We continued the drive north toward Rotorua. We took a small turnoff toward Orakei Korako, or Hidden Valley.... not very "hidden" if there's a sign pointing to it, but whatever. We arrived and some lunch down by the river.... peanut butter sandwiches, dried fruit, cheese. Fortunately I had my trusty kiwi knife with me, capable of even slicing an orange in half!

Eating a sandwich in the river

The invaluable kiwi knife... half spoon, half knife, all useful

Dried kiwi

Somehow I think he's used to tourists!

The geothermal fields were located across the river, so we had to take a small boat over. We entertained ourselves in the visitor center until enough people were gathered to make the crossing worth it.

Here you get a better idea of the size of the kiwi. Ha ha... in the last couple of pictures, I've just shown all three types of kiwis... Regan, the fruit, and the bird!

A boat took us over the the thermal fields (that big empty patch on the far bank).

Approaching the Emerald Terrace

A little bit of "emerald"

The walkway over steaming ground

The colors and patterns

One of the Diamond Geysers, so named because its tiny water droplets sparkle like diamonds

It was a horizontal geyser, shooting the water straight out instead of up.

The small pool of the Hochstetter Caldron sits in front of a now mostly dry flow from the geysers. During wetter times, this whole field is wet and colorful.

The Wheki, one of New Zealand's most common free ferns. New Zealand doesn't have any palm trees (except perhaps in the very northern tip), just tree ferns... so, highly tropical but no coconuts.

The Devil's Throat looked parched!

Rainbow Terrace... dry as a bone

Regan on the path to the Golden Fleece, which was looking quite ungolden.

Artist's Palette didn't have much paint in it - click for a larger view

Ruatupa Cave is one of only two geothermally-situated caves in the world. The other is in Italy. Regan was highly disappointed because you used to be able to walk down to the water and make a wish (hence why it was also called Aladdin's Cave)... but not any more. I made a wish anyway... but of course I can't tell you.

Kohua Poharu mud pools, nestled deep in the bush

Completely dry

The sun had been out in full force, adding to the heat of the steaming ground. Now we got a respite as we headed down a path into the thick bush.

The path leading down into the cool trees

There were many of these "striped" trees.

We slowly made our way back, passing by the numerous hot spots we'd just visited. As we crested the hill, we could see the boat making its way over. Rather than sit waiting another potential half hour for the following boat, we made a mad dash down the hill to try to catch it. We were just in time!

Once back in the car, we began the drive up to Tauranga, located up on the northern coast. We passed through Rotorua and then entered... kiwi country! There were kiwi orchards and signs everywhere. The crowning moment was when we entered Te Puke (oh, yes, I had endless jokes about this one!) which was the kiwi capital of the world.

A peek at a kiwi orchard

Welcome to kiwi country!!

Even the traffic signs turned into kiwis.