Rotorua

We made our way down to the town of Rotorua - an extremely geothermal active area, that is, coincidentally, sister city to Klamath Falls!!! The city is also home of many spa resorts, featuring, of course, naturally heated water – complete with a distinct scent of sulphur to assault your senses. The lake there is the oldest lake in New Zealand, formed in the crater of a huge caldera left from a volcanic eruption. (hmmm, sounds familiar) It’s still a pretty active area, the last eruption occurring only a little over 100 years ago

At one time, there was a rather large, Tudor-styled “Bath House” that was the famed center for numerous health treatments that utilized the readily available thermal water and mud for a variety of bathing, mud and massage “cures”. People came from all over the world to 'take the waters' at the Bath House. Some of the treatments were absolutely bizarre, including the introduction of electricity into the ‘bath’ to stimulate healing. Looking at the equipment they had and pictures of what they I had to wonder what future generations will think of our “modern” medical care. It really looked quite barbaric.