witness a steamy, smelly, gurgling, belching mud pool. It was rather facinating. Currently we're waiting on our transport to our Moari Hangi dinner and cultural show ... should be a fun time. Tomorrow morning we're off early to the Waitanamo Glow Worm caves on our way to Auckland. Until next time ...