What is that smell?

Over the weekend we went to Rotorua. It is a tourist town that was built near a volcano that erupted some years back. There still remains a large active thermal area which includes a number of hot spring areas. If you've ever been to a hot spring, you will already know the stench of rotten eggs produced by the sulfuric gases emitted from the ground. As we walked through the hot springs area, I had to fight to keep lunch in my stomach where it belonged. It was beyond repulsive. The town itself has a lingering stink that seemed to permeate your clothes, and coat your lungs. It amazes me that it is such a big attraction for tourist. From what I understand, back in the early 1900's, the lure that brought in travelers was the hot springs and their supposed healing powers. Hmmm… The old bath house is still standing today, and is no a Maori museum .

We didn't spend too much time in the town center of Rotorua. Instead we decided to head around the perimeter of Lake Rotorua to visit a natural fresh water spring and some of the waterfalls near by.

We took a shrt hike to the origin of the natural spring. We were amaized to stumbled across a range of Giant Redwoods along the trail. I am not even sure that these type of trees are indigenous to New Zealand, but the enormous size made us believe that they had been there for some time now.

Further around the lake were the falls I mentioned before. Rumor is that you can white water raft down the 15-20 foot falls shown in the picture. Denise seemed a bit skeptical; however, I am all for taking the plunge. We didn't have time to get on a raft this time, so we are going to schedule another trip down this way when the waters get a bit warmer.