Waimangu continued.

Two views of the lake, one with mother and the black swans. View of tree ferns going up the crater side.

It was getting very hot and I was starting to burn even though I had been using my brolly/parasol since we had eaten lunch. I was also troubled by the graze on my leg so we decided we would start walking back and catch the bus if we were near a bus stop when it came through. All the bus stops were evacuation points too, high lighting the dangers of this truly beautiful place. I'm glad we walked because on the woodland section we saw a rifleman. This tiny bird showed no fear of us although we were just a couple of feet from it and it seemed to be showing off, dancing around and hopping from branch to branch overhead.
By the time we reached bus stop 2 the bus was due so we rode back to the visitor centre. It was stifling in the bus and we were glad to sit in the cafe with a coffee and a cake and look at the gallery of photographs of the various eruptions (the most recent were not represented). Mum bought a print from a painting of the Cauldron Pool. We set off back about four-ish having had the most wonderful, best value for money day out ever.