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Published: December 19th 2006
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What's That Smell?
More lovely smells await you at the Craters of the Moon! One of the best things about having your own car is the ability to just go to random places and experience your own thing. We made the most of our first day's car hire by travelling up Route 5 and heading for the intriguingly named 'Craters of the Moon'. This used to be one of Taupo's best freebies but back in June or July this year a small entrance fee of NZ$5 per adult was introduced to cover maintenance costs. We didn't begrudge the charge at all as it was definitely worth every cent.
The Craters of the Moon is another thermal park formed as a result of all the volcanic activity and it looks very much as its name suggests - just like being on the moon. We started our visit by climbing the 117 steps (yes, Glynn even counted them!) to the highest point of the nature reserve. At the top, we were greeted with lovely views across the neighbouring pine forest and a 180 degree panorama of the plateau of thermal vents below us. Steam was pouring out of a particularly big vent halfway down the hillside but we didn't get to see just how active and
First Bear on the Moon
That's one small pawstep for Jish but one giant leap for bearkind. noisy the vent was until we descended the other side of the slope a little. Quite suddenly when we reached the right spot, we could hear a tremendous hissing and bubbling more ferocious than any thermal activity we've yet encountered. It was awesome. There were three separate vents that looked more like great gashes in the hillside and we could see the pools of water sizzling away at the base of each crevice.
Back down on the plateau we enjoyed a pleasant stroll along the designated path which wound lazily through the many smaller gassy vents and gurgling mud pools. The path veered off towards what looked like a mini volcano and to a nice raised viewing platform that enabled us to peer right inside the crater. It was full of boiling hot bubbling mud pools that belched and squirted jets of mud upwards by about half a metre or so. Lining the rim of the crater were some lovely burnt reds and browns in the rocks - all very pretty indeed.
Up on the platform we got talking to a Scottish man who was touring the area alone. He was a typical Scot - brash, forthright and
Captain Caveman
Who said the stone age was over? friendly and very, very talkative. It was fun listening to his stories of travels in the Middle East where he now lives and works and he told some of the funniest non-politically correct jokes I've heard in years. We swapped email addresses before heading off to view different ends of the trail.
We continued wandering around the thermal reserve which really did conjure up images of being on the moon and enjoyed the views and the aromas on the way. There were other lookout points that were less impressive than the muddy crater but nonetheless worthwhile visiting and by the time we completed the circuit, we had been walking for over 1.5 hours.
Back in the car we took a drive further up Route 5 to see what we could see. We stopped off at an adventure park where you can complete a course of highwire activities called the Rockin'Ropes. We watched for a few minutes as various people in safety harnesses took position atop 15 foot high poles and proceeded to walk along a hair-raising looking course. It looked a bit too scary to me!
Next stop was the Honey Hive, a big shop devoted solely
Forest View
Pretty as a postcard :-) to all things honey-related. There were plenty of testers for us to try out including at least 10 varieties of honey and a honey and peanut butter combo (called Bee-nut Butter!) that tasted surprisingly good. Glynn started feeling a bit sick from all the sweet stuff so it seemed only natural to drag him ove to the wine tasting counter for some alcoholic mouthwash in the form of mead, honey liqueurs and a nice dry kiwi fruit wine. We then got to pamper the outside of our bodies with free samples of skin creams, lip balms, moisturisers, hand sanitisers and even honey perfume (Glynn smellt just lovely afterwards!). Towards the back of the shop we found a corner crammed full of 'bee-ware' such as bee umbrellas, capes, hats, scarves and gloves, wellies - you name it, they thought of it! There was even a little bee-ride for kiddies that Jish insisted on having a go on. Glynn found himself a new home inside a beehive playhouse where he occupied himself with bee colouring-in books and jigsaws!
Over in the other corner of the shop was the 'workforce' in the form of several glass-fronted beehives and a small network of
Mudbath Anyone?
Looks a bit hot and steamy down there... see-through pipes leading in and out of the building. It was fascinating to watch bees coming in with their legs all laden with juicy pollen which they then took into the hive and began busily working into massive honeycombs. The bees then traipsed back along the pipes and buzzed off back outside. There was loads of educational stuff to read but we just had too much fun playing with all the cool bee stuff to actually do any learning!
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