Our guide today was Noel, he once owned a rafting company in Rotorua. Noel sold the company and retired, only to be coaxed out of retirement by a former employee to become an eco tour guide. I am not sure if Noel’s exact age but he has me by about 13 would be my guess.
The Whirinaka Rainforest is an ancient native forest. It is known for podocarp trees and for its biodiversity. We looked for, but could not find, the blue ducks which inhabit the Whirinaka River. We saw amazing ferns of all sizes including Makamu, Silver fern and black fern as well as Tāna trees and at the top of the hike some Beech trees.
Noel banged out a steady pace, fast enough where it was hard to get a lot of photos or risk falling behind. The dude was like a metronome, steady eddy not in a hurry but not wasting time either. We made it to the top of the falls and had a nice lunch chicken wrap with raspberry salsa, water and some Tim Tim cookies.
The sign at the entrance.
The girls are off into the rainforest
Noel setting the pace
The rainforest and the trail
It is a rainforest so there is water
More rainforest
These are rat traps set up throughout the area. An egg in the middle draws in the rats for trapping
Ferns
The light and the green
Waterfall in the rainforest.
More rainforest
Love the colors
The girls in the rainforest
The waterfall at the top of the hike
All smiles in the sunshine at the top.
Glamorous in the rainforest
Which way do we go??
Lost?
Found!!
The dead fall being reclaimed
We have returned safe and sound
Good by rainforest
This is a geothermal mud pit. Little explosion with in it he clay
The details
The girls in front of the mud pit.
Sacred Waters
At the top of the Rotunda caldera. The old volcano crater that collapsed and created this place
Ashley, Noel and Katie. A little rain at the end did not dampen our spirits.
After the rainforest Katie and I went to the Polynesian Spa. It has hot alkaline and acidic pools which are feed by the natural geothermal springs surrounding the spa. The alkaline is feed by Rachel Spring and the acidic pool is feed by the Priest Spring
Katie by the Rachel Spring 212 F in there so we needed to cool it down before it gets to the pools.
Alkaline pool ✅ Acidic pool ✅ cold plunge ✅
Following showers we head to Black Label BBQ for one last meal in Rotorua. The owners on Season 1 of the AUS/NZ version of Pitmasters. Super Cool spot just up from the hotel.
Ashley ready for some BBQ
The inside of the restaurant
Pulled Pork
Braised beef
The fixins
After dinner it was back to the hotel and bed. The shuttle would pick us up at 9 so we could make our way back to Auckland tomorrow
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