This was a travel day.

Before embarking on our marathon bus ride to Wellington, we went back to the dark side of the moon and visited some bubbling mud pits. The mud is actually acid sulphate.

Then we visited the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland in Rotorua. No it isn't an amusement park, although you would think so from the name. This geothermal area sits over an active volcano with bubbling mud pits, spurting geysers, steaming and multi-coloured springs in different areas around the town. The Maori revered this place naming one of the most spectacular springs Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters). In 1934, George Bernard Shaw said "I was pleased to get so close to Hades and be able to return."  This area was seen by pioneers as having all the hallmarks of Dante's Inferno - a barren wasteland of stunted vegetation, cratered with scalding cauldrons, bubbling mud pools and roaring geysers hurling super heated water into a sulphur-laden atmosphere. In fact, at the time (circa 1870's) it was considered as the 8th natural wonder of the world. Today, however, this area is a place of thermal wonders, lush forests, green pastures and crystal-clear lakes teeming with trout. 

As I said, the first thing I noticed was the strong smell of sulphur. I have a vague memory of this smell from my childhood when my Dad took me to visit my cousins, Cecil & Audrey Bowes, in a small town in the London area. Funny some of the things you remember from childhood.  

 Rotorua is on a volcanic rift which stretches 200 km on the North Island. It has the greatest concentration of Maori residents of any Centre in NZ. Beneath the ground is a system of streams which are heated by magma left over from earlier eruptions. The water is so hot (up to 300 degrees) that it absorbs minerals out of the rocks which it passes through and transports them to the surface as steam where they are ultimately absorbed into the ground. The so called "rotten egg smell" of geothermal areas is associated with "hydrogen sulphide". The wide range of colours in the area are all natural and are due to different mineral elements. The predominant colours being:
Green - colloidal sulphur
Orange - antimony
Purple - manganese oxide
White - silica
Yellow-primrose - sulphur
Red-brown - iron oxide
Black - sulphur & carbon

So now I can say I've been to heaven and hell in the space of 24 hours (and neither wanted to keep me)!! I guess that's a good thing. 
 
Then we went to see the Lady Knox geyser which erupts every day at 10:15 am. They add a substance that changes the chemical consistency of the thermal spring below and causes the geyser to spew. It started to bubble and a white froth appeared at the mouth of the geyser and then when the pressure built up enough it erupted about 15-20 meters in the air. Pretty cool! It was discovered by convict workers who used the hot spring to wash their clothes. At that time it was just a pool. It didn't have a cone shape. One convict dropped soap into the spring which changed the chemistry and it erupted. Imagine their surprise!!

After lunch we started seeing grey sandstone earth, which is very unstable so evergreen trees were introduced to stabilize the land. The evergreens are not native to NZ. Some of them are pretty cool looking too. Lots of flora here I'd like in my garden. 

We went through a small town called Bulls. It's known for the names of the businesses. For instance, the police station is called Constabulls; the bank is called Bankabull; the tailor Measurabull and so on.

We settled in for a 5 hour bus ride with fantastic views on our way to Wellington, the nations' capital, and known as the center of NZ, both geographically and culturally. Nicknamed "Wellywood" due to being the home of NZ's film industry and home for Peter Jackson, director of "Lord of the Rings" films. This city was named after the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the battle of Waterloo. It is very much like San Francisco with it's hills, Victorian houses terracing up from the waterfront, coastal location and temperate weather. It is very susceptible to earthquakes and is still undergoing earthquake proofing of buildings in the wake of the 2011 & 2016 Christchurch earthquakes.  

The Cook Straight, which separates the North Island from the South Island, has long been known as one of the most treacherous short stretches of open water in the world. The wind is fierce and whips the water up. Despite this, Wellington is one of NZ's busiest ports due to the all-weather sailing of the Cook Strait rail ferries and foreign fishing vessels. We will be testing our mettle in 2 days when we will be crossing yo the South Island through the rocky waters. 
 
We had a group dinner at the waterfront. I got to know the people a bit more. I'm almost positive there will be no dancing on this leg of the trip. :(