We arrived in Rotorua. The whole area is alive with
volcanic activity and it has the dubious distinction of being the biggest
city in the world inside a volcanic crater.
In the unimaginatively named Government Gardens (many years ago the local Maoris gifted some land in the centre of Rotorua to the New Zealand government, so they called the area 'Government Gardens'), we saw one of the two most photographed buildings in New Zealand - a spa hotel in mock Tudor style. It's a Grade I listed building which suffered significant earthquake damage and which is being repaired at enormous cost. The other most photographed building is the railway station building at Dunedin!
As well as the gardens generally and the hotel, there are the spa baths - built in the 1930s fur those who couldn't afford the hotel - and Rachel's Pool where boiling water emerges from underground.
All around Rotorua there is a pervasive smell of hydrogen sulphide as it emerges from the ground. This gas - smelling of rotten eggs - is toxic if in sufficient concentrations and levels of the gas are closely monitored by the authorities. It is heavier than air and can settle in hollows in the ground in sufficient concentrations to kill small animals.
There was also steam coming from underground in all sorts of random places.
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| The public spa building |
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| Boer War Memorial |
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