Rotorua, New Zealand

Continuing our cruise north along New Zealand’s east coast, our next to last port was Tauranga, the port of call for the geyser and mud bath-happy town of Rotorua. The latter sits in a caldera with New Zealand’s second largest lake and bubbling hot springs just beneath the surface. These springs show themselves in several forms: bubbling mud fields, geysers spraying hot water hundreds of feet in the air, and streams of burning hot water and steam. The local Māori tribes run this complex known as Te Puia including the Māori Cultural Center, geothermal park and the largest active geyser in the Southern Hemisphere, Pohutu (“big splash” in Māori)

We were entertained by the young Māori tribespeople doing songs and dances. Legend has it that the Māori people migrated from East Polynesia, specifically Tahiti. We also toured a crafts center where three Māori youths annually are given scholarships to learn traditional arts in wood, stone and metal.

We also saw flightless Kiwi birds in a unique habitat where the diurnal pattern is reversed so you can view them going about their nightly activities.Read more