it is steaming and bubbling everywhere

on the way from Taupo to Rotorua you drive on the 'thermal highway'. The earth's crust is made up of a patchwork of interlocking plates. Here on the northern island of New Zealand the edge of the indian-australian plate is pressing on top of the pacific plate. So there is much tension showing in steaming geysers, colourful lakes, volcanic craters and bubbling mudholes.

It is extraordinary:

it looks like this from the highway







The champagne-pool

a volcanic crater filled with bubbling hot water mixed with minerals like gold, silver, mercury, sulphur, arsenic etc.












It's banks are bright orange.












devils bath

lime-green water
I never imagined

Lady Knox Geyser 

Located in Orakei Korako is a lake-terrace called the 'map of africa' I can't discover,

but nevertheless stunning










Well, and then the time has come to head home.
A last farewell from a black swan on Lake Rotorua

and a collection of seashells at the Pacific Ocean














I've been looking forward to swap the Pacific Ocean with the Baltic Sea - as there is a big, big difference - it's home.

Good bye big, wide world, you are so gorgous and versatile. There would never be enough time to discover you entirely. But my impressions of the last few months are far beyond expectations.

I am happy and filled up with my new experiences.

And deeply grateful for this opportunity.