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Published: November 26th 2008
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The countryside
The hills and roadway were covered with these bright yellow flowers...it was pretty amazing! After the weather forecast looked to improve today, we decided to get out of town. We took the AirBus out to the airport - the AirBus runs every 15-minutes from the downtown area of Auckland to the domestic and international terminals at Auckland’s airport.
Once we arrived at the airport a short 35 minutes later, we picked up our Daihatsu economy car with manual stick-shift. It was a flashy red car only slightly larger than a SmartCar and we thought that a GPS would prevent us from getting lost. Frank was the one to take on the driving challenge with Kip acting as the co-pilot and handler of the GPS. At several points during the trip, both would fail Frank!
After getting into the vehicle and programming our destination, Frank began to pull out of the rental car lot…driving on the wrong side of the road. Now, for the next couple of driving mishaps there needs to be some explanation. In New Zealand and Australia, they drive on the WRONG or LEFT side of the road. The driver drives from the right side of the vehicle with the hand controls and gear-shift on the opposite sides (turn signal on
Rotorua City park
The boardwalk and steam rising from the pool the right, windshield wiper control on the left, gear-shift on the left side). So with this in mind, on nearly a dozen occasions during the driving adventure, Frank utilized his windshield wipers to notify nearby drivers of his lane changes or turns.
So after driving on the expressway towards Rotorua, the GPS directed us prematurely to an exit that had no re-entry ramp. After recalculating the route upon the realization that we had veered off the previously projected path, the GPS had us driving down a gravel road that dead-ended at a water treatment facility…just shy of the proper roadway. Another u-turn got us retracing our steps back to the expressway in an attempt to find the proper exit.
Nearly 3-hours and several windshield wiper turn indications, we arrived in Rotorua. We had ignored the GPS on several occasions after it seemed to want to take us well off the beating path.
Near the town center, we stopped at a city park that was full of geothermal pools. There were more than a dozen areas that were fenced off where either hot water was bubbling up from underground or hot mud was being heated by the earth
below it. The park had a boardwalk that crossed a portion of the largest geothermal pool. The heat emitted from these pools was enough to fog our sunglasses and we estimated the water temperature in the range of 110-140 degrees Fahrenheit.
After the park, we stopped into the information center of Rotorua and looked at a few brochures. There are numerous privately owned geothermal parks in the area so after consulting an employee, we decided to travel 45 minutes south of town to Orakei Korako.
After driving to the hidden valley of Orakei Korako and a few more windshield wiper turn indications, we arrived at the small visitor center. The cover charge is $31 and then you board a small boat to ride across the lake to the park. Once you arrive on the park, you follow an elaborate set of boardwalks and steps that keep the pedestrian traffic on safe grounds while protecting the beauty of the grounds.
As we were walking up the trail, Diamond Geyser began to spew water down its slopes. It hissed and spit out a large amount of steam. We were able to reach off the boardwalk and feel the water
A few from the top...
Notice the different colors formed... temperature. We estimated the water temperatures around 75 degrees centigrade. Not quite soaking temperatures.
We followed the boardwalk down into the “Ruatapu Cave”. The origin of the cave is unknown and there are several theories suggest a giant hydrothermal eruption while others suggest a cave-in as the cause. This cave is one of only two geothermally situated caves known in the world. We walked down into pool at the bottom of the cave. The warm waters are said to have an acidity and chemical composition that give it the unique ability to clear jewelry. Since we had no jewelry, Frank attempted to clean a few New Zealand dollar coins with little success, but this may have been more attributed to a lack of patience and the desire to catch up with Kip who was moving on to the “Kohua Poharu” mud pools.
The mud pools are not open to the public for therapeutic purposes and we suspect that the mud was also too hot to actually enjoy. The sound of the mud gurgling was distinct and soothing enough.
Orakei Korako had great vistas throughout the park of the surrounding landscape and the geothermal activity. It was an amazing balance of green mountain pastures, a blue lake, and the multiple colors of the park that added to the amazing atmosphere of the park.
Finally we drove back to the airport with a few more windshield wiper turns and returned our rental car. At this point we were pretty exhausted and after grabbing a quick dinner at one of the many Subway restaurants, we went back to the Hyatt Regency where we retired for the evening.
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Leonard
non-member comment
wow!
just started getting the blogs via Yanc. Thanks for the heads up Mook! Looks like a lifetime of beauty and vistas....what an awsome trip! Happy Turkey Day to you from the states. I havent had time to read them all and catch up to your lastest blogs. My little brother, Josh Linn just got to Sydney the 22nd for a week and then to Cairne (sp?) for a week...where do you go from the cruise? Safe travels, lots of Love, Mook