On the road again.

Drove from Rotorua to Palmerton North today while stopping at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and Hukka Falls along the way. The thermal springs were a collection of boiling pools of various colors based on the sediment - yellow for sulfur (and a wonderful smell) and red for manganese oxide. We also watch the Lady Knox Geyser erupt and visited a local boiling mud pit. The geyser was ho-hum, but cool to watch. My favorite part was the mud pit - it was straight out of a scene from Labyrinth (I know at least a few of you have seen it). I know it sounds lame, but it was fun. Hukka falls was mostly impressive because of the water color - some of the bluest water I've ever seen, especially for a river. The water is used for something like 15% of the countries power generation.


Not much exciting to report. After spending the night in Palmerton North we drove to Wellington and have been hanging out in the city all day. We visited the Te Papa museum for several hours, ate dinner, and are about to head out into the city to check out some of the night life. Wellington is one of New Zealands biggest city and is supposedly more of a cultural center than Auckland so we're hoping to see some good live music and enjoy a few pints. Not too much though, because tommorrow we catch an early ferry to the South Island. Once we arrive in Picton we will drive up to Motueka for a night and then head into Abel Tasman National Park.