Bubbling Mud in Taupo

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Day 555 (4/10/08)

We set off in the morning with a range of activities planned to take in the natural wonders that make up the area surrounding Taupo. Our first stop was the Huka Falls, not far from town. A narrow gorge has formed from the wide river above the falls creating a gushing turquoise flow down to the falls which drop 10m into the wider river beneath. On paper it doesn't sound that exciting but the sheer volume of water heading over the falls makes it a pretty spectacular sight.

Our next stop was at the Craters of the Moon thermal site where an hours walk takes you around an area where cracks and craters in the land expel vast clouds of steam that drift across the scrub covered ground. The best bit here was a large deep crater hiding at its base a large pool of bubbling mud - fantastic! We stood for some time transfixed by the hypnotic circles forming in the mud and the gurgling noises made as the bubbles burst at the surface before making a swift exit of the park as our next stop was a quick visit to the Aratiatia dam, the floodgates of which open at set times of the day to fill the pool and set the rapids of the river flowing. We arrived just in time for the grand opening and watched in awe at the speed that the large empty pool that we'd looked down onto filled and cascaded over the rocks downstream.

There are many places that you can visit around Taupo and Rotorua to view the geothermal wonders that the area is famous for and we'd heard that one of the best places to visit is Orakei Korako. A little off the beaten track it's not as busy as some can be and that sounded great to us.

We arrived at the park and had a short ferry trip across the river to reach the main attractions. As you journey over the water the view is filled with a large terrace of coloured mineral deposits from the various pools and geysers above as the water runs down the hillside into the river. This place was amazing with coloured pools, bubbling geysers, a thermal pool in a cave, good views over the park and some excellent bubbling mud pools which came with sink plunging sound effects - we can't seem to tire of these!

On the way back to town for the night we stopped off to view the tangled, steaming pipes for the geothermal power station providing energy for the area.

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