Waimangu

Another excursion I took was about a 20 minute drive over rolling green hills dotted with cows, sheep and deer from Rotorua.  Wai-mangu is a lushly forested gorge and is the worlds youngest geothermal environment, the only one created during written history.  If you click on the photo below you can read about how this area was created in the 1800's by huge volcanic eruption.

This is a silver fern frond, the silver fern is a national symbol for New Zealand and you see these beautiful trees everywhere.

The Echo Crater was filled with deep blue green water. The water has clouds of steam constantly moving  and making patterns across the surface.

This fast moving stream flowing from the crater lake and winding through the area looked very hot, I didn't dare touch it. I felt the rocks along the edge and they were very warm.

 

These sinter terraces were formed by hot geothermal fluids cooling as they flow over the ground.

The air is so clean and as a result the trees are covered with lichen. I have such a fondness for lichen after my years living in Austin, TX.

It was so interesting seeing the variety in shapes and colors.

Rotorua

 I am actually back home now, from my fantastic trip to New Zealand. I loved every minute, it was soooo good for my soul! I was so well cared for by my hosts, I had warm and friendly students in every class. The air was so clean and fresh, the water so soft, I could move to NZ just for taking showers! and the colors of the landscape were so beautiful, I completely understand why New Zealand quilters use such colorful palettes in their quilts, glorious color is every where you look.

Things were so busy towards the end of my trip I didn't have time to write any blog posts so I will continue to share photos from my trip over the next week or two while I adjust to real life again and attend to the many tasks that have piled up while I was away. 

Across from my hotel in Rotorua were the Government Gardens with a gate of Maori design.

The Rotorua Museum in the gardens.

I love these bright red phone booths, this one is on the lawn of the gardens.

Beautiful spiral.

This is a Pukeko, a large iridescent blue-black bird with a red beak that you see every where in New Zealand usually pecking in the grass.

There were several of these Maori sculptures around an area with steam rising out of the ground. They had lovely paua (abalone) shell eyes.

The bush below is a Manuka (tea tree), these are prevalent as well and the honey that the bees make from it has amazing healing benefits. There are many lotions and skin products made with this special honey for sale in NZ. On our way south, my host from Palmerston North, Erilyn and I stopped in a shop in Taupo dedicated to Manuka honey products. There were loads of skin products, candies, special creamed honeys to eat, alcoholic and non-alcohol honey based drinks and they even had a tasting bar to try the liqueurs, mead and flavored honeys.

While in Rotorua Erilyn and I also went to the Polynesian spa just a few blocks from the hotel. This is the large lap pool filled with warm mineral water pumped from the geothermal waters below ground. The water is supposed to be very healing for a number of ailments.

There were a series of other small pools about 2 feet deep that each had a different temperature water, so you work your way around to progressively warmer pools over looking the lake. The warm sulphery mineral water was so incredibly relaxing.

This view from the pools reminded me so much of Sonoma county, California, specifically Salmon creek where I lived when I was a teenager.

On to Rotorua and Wai-O-Tapu

When I finished up in Auckland I took a bus to Rotorua, an area known for its geothermal pools. This area is quite a tourist destination, and for good reason it is fascinating, but now that it is fall and being off season it's pretty quiet. My hotel, The Princes Gate originally built in the 1890's, is in the heart of town a block away from the information center where I was able to arrange for buses out to several amazing locations.

On tuesday it rained all day, it was in the low to mid 60's and wasn't cold. Knowing my time was limited I headed out to Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) to see the geothermal pools anyways. What a feast for the eyes. With so much volcanic activity the ground is literally belching steam and boiling mud.

This mud is supposed to be incredible for the skin and you see it sold in many shops. The mud is so hot it is boiling out of the ground in bubbles and sometimes big splashes.

The next stop was to see the Lady Knox geyser blow with the help of a little soap powder sprinkled down the hole.

At Wai-O-Tapu the earth and water are colored from mineral deposits and is has so many different colors.

This large crater had warm steam rising off it and had a pretty strong sulpher-y smell. Between the steam fogging up my glasses and the drizzling rain covering them with water droplets, I had to take off my glasses several times because I couldn't see.

The color was amazing, such vivid turqouise blue and orange ocher, it made my heart go pitter pat.

 

This pool of water is really florescent green, actually day-glo, it is hard to believe it is naturally this color, but it is!

Auckland workshops

This is a group shot of my first class with the Auckland Patchworkers and Quilt Guild teaching Tsukineko Inks. We had a great day with our class just down the road from Glens at a boating club.

The following day we moved to another part of Auckland to have the painted whole cloth fabric class.

These are just a few of the many wonderful paintings worked on Saturday.

It threatened to rain but held off over the weekend.

Hazel, my host for the second half of my stay in Auckland, is an avid gardener with the most beautiful flowers around her home. While admiring the many blooms we came across this large and dark golden bumble bee burying his head deep into each blossom.

This is a New Zealand Monarch caterpillar

and a round balloon shaped milkweed pod, so different from the ones in the states that I always thought looked like fish when you opened them up.

Here is Hazel next to her gorgeous award winning quilt hanging in a guild competition titled My City. Hazel had several Best of Show awards in her sewing room at home.

This beautiful group of butterflies hanging on the wall in Hazels house stopped me in my tracks. They are painted, stitched and beaded batting! Guess who's Quilting Arts article on painted batting inspired her? :-)

On Sunday Hazel and her husband Ed took me up to the top of Mount Edens, a volcanic cone, with a lovely view of the city.

Then we met up with Glen and drove over to a seaside suburb called Devonport with shops, galleries and outdoor cafes, it was sunny and warm. With such wonderful company it was a perfect day.

I was very excited to buy several skeins of possum wool. I first heard about Possum wool a few years ago, that it was supposed to be very warm and soft.

The possum in New Zealand, not like our rodent type one in the US, was brought over from Australia. Unfortunately with no natural predators its population has grown out of control and destroys the natural flora and fauna of New Zealand, it is considered a terrible pest here, much like the cane toad introduced in Australia.