{"id":4265,"date":"2020-03-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4265"},"modified":"2020-03-09T10:58:17","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T14:58:17","slug":"new-zealand-rotorua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/05\/new-zealand-rotorua\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand: Rotorua"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rotorua was to be our base of operations for the day, as members of our group scattered off to different prearranged and ad-hoc activities and locations. (See previous New Zealand posts<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My wife went to the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves<\/a>; where bioluminescent fungus gnat larvae<\/a> dot the walls and ceilings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo from Dolly Langa’s Facebook feed<\/a>. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I went on a self-guided walk to explore Rotorua’s geothermal features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rotorua’s is on the edge of a caldera lake<\/a> — site of a massive prehistoric volcanic blowout. The magma’s still hot enough and close enough to the surface to dot the town with many fumaroles, boiling mud pots, and small sputtering geysers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the lovely Kuirau Park<\/a> was literally across the street from the YHA where we stayed; it’s a small, nicely-landscaped urban park filled with carefully maintained flowerbeds, trees, open lawns, sculptures, statues and, oh by the way, a variety of actively smoking, steaming, geothermal ponds and vents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n