Walking in Rotorua

Rotorua is a fascinating place, but it's not cheap, with prices set for the overseas tourist market. So today I decided I would do some walking exploring in the city. It turned out to be fascinating, and also I got sunburned! Ooopps!

I started by heading from the motel for Kuirau Park. As it happened it was market day there, and I enjoyed buying a crepe with lemon juice and sugar. Then it was time for more thermal wanderings amongst the steam, boiling water and mud.

There's been a lot of work done in this park since I was last here, and it was easy to follow a route through it. And there were informative boards along the way.

Once I'd reached the end of the park I found I was quite close to the road down to Ohinemutu where I was planning to go.

There was a very special church there, filled with carvings, tukutuku panels, stained glass with Maori motifs, and some kowhaiwhai panels.

Next I headed down along the lake front, and was amazed by how much bird life was down there. Once past the wharf area it was a very peaceful walk, much of it through kanuka and other plants that clearly like the thermal conditions.

But the absolute treat of the day, completely unexpected, was when I came to an area with many birds, and realised shags were nesting. I had to get my zoom lens out to properly see some of the action.

I read somewhere it is St Francs feast day- an appropriate kind of day to be spending time just watching birds...

And gulls were noisily there as well...

It took me a while to reach the Government Gardens, which are looking beautiful for a tulips festival. This last photo shows some tulips down the middle of one of the main streets.

 

 

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