Wednesday – Rotorua / Lake Taupo

We left Auckland early Wednesday morning for a 4 hour drive down to Lake Taupo. We stopped in Rotorua along the way and visited various sites. You can view a picture here of us in the Gondola in Rotorua ( enter code SKRT65312540 ) – spectacular view of the lake Rotorua from the summit! 5031
Our second stop was the Buried Village in Rotorua. In the 1800’s, a volcano erupted and sent a mountain of mud, ash, water over the village down below and most of it ended up half-buried. We also took some great shots of a waterfall located in the village.

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Our third stop was a rather quick drive through a “redwood” forest. Although the trees were large, they weren’t anywhere near the size as the ones in California so we were slightly disappointed. Our last stop before heading off for Lake Taupo were the Rotorua Bath Houses where one can indulge thyself in sulfuric near boiling mud water as a “rejuvinating” experience. The only experience we had was nausea and left after snapping some shots. We spent the remainder of the day driving down to Lake Taupo.

http://www.skylineskyrides.co.nz/rotorua/ssr_dailyphotos/