Rotorua and Wai-O Tapu Thermal Wonderland
Trip Start
Aug 31, 2005
1
37
60
Trip End
Feb 16, 2006
Rotorua,
New Zealand
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Rotorua is a very interesting place because due to geothermal activities, throughout town there are boiling hot pools of water and steam. There is also a very eggy smell (the sulphur). It is very weird to be wondering around and then come to an area sectioned off due to there being boiling pools of water!
Visited an area where the Maori still live in a little community, there was a Maouri meeting house and other things, quite cool how they carve their figures in all the buildings. I went to the toilet there but the signs were in Maori so I had to guess which toilet was female, I made the right guess!
01 Maouri Meeting House
At the camp site there was a mineral pool with the natural hot water from the ground so we went in and the water was boiling, had to get a hose with cold water. The mineral pool is meant to be good for you but all it did was strip my nail varnish off, tarnish Simona's ring and if you put your head under you can get a certain type of meningitis. Got chatting to some lads from Jersey who are out here for a few weeks. Was quite strange as we then went to shower and as the showers are for girls and boys due to renovations sI was in the shower chatting to a bloke I barely know in the shower next to me (they kept leaving toilet seats up and stubble round the sink)!
I actually did not get bitten by mosquitos for 2 whole nights!
The following day we headed to Taupo stopping en-route at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland which was pretty cool. Basically it is an area with lots of geothermal activity so you have volcanic craters, bubbling/steaming water and mud, amazing colours of water due to different minerals (one was bright green but unfortunately the camera doesn't do the colours justice)and a geyser which at certain times shoots water 15m into the air.
The whole place stank!
And did it rain again? Yes!
