Rotorua is famous for their hot springs, mud pools, and Maori traditions. They are also a tourist trap. We decided to make a stop here anyway because it has the most underground activity of anywhere in the world, but we weren’t quite sure if we wanted to succumb to the tourism and fork over our $40 to see it. We ended up deciding to veer off from the tour buses and headed to Blue Lake just a short drive away. We spent the morning slowly walking around the Lake trail and then had a picnic lunch by the water.

Feeling a bit lazy we decided to go for a more serious hike. We headed over to a Redwood forest not too dissimilar from what I remember Sequoia National Forest in California being like. The walk was gorgeous and we spent most of it discussing the ethics of meat eating spurred by several things, but especially by Taylor currently reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Foer (light vacation reading at its best…)

At this point Taylor and I decided we needed to do some “Rotorua things” and then leave the city a night early. We decided a mud pool would be just the thing! I am still a bit confused about the science behind why certain places burp mud, but I am quite certain that burping mud is kind of amusing. The air is sulpherous and smelly, but mud squirting from the ground is entertainment at its best.

Feeling slightly more touristy we decided it was time to get out and head to our next destination, Waitomo. We headed out from the Mud Pools along a winding road through the hills. Winding, winding, cows, winding, circle, wait, crap. We never did quite figure out where we went wrong, but we did end up figuring out how to get back (an hour + later.) At that point we were both tired so our best change of plans foiled, we headed back to Rotorua for the night.