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With all the thermal areas spread across mostly flat land, it wasn't always apparent just how big of a smoke plume you were looking at in the distance. This shot gives a better idea of the scale.
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This was the first sign that reminded me how a regular society works. You put up a warning and you let common sense work. In the US, there would be a guard that counted people on the platform and wouldn't let more on until some left.
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This was a neat boardwalk going out between the lake and a spillway.
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A thermal plant. NZ is anti-nuke, completely. No nuclear power plants, no nuclear ships. Not even foreign ships that are nuclear powered are allowed close to the islands.
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No I am not wobbly, all of the trees in this area leaned like this.
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This really illustrates how close we were to everything, walking along the edges of the colorful water, mineral deposits, and thermal areas.
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If memory serves, this is the only boiling waterfall in NZ, maybe region / world? Surprisingly, Google only has a lot of pictures of it, can't find the details.
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The entire town smelled of sulfur. This gives an idea why...
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The most visually stunning pond for sure, sulphur rich to say the least.
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These birds were diving down and skimming the water.
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This was minutes before feeding time, so the lions were quite vocal.
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All of the lion pics were done with my tiny point-and-shoot camera. As you will see, I was less than a foot from them at times, just a chain link fence between us.
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The keeper was throwing chunks of meat over the ~ 15' high fence to the lions. This one apparently always went to the perch, so he would throw chunks as close to her as possible.
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Several times, there was a disagreement about who got the chunk of meat.
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The keeper was holding a microphone out to capture the roar for the audience, as speakers were set up for the feeding so he could talk to the crowd. This gives a good idea of how close we were. Several times the lions would take a swipe toward someone and scare the hell out of them. They didn't do it much because the wires you see are electric.
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Signs you wouldn't see in America for $100 Alex.
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Even at this age (several months), their fur is quite coarse.
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This beast is obviously a huge danger to people!
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Said beast is also quite used to getting hours of attention and knows when to flop over.
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This was half petting zoo. They sold bags of food at the entrance. One type was for animals, the other type for fish/birds. I bought half a dozen.
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Pardon me, you have a white bag. I know what is in it. Share.
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New Zealand is a great place for Trout fishing.
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This is perhaps the most glorious picture ever.
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We headed up Skyline Rotorua in a gondola. At the top was the start of the luge park. Over there, 'luge' means four wheel go-kart like things on pavement, with three tracks (beginner, intermediate, and advanced).
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This was the first year India could do it alone. The carts require you to pull back on the handlebars to break, but requires a decent amount of strength to do it.
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Advanced course + gravity + fast speeds = 2 good spills. This was one of my battle wounds.
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I am still baffled by this vehicle. Those are two *huge* cameras mounted at the top of the cab.
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