Travel Day: From Lake Taupo to the Bay of Plenty

Now we head of to the east side of the central portion of the North Island to the Bay of Plenty. We stopped in Rotorua to take in the walk of their park filled with geothermal sites such as steaming pools of water and bubbling mud pots. The air reeked of sulphur and there were numerous "EWWWWW's!" emanating from Maia (she has a really sensitive nose!). While in the park we came across a small water feature that Maia just had to play with.

After some cool-off time in the kiddie fountain, we came across an "art tree"...yes, a tree covered in yarn that was mainly crocheted...VERY colorful! Maia was instantly attracted to it only to be let down by the sign requesting that people please refrain from climbing or touching the tree. It took quite a lot of personal restraint from Maia to "refrain"!

Maia..."refraining"!

"I spy with my little eye...yarn critters up in the tree!"

On the way, we stopped by Huka Falls. There is a waterfall at the end but that is not the main attraction. Huka Falls more of a rushing channel between a lake and a river. Definitely not something you would want to fall into...but what beautiful aquamarine water:)

Looking upstream...

...and down.

...and MY girls:)

After visiting this neat tourist stop, we visited another close by, the Huka Honey Hive...can you taste it already? They have one of those bee hives encased in glass so that you can see it from all sides, filled with bees and a tube to the outside for comings and goings of the little workers.

"Busy bees"...haha!

Not to mention about 20 different kinds of honey, from mild clover honey to medicinal Manuka honey. True, this honey has antibiotic properties. Kiwis have known this for quite awhile and now it is becoming all the rage in the rest of the world. Ten years ago, during our first visit to NZ, Manuka honey was about 3 times more expensive than other boutique honey. Now it is about 6-10 times as expensive. It is dark, with a very strong flavor. I must say it always makes me fell better when I am under the weather and drop a spoonful of it in my tea:)
At the end of the day, we arrived at our "flat" in East Papamoa. It is a small beach community at the east end of the Bay of Plenty. Once we got settled in, guess where we headed off to? You guessed it...THE BEACH, of course!!! After a beautiful sunset walk on the beach with the "fam", we stopped by the local "chipper" for some fabulous take-away fish and chips.
I'll catch up on the blog more tomorrow, Cheers!