Rotorua

Today was mostly a travel day as we left Queenstown on the South Island and went to Rotorua on the North Island. Did have some final views of the fantastic mountains.

Driving into Rotorua from the airport could see the pastoral landscape of the local farms.

The town is located on a large lake and has a very distinct smell of sulphur due to all the geothermal activity in the area. Spring flowers helped you forget the smell.

Rotorua has a magnificent redwood forest. In 1886 Mt. Tarawera volcano erupted causing massive destruction in the area including the Whakarewarewa forest. In an effort to restore the forest, the government began planting  California Coast Redwood trees in 1901. Today the trees are already huge and impressive. We enjoyed a walk through the forest.

Tonight we had our family hosted dinner where the group breaks into smaller groups and actually goes to the home of a local family to eat, socialize and learn first hand about life in NZ. The family I had dinner with had some extensive history to the area. Karen is of Maori decent whose family has been in the area for over 200 years. We had some very engaging conversation.

A view from our host family's back deck. That is Mt. Tarawera volcano across the lake. Karen's family had to leave when it erupted in 1886 and she has just recently come back.