ROTORUA RENDEZVOUS
Rotorua 28-30 Jun
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Eight members had a lovely Matariki weekend at Rotorua in fine weather doing day walks, staying in cabins
at the Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park.
Friday
We left home in three cars between 9am and
10am, and two of the carloads arrived at the Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park at 2:25pm with the third one
arriving soon afterwards. We settled into three basic 4-bunk cabins, and some of us had a soak in the
free thermal pools.
Our walk today was a day2nite circuit in central Rotorua. We drove to Kuirau
Park and began the walk at 4:50pm, going through this thermal park with its hot springs and some sculptures.
We carried on to Ohinemutu Maori village and the famous St Faith's Church on the lake foreshore, and
there were more hot springs to be seen.
As the twilight turned into full night we continued on
to the Rotorua Lakefront. A Matariki festival was taking place with activities such as basketball and
a temporary festival stage, with a drone "fireworks" display scheduled for 8pm. We put on our headlamps
and torches as we continued along a temporary track beside the golf course to Motutara Point. The Lakeland
Queen, a tourist paddleboat that used to do trips on the lake since 1987, was standing on a dry dock
fenced off. This boat had been forced to discontinue three years ago due to the COVID pandemic, and the
company is now in liquidation. We continued along the access road to come to the Government Gardens,
and we finished back in the city centre at 7:10pm. Distance 6km.
We dined at a Thai restaurant
in Eat Streat before returning to the holiday park.
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Saturday
We went out to Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, leaving the holiday park at 9:15am
for the half-hour drive there. After purchasing our tickets ($45 each) we went to the nearby Lady Knox
Geyser to see it erupt at 10:15am. This takes place daily at this time, a staff member wearing high-viz
pours a solution of soap into the geyser causing it to erupt. The spectacular eruption lasted less than
3 minutes.
We went back to the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland and had morning tea at their cafe
before doing the walk through this large thermal reserve. Setting out at 11:10am along the Red Route
we went past many thermal craters in the bare white ground, including the Artists Palette, to come to
the famous Champagne Pool with its orange lining. Here we went on to the Orange Route taking us up to
the Primrose Terrace, and more wondrous silica formations then dropping down to the Bridal Veil Falls.
We went on to the Green Route for views of Lake Ngakoro and the waterfall.
We had our lunch break,
and John gave devotions about The Greatest Art Galleries. Imagine visiting an art gallery and seeing
and chatting with the artist there. This was true - we were visiting one of God's art galleries, with
Him present, looking at such art works as the Champagne Pool, Artists Palette, Bridal Veil Falls and
much more. God has art galleries around the world, such as the rock formations at Utah and corals at
Great Barrier Reef. His artistry can also be seen in the feather patterns of birds, and even the shapes
of countries on a map of the world. The real reason for these wonders is that God wants us all to realize
there is a Creator instead of atheistic coincidence, and He wants every single person to come into His
kingdom through Christ. On a recent club trip to Pureora leader Phillip shared about God being responsible
for the creation of the universe, and keeping it going. We see God's ongoing work all the time, making
new plants, birds, animals and people, and never taking a rest from working. We have a responsibility
to care for His creation, and looking after the environment.
We carried on with our walk, looking
at places such as Frying Pan Flat before returning to the Champagne Pool, and finishing with views of
two small green lakes about 1:45pm. Distance 3.7km.
On our way back to Rotorua we visited Kerosene
Creek, a popular stream with thermal pools on the edge of Waiotapu Forest. Some of us bathed their feet
in these, several other people were completely bathing in togs.
Back at the holiday park, some
of us cooked their own dinner while others went to a Chinese takeaway to buy their meal to bring back
to the cabins.
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Sunday
We packed up and vacated the holiday park at 9:40am to do the walk along part of
the Lake Rerewhakaaitu foreshore from the Ashpit Rd camping ground. Our intention was to do this one
way, and we left a car at the other end to take the drivers back to pick up their cars. We set out at
11am, following a 4whd track through the reserve between the farmland and the lake foreshore. There was
a variety of bush, scrub and open pasture.
After a short while, we stopped at a picnic table
beside the lake, and Andrew shared devotions about Matariki. He read out an article by Brad Haami about
celebrating God at this time. Matariki is a sign from the stars of the winter solstice, and means tiny
eyes, or eyes of God. It indicates the completion of harvest and storage, and looking forward to the
new planting season. The Bible says that the stars are there to glorify God, and not themselves as objects
of worship. He assigns lights in the heavens to divide day from night, and be for signs, seasons, days
and years. The Three Wise Men followed the Star of Bethlehem to see the newborn King Jesus. Let us celebrate
God and praise Him, seeing His manifold wisdom displayed in the heavens.
We carried on along
the track, seeing such things as a more fancy picnic table and chairs, a couple of horses dressed in
blue, and a flock of birds flying in the sky. After entering a patch of bush, the track became more muddy
and we came to some flooding from recent winter rainstorms. We tried to carry on, or even follow the
fenceline, but on seeing that the flooding had extended to the adjoining farmland, we had no option but
to turn back. The cloud by now had lifted a bit, and we were able to now have views of Mt Tarawera ahead
as we retraced our footsteps. We got back to the Ashpit Rd camping ground at 1:20pm, and after retrieving
the car left at the other end we headed home. Distance 7km.
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We stopped for lunch at Tirau, then travelled home via SH27 (Matamata) without the congestion we had
going to Rotorua along the new Hamilton bypass on Friday.
COSTS: travel $75, accommodation $107,
food self-catering.
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