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Published: December 2nd 2006
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Wednesday 22nd November Laura - We left Taupo today and made our way to Rotorua, stopping on the way at a 'Thermal Wonderland'. Sorry to disappoint you Katie, but this place was not a centre for Primark thermals. It's actually a geothermal area with lots of steaming geysers, lava flows, silica terraces, and boiling mud pools. I'm no expert but I believe these are formed due to the volcanic activity in the area and the plates that lie under the ground (I never did understand plate tectonics in Chemistry GCSE).
So the place was called Orakei Korako and it smelled of eggs (not rotten eggs though as commonly believed, more like egg sandwiches....) We had to get a boat across to the geothermal area and the first thing we saw was a huge mass of colourful silica streaming down into the river. There was steam rising from it and the water trickling down it was pretty hot (as tested by Mr Broughton). This was not all though, and walking around we saw many geysers spurting out streams of boiling water, as well as geysers of unknown depths giving off huge amounts of steam that misted up my glasses! I've
never seen anything like it and it was really bizarre to think that the earth was causing all of this heat. There were lakes of bizarre colours and gurgling mud pools, as well as a deep cave with hot Jade green water at the bottom. It was all so surreal that it was hard to believe that it was not fake. We kept wondering if there switches to turn the geysers on and off as their eruptions seemed so random. No wonder they call it a 'wonderland'!
We arrived in Rotorua around 4pm and noticed the eggy smell returning. After searching for a hostel with vacancies we cooked dinner then had a poke around town. It's quite a pleasant little place, and I suppose you forget about the eggy smell after a while. There's not a great deal to see here apart from the geothermal areas, but the activities on offer give you more than enough excuses to spend some money! It's quite geared towards the backpacker crowd though, with all the "Krazy" activities and "yoof" hostels.
Thursday 23rd November Laura - This morning we went to another geothermal area, called Wai-o-Tapu. We planned it to
arrive at 10.15am as this is the prompt time that a particular geyser erupts daily (with a little persuasion via a packet of soap shavings...). It was pretty cool - spurting out a 15metre high boiling water jet - if a little bit of a tourist circus. They have even built a stadium around the geyser for the crowds to watch in comfort!
The rest of the 'wonderland' was as equally impressive - lots more bubbling geysers, steaming multi-coloured pools, and massive craters. And as eggy as ever! The most impressive site was a large steaming pool called the 'Champagne Pool'. It was about 100 feet wide and 60 metres deep, coloured bottle green with a red rim. And the steam coming off it was incredibly hot! Paul was annoyed because I got a better photo than him...
Later on in the day we pottered around the lakeside in Rotorua, following the black swans and their cute fluffy chicks. We stumbled across a few random geysers and steaming craters on our walk. Right next to a bowling green. It was an odd contrast! This place really is very bizarre!
Friday 24th November Paul -
After 3 days of adverts for the 7 metre waterfall that you can raft on the Kaituna river I finally succumbed. As it was a grade V river I was unsure whether I was covered by my insurance but - HEY- nevermind. I know my mum wouldn't.
Laura decided that a huge waterfall and the very real possibility of hurting yourself was slightly off putting so she took photos instead. After being shown photos of hundreds of boats capsizing we were led down to the river. Got in and headed over some fun rapids down to the first two, small, waterfalls which were great fun and scary but nothing compared to the 7 metre monster.
Our guide cranked up the nerves by going through the safety procedures of "if we fall out" slightly too many times for comfort. If I fall out and fall 7 metres on to rocks the last thing I'll be thinking is "I must make sure I grab on to the rope and curl up into a ball".
Our raft pulled over to the falls and headed towards it and the last thing I remember thinking is "fuck it's a bigger drop than
I thought!". After that I closed my eyes and was under water for about 5 seconds (the boat nearly tipped during this time) before coming out the other side in a blaze of glory!
The trip was great fun, if a little short as we only spent 45 minutes on the water. After indulging in acitivities Laura decided we should go see some culture so we went to see an old Maori village on the shore of Lake Rotorua. The highlight was an old church with some lovely carved Maori images and an amusing picture of Jesus with a Maori cloak on as he appears to walk on Lake Rotorua. We really enjoyed walking round the village and seeing the steaming geothermal pools which they use to cook their dinner and wash their clothes. They pools are literally everywhere - in the middle of the road, in their gardens, there's even bubbling water seeping through the pavement - we found it fascinating.
After an afternoon of wandering around we stopped on the way back to our hostel at another geothermal park full of boiling water and mud. We can't get enough of them, they are so bizarre.
Had tea as usual and an evening walk. Rotorua city itself is a pleasant place, if rather unexciting. There's not much to it other than a few shops selling tat. I guess it's the same with most tourist towns in Australia and New Zealand.
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Mum
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Bit of a surprise with the winner of Im a Celebrity - cant even remember his name - obviously all the young girls voted for him - paul looks like he has just had a face pack that went wrong in his bad hair day photo - trust you were just blushing and not sunburnt - i know, you are more sensible than that!!! Your big sis is now much improved and back in Hull. Your nanna wants to know if you have an address she can send you a card to and what do you want for xmas??? take care mum xxx