Rotorua Feb-10

Today we visited Taupo, situated on the shores of Australasia’s largest fresh water lake and elevated in the central plateau of the North Island. Plus Rotorua, known for its distinct smell of sulphur coming from the geothermal hotspots found in the area. We were checked out by 9: a brief stop at Bay View, just N of Napier for a look at the Pacific Ocean. The coastline is flat, small round stones and broken conch shells. The ocean is a sparkling array like diamonds in the early morning sunshine; but no time to sit & enjoy with miles to go & lots to see! We toured inland over roads that were closed a week ago due to mudslides (slips). We climbed for 100K to the central plateau of the North Island; traversed twisting roads, uphill & down vale, evaded mud slide residue and work crews, drove around curves with recommended speeds ranging from 25 -> 55 -> 65 KPH. We twisted & turn with a constant climb – who knew! At the top of the plateau we were surrounded by farms and rolling hills on the horizons. We didn’t know the altitude, only that we were up there with less than 40K for Taupo.
We were impressed by Lake Taupo, the site of the world’s largest eruption in the last 5,000 years. The result of which can be seen everywhere with active volcanoes, steaming cliffs, geysers, boiling lakes, bubbling mud pools & floating rocks called pumice.
First lunch; a quiet sidewalk bistro on the sunny side of the street was the ideal place. Then we visited Huka Falls; a churning channel of Waikato River forced from 100 metres wide x 4 metres deep into a 5M wide x 10M deep gorge of sheer rock cut. Liz guessed a level 4 in white water rafting terms. Impressive & worth a photo or two! Next we stopped at Aratiatia Rapids – a waste of time!
Wai-O-Tapu – the thermal wonderland was our next stop! It was $30 per person & after Aratiatia Rapids we wondered if this place was all hype. An older British couple were returning to their car as we parked; interview time! They gave the volcanic area full marks. They had visited yesterday but were too late to see the Lady Knox Geyser erupt (10:15 am daily reaching heights of up to 20 metres) so had returned today for another 2-3 hours. They smelled like they had - the man laughingly said we would as well!
Covering 18 sq K, the area is covered with collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud, water and steaming fumaroles. We saw it all! Needless to say there are no fish in the waters & smoking is not permitted; beneath the ground is a system of streams which are heated by magna with temperatures recorded up to 300 C. The “rotten egg smell” is associated with hydrogen sulphide; 25 designated stops with an estimated 75 minutes (in the heat) to complete the 3K walk. We did it! ( www.waiotapu.co.nz to see some of the natural wonders). Our favourites were: Champagne Pool – bubbling, hissing water with an ochre-coloured edge pink in the centre and the lime green Devil’s Bath. I hope my pictures will capture a fraction of what we saw! Yes, after completing the walk, we couldn’t wait to reach Rotorua for a shower. It took till Friday before the sulphur smell left the vehicle!
We arrived near 5Pm at our motel in Rotorua when we had told them noon. Whoops! Now we had to take the last available 2-bedroom unit, situated next to the busy main road. We were not happy campers but at least had free internet & a private patio Jacuzzi for Liz & Helen to enjoy. Sheryll, our host was very friendly and appeared disappointed we were unable to take advantage of the free spas and heated pools in Rotorua (closed at 5:30). Oh well we did not regret stopping at Wai-O-Tapu. Later, our laundry hung on an outside clothesline to dry, we realized the smell wasn’t only coming from us; it was in the air all around us! Tomorrow we will move along!