Sunday 27 March 2011

nz holiday photo story 4

still in te puia, a short walk along the geothermal valley was the pohutu geyser erupting (it can go up to 30 meters high!). the whole place was stinky with rotten egg smell = sulfur. best not to wear your best clothes here.

mud pool, boiling bubbling stinky mud and steam.

geothermal pool.

next we headed to lake rotorua, this little fella (black billed gull) came straight towards me, probably expecting food?

it was windy and the lake was choppy. but it was a really good place for bird watching. lake rotorua and mokoia island at the heart of the lake happens to be a bird and wildlife sanctuary.

birds are free and happy here.

sun is setting. time to head back to the motel.

along the way i saw this and quickly asked gene to stop the car. oh my goodness! it was a breathtaking sight for me, hundreds of birds flying and landing on water. my heart was bursting with joy!

close by, more thermal pools.

oh, and this is rosie, the cat from the motel. she's 3 times the size of kiki and super friendly.

4 comments:

  1. Cats over here are all super-sized.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I knew the photos you took in New Zealand were going to be stupendous and I was right! Wow, these are really gorgeous, Alison, especially the one of the bird flying and also the one of all the birds flying. Gulls are friendly, for sure, wanting a handout from everyone.

    Lovely big cat!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I swear I'll go to the Maori place and northern island if I have the chance to land in NZ again! Didn't catch any cats before though..

    ReplyDelete
  4. cc: ya, i've noticed. totally hugable! but thing is, they're so heavy to carry! lol!

    marion: thanks marion, i'll share link to gene's amazing photos when he's done uploading to his site. happy that you're enjoying the photos. yes, i especially like the bird photo too. the evening sun light on wings was a bonus!

    hliza: and i'm wishing to go to south island :) we didn't see many cats either. the ones we saw around the neighbourhood were really big and fury and so geram!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment.