Blogs from National Parks, New Zealand, Oceania - page 7

Thermal Reserve Park On the way to Lake Taupo, our travellers stop off at Wai-o-tapu - it's a glorious day. They have high-tailed it (again) to make the 10.15am daily display of the geyser there. Tim's somewhat dissappointed to find that this accurate timing is actually due to a bar of soap being dropped by a demonstrator into the geyser spout rather than some happy accident of volcanic action. Apparently, the soap changes the surface tension and causes two otherwise separate underground pools of water to mix, which must have been bit of a shock to the workers who originally discovered it. The rest of the park is by no means any less impressive. There are pools and vents all over are coloured by just about every mineral you could imagine and are all different shapes ... read more

Trip Summary Where to begin. I’ve waited a couple of days since arriving back home to write out a summary of the trek in hopes that it would all have begun to set in and I would know what to say about the whole thing. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and I think it may end up taking quite a while for the experience to fully set in. What I can say is that it was great, without a doubt the most fun and excitement I’ve ever had in my life so far. It was three months of living completely different from anything I’ve known, and it was strangely addictive. Eric and I set out with the goal of walking in a continuous north-south line across the country, but found ourselves changing the plan many ... read more

Matemateaonga Track & The Bridge to Nowhere Whanganui National Park This should be called five go bush... as we did get a bit feral on this short but enjoyable local tramp where we were joined by Wal, Fran and Hen (who forgot his trousers but not his ability to whine). This trip was taken in Christmas of 2001 and is one of a series of family tramps that our extended family does. We started off with a jet boat ride up the Whanganui River with extended family for a visit the “Bridge to Nowhere” Tech Note To ‘h’ or not to ‘h’ such a big debate over such a little (silent) letter…. Maybe it’s her name but Hel (who hails from Wangadonga) thinks all words can be improved by the addition of an h and so ... read more