Day 47 - Hot Experiences in the Waikato

Tuesday, November 19th, 2013

                                      Here is Fiona, our host, with Summer and Rose.

Tina and I enjoyed a lazy lie-in and hang-out around Fiona's this morning. It was a gorgeous sunny day so we had coffee on the deck while watching the horses and sheep in the neighbouring paddocks. "Absolutely bucolic" is the way Tina described the setting. Bucolic isn't a word one hears spoken very often, so I had to take a moment to absorb her comment. Yes, it was a perfect word to describe our current surroundings. It's hard to realize we are in the midst of the most active volcanic area in the world!  

Following breakfast, we headed to Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) Thermal Area only about a half hour drive from Fiona's. 

Most of the information below is gleaned from a brochure:

The Taupo Volcanic Zone is an active hydrothermal system and Wai-O-Tapu has the largest surface area of thermal activity in the zone. It covers 18 sq. km and is literally covered with collapsed craters, boiling pools of mud, water and steaming fumaroles. Boiling springs and volcanic gases introduce numerous minerals into the water. The water is so hot (up to 300 degrees C!) that it absorbs minerals out of the rocks through which it passes and transports them to the surface as steam where they are ultimately absorbed into the ground. The wide range of colours in the area are all natural and are due to the different mineral elements.

We walked 3 km of trails throughout the area, stopping once for shelter from a thunder shower and then frequently to gaze and photograph bubbling mud  and steaming fumaroles. The "rotten egg" smell of hydrogen sulphide was prevalent throughout the area. I love the names given to some of the pools and craters, such as Devil's Home, Opal Pool, Devil's Ink Pots, Alum Cliffs, Frying Pan Flats, Champagne Pool, Inferno Crater and Bird's Nest Crater. Some of these features were downright eerie when viewed while dark thunderclouds were passing over us.

                                                         

                 Here's a sign I photographed while waiting for the thundershower to pass:

Following our visit to the thermal area, we headed south to view the mighty Huka Falls, just outside of Taupo. The falls are near the beginning of the Waikato River, New Zealand's longest, which flows 425 km from its origin in Lake Taupo to the sea south of Auckland.

                                         

After our falls visit, we headed to town to access wifi at the Taupo Public Library and pick up a few things for dinner back at Fiona's.