Rotorua And West, Including Okire Falls, But Not Much More

It is now more than a week since we were in Hobbiton, and there is much to recount. After Hobbiton we drove on south to Rotorua and camped there for four nights, two at the Government Gardens free site and two at the Cozy Cottage Holiday Park, both of which we'd stayed at in previous Rotorua visits. There is not much to recount for those four nights and days: the atmospheric river caught up with us and the deluge lasted, off an on, mostly on, for most of that time. We did get in one good day of walking the centro historico of Rotorua as well as the huge thermal springs park adjoining it. Of course, the Government Gardens site is sandwiched amidst several of the larger bubbling ponds. You don't want to wander drunkenly after dark in these precincts. I didn't take many pix from those days. Pix from previous visits can be seen by entering "Rotorua" in the search box. Or possibly "Rotorooter," which I occasionally have used. Touristy as it can seem, we actually like Rotorooter. Plus there is much to see and do nearby, from which it can serve as a base camp. 

On the fifth day, we sent out a dove and it did not return, and so we decided to see some of those nearby sites. It turned out to be a day or two of disappointments and revelations. The chief revelation is that, when the road to the site you want to get to is washed out, or blocked by a slip (landslide) or even partially so, then the site itself is probably closed. Or possibly not there anymore.

The hour is late: bubbles rise from the pool of doom...

First stop, north of Lake Rotorua, was Okere Falls, which we had
enjoyed in 2014

The Okere River is normally a white water rafting Mecca; but
not this day: the torrent is now a mega-maelstrom

Interesting natural sculpture on the way to Tutea Falls

Tutea Falls, a 7 meter drop that's got to be world-class in any
white-water rafting setting; we saw several boats go over and 
"dump-truck" on a previous visit; people love it; including
those getting wet

But nobody's rafting this day: way too much, way too fast

Yes, a good place to exit

After getting our steps on the trail, we drove on to
the Hamurana Springs and the redwoods there, but that
park was closed and locked tight, so we settled for
lunch on the shore of Lake Rotorua, watching fishermen [sic]
fishing in waders up to their chests in the lake

We drove west, in the direction of the Waitomo and eventually
the Tasman; northwest of Lake Rotorua is a land of old mini-
volcanoes (we theorize), mounds and pinnacles all over, for miles,
most a couple hundred feet high or less

The Waitomo Valley was pretty much flooded

With its share of slips; we camped at a lay-by higher up

Next day we had hoped to visit the Natural Bridge, Piri Piri Cave,
Marukopa Falls, and do the Ruakiri BushWalk; as in 2018

Trail to the Natural Bridge

We decided flooding was not a good time for
visiting Piri Piri, or any other cave; the carpark
for the Marukopa Falls was under a foot of mud;
the road to the Ruakiri was closed...

We counted more than a dozen such slips before deciding to
return to the main roads and head for old friend Tongaporutu on
the Tasman coast; if we could get there