Rotorua -- December 21-23, 1998

A view down the Waitama Volcanic Valley. A volcano blew up in the 1880s that created a huge geothermal zone under Rotorua and environs. The geology is colorful, interesting ... and pretty darn stinky!

Here's the Lady Knox Geyser blowing off steam, as it does every morning after a park ranger dumps some laundry soap into the tube:

A view of the volcanic wonderland:

Your basic bubbling acid lake ...

If you look carefully, you can see Theresa and Kate preparing to jump into the acid lake:

Here's a view of the lake we were "jumping" into ...

We hiked up to this small lake, which is full of boiling acid:

Colleen checks out the steaming lake:

Kate and Theresa caught in the act of throwing rocks into the hot river: