Te Puia

Te Puia park
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Today we went to Ta Puia. This is a big geothermal area with mud pools and geysers as well as a lot of native Maori buildings and stories.

The geysers in this park erupt spontaneously and the are magnificent to watch. They leave beautifully colored silica build ups of various colours depending on the minerals in the water. We sat on the hot seats (warmed by the hot water) which really nice on this cool day. The mud pools and boiling pots do get used still and were amazing to see.

We experienced an official Maori welcome and enjoyed the singing and dancing performances.

The mud pool
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There were weaving and carving schools in operation in the park which we could view.

Oh, and the tongue thing....The Maori consider themselves non-confrontational people, the eye popping tongue poking is meant to make them appear scary so enemies will back of and leave them alone.

The whole town of Rotorua benefits from the underground heat. The motel we were staying at has heated outside pools warmed by the hot springs. It also has indoor mineral pools which have to get cold water added so they are not too hot.