Rotorua

The Lake Taupo/Rotorua area of the North Island is where the geothermal tourist attractions are located. Taupo, the town, is very modern, glossy and expensive-looking. Rotorua is older, but, has history and charm to its credit. The museum building and its surrounding parkland are stunning.

The hotels have charm.

There is lots of steaming geothermal activity in town and some people are lucky enough to have one of these in their backyard. Handy for boiling eggs, I suppose.

In one corner of town, on the waterfront, there is a historic Maori village with the most beautiful marae (meeting house) we've seen yet.

The carving was truly amazing.

There were other Maori-themed features scattered around town.

The carving on this war canoe was incredible.