Rotorua - Wake up and smell the sulphur!

So today we took a trip to the town of Rotorua. Famous for its geothermal lakes, bubbling mud pools and spurting geysers. It was only a short drive from Cambridge and we knew we were getting close as the unpleasant smell of Sulphur (like the worst stink bomb you've ever encountered) began to fill the car. The next indication was steam rising out of the bushes near the roadside.

We pulled over at Kuirau Park on the edge of town where steaming vents seemed to be erupting alarmingly close to the local habitation - out of drains by the road and in people's back gardens. The residents all seemed rather blasé  abouts the fact that there were volcanic vents and boiling mud pools in their back yards. What was even more incredible was that they weren't in the slightest bit bothered that their whole town smelt of rotting eggs! 

The park had all kinds of steaming pools and bubbling mud pits. The best bit was a bit lake with crazy coloured 'things' growing around the edges. There were marked paths between the 'pools of instant scolding death,' but how anyone could determine how one wasn't about to explode and obliterate the town was beyond me. At one point we passed a sign boasting that in 2003 a mud pit erupted and smothered the whole park!! We just kept moving and hoped for the best...

By the edge of Lake Rotoura, was a fantastic old building built in the 1900s and one of the oldest buildings around (the others probably all got wiped out in a mud eruption at some point). It was called the government building and used to be a Spa type building. It was super grand inside and out front had well kept croquet lawns. 

The lakeshore was a bit eerie (and smelly!) there were boiling pools and gurgling mud pits that hissed and belched as we walked past. The signs said not to stray from the path as in places the ground was only a few centimetres thick!

To get a bit of fresher air and also a view of one of the geysers, we took a hike in the nearby Redwood Forest. There are loads of amazing mountain bike trails amongst the giant trees, but we opted o set out on foot. We got upto a view point over a big themal area and saw the jets of boiling water spouting upon to the air accompanied by a lot of steam! Pretty impressive stuff but scary to be living so close it it all!