Goopy Goopy Goopy

Sunday, July 19th

We woke up fairly early on Sunday so we could get ready for a big hike.  Our Airbnb host was nice enough to let us leave our larger luggage in her spare room while we were hiking, so we wouldn't have to leave it in our trunk.

We set out for the Rainbow Mountain Scenic Reserve. It's a large mountain just southeast of Rotorua.  The whole area has lot of thermal activity and a few brightly colored lakes.  Our path was called "Te Tihi o Ruru".  Not sure what it means but it's fun to say.

Along the way, we passed by Crater Lake.  It's a thermal lake with a bright turquiose color, that is partially due to the high level of minerals it contains. 

Here's a picture of Murphy starting a forrest fire:

Jokes...Murphy loves nature and would never (intentionally) set a mountain ablaze.

That steam is coming from natural vents in the ground.  

The hike up Rainbow Mountain took about 1.5 hours and the view at the top was awesome!  It rained the day before, making our path nice and slick, on top of already being very steep.  We were very proud of ourselves for reaching the top....until we were hiking back down and saw some guys mountain biking UP the mountain. Crazies!

After hiking back to our car, we enjoyed a nice LARGE meal in town, scooped up our luggage, and drove back to the little town of Te Awamutu (Population: 10,000.... and a bunch of cows)   

Sweet as!!