Rotorua, November 27, 28

 November 27 

Polynesian Spa

Smelly Lake Rotorua - nothing lives in it at all

   Today was a peaceful day. We started with another good breakfast at the hotel.

   We spent several hours at the Polynesia Spa dipping into the 7 outside pools - some alkaline, some acidic. We couldn't really tell the differences, except some were hotter than others. We did quite a bit of reading, too.

  We went to the Mitai Maori Cultural

Experience and Dinner Buffet which is just a few kilometers outside of Rotorua.

    It included much of what we saw at Waitangi Treaty Grounds in Paihia. This one was more focused on entertainment, whereas the one in Waitangi was a more serious affair. We saw similar dances and demonstrations of weaponry through dance. We saw another haka. We also saw a war canoe being rowed in the narrow gorge.

    We then went in to a big buffet dinner. The food was cooked in traditional style by an underground oven.

      We sat at a table with two interesting Americans from Austin - he is a high school math teacher and she's an environmentalist. We were on the same page as to what Trump is doing to the country. 

Our excellent and informative host

     The meal was pretty good - lamb, chicken, veggies, salads.... desserts. We were definitely full. 

     We considered it our Thanksgiving Dinner.  There was no turkey, cranberries or apple pies in sight. But, there was a stuffing. Thanksgiving is not until tomorrow back home, but....tomorrow is Friday here, so.....today was as good a day as any.  

    The evening was especially smelly when we got home and we heard that it has something to do with cleaning or dredging in Lake Rotorua. It was even pretty smelly in our room.

  November 28 - Thanksgiving back home

    We sent and received many Happy Thanksgiving wishes. 

     After breakfast we walked a bit of the thermal park that is part of Rotorua with bubbling mud and water. And smells.

The hotel has a collection of old phones

     Then, we drove to Blue Lake which is normally bright blue due to its bottom. But, as it was overcast while we were there....it wasn't blue. We walked on a trail above the lake for about a mile trying to see birds. We heard quite a few, but it was very dense forest, so we only got glimpses of fluttering. But, it was a really nice trail to see the size of the trees and ferns which are hard to capture in a photo.

    

Stunning hillside of ferns and pines. Hard to see how huge. the ferns are