New Zealand North Island (cont.)

View out over Lake Taupo

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park now you see them

Now you don't...it was that steamy at times.

Champagne Pools

Champagne Pools

Champagne Pools they were so orange and beautiful I couldn't stop shooting pics.

Champagne Pools

Wai-O-Tapu's Lake Ngakoro

 Amazing yellow flowers growing in the bubbling mud

 Mud Pools at Wai-O-Tapu are hard to shoot...this was the best of a bad lot.

 Variable Stilts live on these mud flats and look quite at home walking over the hot pools.

Epic looking green pool.

 This park was right across the street from Rotorua Base Hostel where we stayed...now having gone up in the quality of the accommodation. That's Art up ahead...the hot pools were all cordoned off with fencing throughout the park, and believe it or not we found a lot of birds here. More below.

 Amazingly we found Pukeko(swamp hens) living along the sides of this boiling cauldron.

 Fences all over New Zealand have moss growing all over them. This was one of the better ones we found at a Maori Marae,

 Entry ways have arched carvings at the Maori Marae's this is just a portion of one.

Rotorua's museum which is an old spa that still has the bathing rooms available to view along with Maori carvings etc.

Loved these carvings at the entry way to the park and museum.

 Also this arched creation was a bit unusual.

 More Maori stuff...notice the tongues stuck out.

You see these weird looking trees all over.

 A really impressive Maori carving in the Rotorua museum.

And sunset at the local Pak and Save so you can see how the regular folks shop.