We were rudely awoken by the Swiss , they had set off the fire alarm while making toast. Bet they got in trouble for that!
After a hasty breakfast (concentrating intently on not spreading crumbs everywhere) we headed out for the day – at a surprisingly early hour for us…amazing how much more of the day you get to enjoy when your terrified of your host….!
We began our day at the nearby Whakarewarewa redwood forest, which was a forest…. with redwood trees in it. It was a massive lovely cool leafy forest and the trees were amazing…sooo tall! Loads of ferns and the birdies were singing, very peaceful. We did the ‘quarry trail’ (not because it was the shortest and less strenuous) but, as per usual, a few metres into it and we found ourselves in a disgusting sweaty state as we gasped for breath while trying not to look like we were dying as the mentalist joggers jogged past us on the vertical walkway. We did eventually reach the top alive though, and were rewarded with outstanding views across lake Rotorua.
So we continued back to the car and made our way to the ‘Geothermal Wonderland’ that is Wai-o-tapu. It was nearly 1000degrees as we entered this strange land, and our dehydration and delirium made us feel like we were on another planet…which, if we didn’t know better, we could have been! The few miles which make up this area are upon areas of extreme volcanic activity, still going from when the magma flowed thousands of years ago. Although the volcano’s no longer explode, underground is still so hot its crated boiling pools, and mineral loss which makes the boiling craters of mud and poisonous water even weirder because the water is different colours. The different craters were named things like ‘The devils cauldron’ and ‘champagne pool’ to add to the air of mystery about the place.
We walked for sometime around this amazing place, the landscape was like a cross between the moon and the desert, and so hot! There was steam coming off the boiling water, weird noises of water and mud bubbling and exploding. At one viewpoint, despite it being nearly 30degrees we could see a mountain with snow at the top! (We think it was Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings.)
Just before closing time we cooled down with ice tea and ice cream before having a final look at the mud pools near the carpark. These massive ponds had mud bubbling away and exploding up to a metre high! Despite the whole place stinking of rotten eggs we had had a great day.
We would thoroughly recommend a visit to the area. There are 5 geothermal parks in the area Its worth noting that Waiotapu is currently open every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 8:30am – 4:30pm with last admission to the park is at 3pm. Unfortunately we weren’t lucky enough to witness the Lady Knox Geyser today. We would recommended that you give yourself enough time to travel and spend at least 3 hours to appreciate the amazing natural feature of the geothermal wonderland! We turned up and purchased tickets , but you can also purchase online before you go, they are a cashless site so have card ready.
Visit the Wai-o-tapu website for more information https://www.waiotapu.co.nz/plan-your-visit/
