Our morning began with a wonderful breakfast (coconut pancakes!) served by Liz. Another American couple joined us, and we chatted about our trips, driving on the "wrong" side of the road, and where to next. Dave had to stop and remind us that we had to leave if we were to see the geyser at Wai-o-tapu, their top choice for geothermal parks in the area. After saying our goodbyes, we packed up and headed to Wai-o-tapu.
Rotorua has numerous geothermal parks to visit. However, unlike the United States, most of the areas are privately owned rather than national parks. So each visitor must pay an entry fee that ranges from $20 to $50 depending on the park. Our hosts highly recommended Wai-o-taupo for the most bang for your buck, plus they provided a 10% off coupon.
We arrived at the thermal park just a few minutes prior to the scheduled geyser eruption. After purchasing our tickets, we were directed to the parking lot closest to the geyser. With seemingly seconds to-go before the 10:15 scheduled eruptions, we joined the other tourists in bleacher seats.
Up walked a "ranger" over the barricade to stand next to the Lady Knox geyser. He nonchalantly started providing a history of the geyser, which was one of only 15 active geysers in New Zealand. After a few minutes talking he paused and took out a small brown pouch and poured it down the geyser's cone. Apparently, they intervene in the periodic eruption cycle for the tourists. The typical natural cycle is 24 - 72 hours, but in using an eco-friendly soap they can force an early eruption. Feeling like an "Easy" button was used, we were a little dejected as we waited.
The water slowly began to pour over the hole, and another 15 seconds later water was shooting up 30 feet. Unfortunately, because their hadn't been much rain, the geyser lasted only 2 minutes. The geyser wasn't as impressive as Te Puia the day before, but the rest of the park was supposed to be very good. And that's exactly where a few hundred people were heading after the short eruption.
The park had 25 or so named geothermal features, and we decided to walk the 75 minutes or so to see them all. Most names were of course hell themed such as inferno crater and Devil's bath. The paths and boardwalks were well maintained between the highlights and the signage good throughout. As a visitor, you quickly get used to the smell of sulphur.
One of their more well known areas is the Champagne Pool (similar to Prismatic Pool in Yellowstone). Around the edges, orange and yellow colors exist due to the algae living in the hot waters. A heavy steam came off the water and frequently blew towards the small crowd of viewers.
We did the whole of the park which took us along boardwalks, through trees, expansive views over Frying Pan Flat, down to Lake Ngakoro, and then back again to the Champagne Pool.
The last stop before exiting was at Devil's Bath. This was a delightful yellow-green pool of water that was bubbling in several spots. The naming of these features was usually not all that inventive once the theme of 'hell' was decided upon.
Leaving the main park, we made sure to stop at the mud pools. We had been told they were the largest in the area and we were not disappointed. Some of the sections slowly built up pressure like a balloon expanding, while others would be dormant for a minute or two before sending mud several feet up and out. We watched the bubbling and sometimes exploding mud pools for 10 minutes before heading for Taupo.
Overall, we enjoyed Wai-o-tapu more for its varied and quantity of geothermal features. However, Te Puia's geyser was more impressive and the Maori cultural information was informative for those with an interest in anthropology and history.
Lake Taupo and the corresponding town of Taupo sit near the center of the north island. We stopped for lunch, hiking socks (all were dirty at this point), and gas. Based on the pamphlets and talking to a few locals, it seemed like a good stop for a few days the next time we make it back.
After lunch we went to Huka Falls, one of the most visited places in New Zealand and is the river barrel escape scene from the Hobbit (Desolation of Smaug). The water is forced through a narrow slot creating rapids for the light blue water.
One of the adrenaline activities was to jetboat through these, but we never saw that boat. It was a nice scenic way to further break up our drive to Tongariro.
The purpose for heading to Tongariro was to do the Alpine Crossing, a nearly 20 km hike into volcanic terrain that is often cited as the best one day hike in New Zealand. However, in August and November eruptions ocurred that had a blast radius overlapping the trail. This meant that parts of the trail were still closed, and we were hoping to hear good news regarding status.
The drive to Tongariro was another 2 hours or so, mostly in the rain. As we crossed the final ridge we quickly realized there wouldn't be views of the volcanoes any time soon as they were hidden behind clouds.
We pulled into our lodging at Adventure Lodge & Motel in National Park and checked in. We chatted with the owner Lorraine and learned that the trail still wasn't fully opened, but more importantly that today's weather resulted in cancellations of all Alpine Crossing hikes. Tomorrow was supposed to be clear in the morning, but we'd have to leave by 6:30 to beat the winds.
With that news, we went to dinner. As a good omen (hopefully), the skies cleared as we were eating and we finally saw Tongariro, Ngaurahoe (Mt. Doom), and Mt. Ruahepu.
Feeling hopeful (and full), we decided to drive up Mt. Ruahepu to check out the views. With near empty roads, Ashley was able to experience driving on the 'other' side of the road as we climbed the switch backs to the ski base. We left most of our warm clothes back at our lodge, so we didn't last too long once we got out. We did, however, scope out Tongariro and Mt. Doom for tomorrow's hike.
Cold and tired, it ended up being another early night. Tomorrow would be a long, hard hike and we needed our rest.
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