November 9, 2014 - Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, Champagne Pool and Agrodome

Daily itinerary were:

• Lady Knox Geyser 
• Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (Champagne Pool and Artist's Palette)
• Lunch in Rotorua
• Visited Agrodome
• Stopped by Lake Rotorua to see black Swans
• Maori dinner and Maori dance show in hotel

The main attraction in the morning was to visit Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.  It is part of a Scenic Reserve administered by the Department of Conservation of New Zealand.  It has the largest area of surface activity of any hydrothermal system in the Taupo Volcanic Zone.

First, we visited the Lady Knox Geyser erupting.  The geyser is induced to erupt daily at 10:15AM by dropping a surfactant into the opening of the vent.  The eruption produces a jet of water reaching up to 20 meters and can last for over an hour depending on weather.  Over the years silica from the eruptions has built up to give a white cone-shaped appearance.

Then we visited the Champagne Pool area.  The area has many hot springs noted for their colorful appearance along with boiling mud pools. Champagne Pool and Artist's Palette were the favor Kodak moment spots for us.

We got back to Rotorua for lunch.  They have an area called Eat Street which has a lot of different restaurants serving variety of food.  After lunch, some of us was able to walk close to the shore of Lake Rotorua (the 2nd largest lake in the North Island of New Zealand).  Over there, few of us spotted a lot of black swans.  Later in the day, Lee took all of us to the shore of Lake Rotorua to allow everyone to see these black swans again.

Afternoon activity was visiting Agrodome.  The first attraction in Agrodome was the Farm Show.  In addition to showing the 19 breeds of sheep, they also showed a live sheep shearing demonstration along with some audiences participating activities. They also showed the remarkable farm dogs' ability of controlling sheep (or ducks) by eye or barking.

Then, we had a farm tour where we had opportunity of watching, touching, and feeding Romney sheep, and alpacas. We also had the chance to see cows, deers, llamas and ostriches; and chance to taste the kiwifruit juice and honey came from this farm.

The name Rotorua comes from Maori with full name being "Te Rotorus-nui-a-Kajumatamomoe"; roto means lake and rua means two which means "Rotoura is the second lake". Kajumatamomoe was the uncle of the Maori chief Ihenga, the ancestral explorer of the Te Arawa.  The area was initially settled by Maori and has many historic and current connections with Maori.  At hotel, we had a Maori dinner with a Maori sing/dance show following the dinner.  Several of us were in the group to be invited to the stage to learn and perform their Maori dance.  It was a fun night. BTW, Maori cook their food slowly beneath the ground using earth ground heat, and they don't use any additives.  It makes their food very tasty.