Bubbling mud, lots of bubbling mud....

To complete my volcanic/geothermal adventure, I decided to join Maa'yan and Tomer on their trip north to Rotorua, one of the most popular tourist destinations on the North Island. Rotorua is famous for it's bubbling mud, which is fascinating to watch, but a bit stinky to be around. In the middle of the city, there is a lovely park that is dotted with bubbling mudpools. So you know, you've got your neatly trimmed green grass, your lovely plantings, your swing sets, your leafy trees, and then you've got an oozing, stinky pool of hot mud. And it turns out that there is a fair amount of geothermal misbehavior- every once in a while, the ground just drops out, and hot mud comes seeping to the surface, and even more annoying, occasionally one of the mud pools projects boiling mud spraying 50 feet into the air, coating everything in the surrounding area with hot, sulphuric goo. So, as you walk around the park there are temporary orange barrier fences and warning signs, as well as large areas of dead trees and plants who have been splooged by the mud. It gives the park a very bizarre feel....
Speaking of bizarre, one of the other main attractions is zorbing- check it out, really you'll be glad you know such an activity exists. Being the party pooper that I am, I didn't actually pay to do this, but I did have the good chance to go to the zorb center to watch my new friends give it a go. They loved it, and I laughed my head off while they were rolling down the hill.
The highlight of my visit to Rotorua came that night when some Kiwi friends of Tomer's drove us and our two Dutch friends out to the "secret spot" - a natural convergence of a hot spring and a cool brook. It was perfect. We soaked in the warm water for hours, moving from one side of the pool to the other to regulate our body temperatures. I have never been in a natural hot spring before and I was really hoping I'd find one in New Zealand. It was blissful....