Whakarewarewa - The Living Maori Village

-
This living village is built on hot springs and geothermal pools. Two of New Zealand's active geysers are nearby. Admission access includes a guided tour, free wandering of the thermal trails, and a cultural show. The path goes along the village road and at times you have to wonder how the people living here deal with the daily tourist flow.
 Active pools bubble about and create building problems when new pools break through the ground.
The cemetery is no longer in use. All burials have to be above ground since the geothermal activity is close to the surface and makes digging not feasible.
 Small blue pool near the edge of the village.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

-
Most Hobbit minded people have already seen the latest installment so this is for those of you waiting for the crowds to go down. Part 2 is much better than part 1. This applies to all viewers. Where the gap happens if you have not read the book (including the appendices) you will probably like the whole movie. If you've read the book and taken the time to read the appendices, then you'll appreciate the back story that's presented here. The spirit of Tolkien is present and Desolation of Smaug fits well within what will become a 6 part movie. What I liked....The opening sequence. This is not in the book and I had to look it up in the appendices and sure enough, Gandalf and Thorin did meet in Bree. Thranduil and Legolas father/son relationship. I liked it. While only a mere mention in the appendices, in this movie we see Legolas loyal to his father. That Legolas doesn't mesh with the person he becomes and it will be interesting to see what happens to Legolas in the nex...
Read more
-
COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA - OREGON - WASHINGTON - BRITISHCOLUMBIA - AND ALASKA....THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH STATUS IS CANCELED FOR CALIFORNIA - OREGON - WASHINGTON - BRITISH COLUMBIA - AND ALASKA... It's good to know that today's media is so excited for another tsunami, that newscasters managed to panic coastal residents for thousands of miles. My neighbor came rushing out her house to call out "tsunami" in 3 hours! She was ready to evacuate. We could not convice her that while we are near the beach, it is a good mile away, with a major freeway inbetween us and a nice rolling hill. She was still ready to go to higher ground, bathrobe and all. Luckily, the Weather Channel has announced the cancellation of the alert. I guess I can sleep now and not have to worry about being washed away.
Read more

Calgary, Canada - The Starfleet Experience

-
Image
Against all odds, the Star Trek Starfleet Academy Experience was in Calgary the same time as me! It was interactive with games, Klingon language lessons, and the Kobayashi Maru exam. All of it is to test what area you'll be admitted into Starfleet. Entrances are timed to reduce wait time to do the activities and it never felt crowded. Here's my image getting ready to beam up. And if this plays correctly, it's my actual beam up. Turns out I'm Uhura and bound for Communications!
Read more