As you may have guessed from our last post, we are getting closer to NZ’s geothermal center with hot springs and volcanoes galore. There is a line of geothermal activity that stretches from Rotorua in the center of the North Island to a small active volcano off the shores. The Mangatutu Springs we enjoyed a few days back was part of that line. And, we were ready to finally head in that direction again, so we made our way to Taupo. We had visited several of the sights when we were on the North Island previously, waiting for our ferry to the South Island. So, we were just picking up the places we hadn’t been before. This line of geothermal activity is definitely interesting to observe. Around the towns of Taupo and Rotorua, the smell of sulfur is omnipresent and wisps of steam protrude from numerous holes in the ground.
The first place that I had on my list was a remote thermal park called Orakei Korako, where you take a small boat ride across a lake to a geothermally-active valley. This was a paid attraction, but as a plus, there was only one other couple in the park for most of our walk.
The warm water provided interesting algae growth and the mud had weird colors and textures.
The colors of the Sapphire Geyser were beautiful.
As we were walking to the viewpoint, the Sapphire Geyser started gushing.
A beautiful moth warming up or drying off first thing in the morning.
Elephant Rock, can you see it?
Notice the natural “fountain”?
A small cave with thermal water. But what really made it special was:
The morepork/ruru (owl) resting in the upper part of the cave on some vines. Very rare to see one in the wild! They are normally better camouflaged and in a tree.
Bared trees and numerous fern trees testify that this area had recently been hazed from some destructive (possibly volcanic) force the in the recent past.
The mud pools were mesmerizing to watch.
They even had a soda fountain.
While we were talking to a Canadian couple next to our van, a tall geyser shot up across the way that wasn’t even our tour.
Later that day, we made it just in time to see the Aratiatia Rapids come to life. The river was dammed for hydroelectric power, but they let out water at scheduled times during the day so we can see what it was like before human intervention. It is quite a sight.
Before the floodgates are opened. Notice the high-water mark on the rocks.
The rocks that will create some of the rapids.
Water steadily making its way downriver after the flood gates are opened.
We relocated to see what the river looked like further downstream.
This is just a few minutes after they closed the floodgates again (only open for 15 minutes). You can see they let the water get all the way up to the high-water mark.
The sun sets on our day in Taupo over Lake Taupo, NZ’s largest lake, in which resides an ancient and massive volcano’s caldera.
I really enjoyed our visit to Taupo, as it was very different from what we had been seeing NZ. And, of course, the results of heated water are normally fascinating.
Fun Fact: From the moment I arrived in New Zealand, I felt like it had a similar vibe to Hawaii. Turns out there is a reason for this. Like Hawaii, NZ embraces its aboriginal heritage/culture. Like many Pacific islands, both Hawaii and NZ were first inhabited by sailing Polynesians, so their cultures, while different, have many similar backgrounds. Gods like Maui play big parts in both oral traditions. Apparently the Pacific Ocean, like the world, is smaller than one would think.
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