Smelly Eggs

Trip Start Jul 12, 2006

101

230

Trip End Jun 18, 2007

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Flag of New Zealand Rotorua, New Zealand
Monday, November 13, 2006

Our destination today was Rotaroua, we were thinking about stopping another day but time is ticking on. The recommended route is via highway 5, the thermal highway but we wanted to visit some of the geo-thermal attractions so our first stop was actually off highway 1 and called Orakei Korako. We'd picked up a leaflet yesterday at Craters of the Moon and had read about it in the books and it looked really interesting. The drive there didn't take too long, it was a slight diversion off highway one but back towards highway 5 where we needed to get too. The little kiosk in on the edge of a lake, a lake that has steam coming from the surface of the water, that gives you a small indication of what's to come. It's also surrounded by grasslands and trees and if you look closely at the surroundings you can see areas of land in the distance with steam rising. It had turned out to be a lovely day today, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. We parked the car, grabbed our stuff, made a pitstop at the toilets then headed to the ticket booth. Orakei Korako is called the hidden valley as it's on private land and you have to take a small boat across Lake Ohakrui for a few minutes to reach the start of the hour or so walk that takes you around the valley. As we borded the boat you could see the Emerald Terrace approaching, it spills down into the lake so naturally you can almost accept it's a natural part of the green farming and bush landscape that surrounds it, but as you get closer, the steam rises from the hot water above joining the lake and then you start to spot the colours of the bacteria that come with such warm waters.

Artist's pallette

The Emerald Terrace is the largest silica terrace of its kind in New Zealand. It can vary from 20mm to 20 meters in thickness above water and apparently continues 35 meters under the lake! We were delivered to the boat landing on the otherside of the lake within a few minutes, right next to the hot waters of the Emerald Terrace. The stairway takes you right up the side of the terrace and also takes you to the foot of the Diamond Geyser, literally, the wooden boardwalk is built across the flow of water from the geyser to the terrace, it was unbelievable that they let you get this close, it doesn't happen in Yellowstone. We walked from the Diamond Geyser, which didn't erupt when we were there, to the Rainbow and cascade terrace, which are large silica terraces. The rainbow one has various colours on it due to the different temperatures in water and the bacteria that grows in them and the cascade terraces are created by different geysers at the top spouting water out and down the terraces in cascades. Both were pretty cool to see, the cascade terraces were quite active when we visited, which meant we got to see lots and lots of hot water spilling down the terraces. Cool! We wandered by the Golden Fleece terraces, more silica terraces, and also by the Elephant Rock (can you guess what that is?), we wandered by various bits of land steaming or bubbling away. Then we wandered onto what is described as '...one of the most dangerous and unpredictable areas on the resort...' the Artist's Palette. It's a collection of silica pitted with clear blue pools and smudged with so many different colours that it does look like a palette.

Bubbling mud pools

There are big, crusty white holes in the ground, covered with silica and steaming like a boiled kettle, geyers waiting to erupt, all over the place. It's an absolute geo-thermal mess. But it's amazing to see. Blues, oranges, yellows, greys, steam coming from various different places, it does nothing to ease your nerves about standing on such unstable ground. From the artist's palette we wandered around to Ruatapu Cave, which is a sacred cave. It's quite a steap descent down but the cool, damp air is a welcome relief from the hot sun baking my head, at the bottom of the cave is a tiny pool. We stood really still and could just hear the water bubbling up from underground. The water is so clear that if you go to close to the edge you can actually find yourself in a few inches of water by accident, not realizing that the pool has started. Legend has it that if you make wish while touching your left hand in the water, it will come true (providing you don't tell anyone what you wished for) and as a bonus the water will also clean any jewelry due to it's chemical make up. After our trip to the cave we headed onwards to the mudpools, my fave! There's nothing more satisfying that the sound of the gloopy mud trying it's best to bubble up but being so thick just managing a gloop kind of sound. It's quite soothing to watch, looks like a big chocolate fondu set, although I wouldn't fancy sticking a strawberry in there and eating it. The smell of sulphur doesn't help that image either, smelly eggs and chocolate just don't go! The good thing about the mudpool, I think, is the different colours - depending on whether they've made a clay mudpool with a reddish colour or an earthy mudpool with chocolately colours.

Diamond Geyser at Orakei Korako

I also like the way that the mud spurts about or dries up and cracks. Sometimes, the mudpools that are quite thick and spit their thick, gooey mud about a bit can make tiny cones, or mini mud vulcanos - quality!

From there we walked up to the viewpoint to get some great views of the whole valley, before making a quick stop at the Soda Fountain Geyser, which was slightly bubbling and very steamy when we visited, before descending back to the boat ramp. The cascade terrace was in full steamy water-flowing mode due to an eruption at the top as we made our way back. It was a great place, much better than Craters of the Moon and much more like the geo-thermal features we were used to in Yellowstone. Well worth every penny but not as good as Yellowstone.

We had a quick bite to eat in the carpark, joined by some very greedy sparrows then headed across towards Highway 5 and our next stop just off of there, Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. I was slightly concerned by the name 'Thermal Wonderland' it sounded like some sort of theme park, but I needn't have worried because it was absolutely stunning. It's described as NZ's most colourful and diverse volcanic area and they are not wrong. There are three walks you can do, imaginatively names Walk 1, Walk 2 and Walk 3. With Walk 1 being the shortest and Walk 3 being the longest. We chose Walk 3 (of course!). The first stop on the walk is the Artist's Palette (yes, they're all called that, even in Yellowstone), which was just superb. As you walk up to the platform the view that greets you just left me speechless.

Elephant Rock

In front of me was a huge bubbling, steaming pool (covering a fifth of a hectare the brochure says) but the colours truly were an artist's palette. The pool started off this creamy champagne colour then changed into orange and red towards the left, merging with the blue of the hot springs to the left. On the right the yellow colour intertwined with blues and greens of another spring. It was spectacular mess of colours that steamed with activity. I didn't know what bit to photograph first, the pool was so big. As we continued on the walkway, through the bush, we could see the pool from different angles and as we walked the colours changed, even tinting the steam that came from the surface of the water. In some places, where the sun reflected off the surface and in the calm of the afternoon, it took on the appearance of a mirror, reflecting the hillsides and bush back into the pool. I've never seen anything like it before, not even in Yellowstone, the sheer size and diversity of colour in the pool made it very special. We continued on the walk, taking us past steaming vents and fumeroles, bubbling bits of mud and sizzling bits of water, we saw numerous silica terraces and brightly coloured lakes. The Wai-O-Tapu geyser was quite small and wasn't active when we went past, which was a shame but the colours of the rocks and ground around us more than made up for the lack of water features. We walked through various craters, by different smelly mudpools until Walk 3 took us right back to the start and around to the other side of the Champagne Pool, where the steam coming off of it was unbelievable.

Lee at the cave

At the pool's edge, was a bright red crust, just under the waters edge. Next to the blue of the water it just look fantastic. I tried my best to take pictures but was worried about the steam getting to my camera. On the way back out we stopped at the devils bath, which is a huge pool of water that is colours bright lime green. I have never seen a lake like it, bright lime green. It looked so unreal but is caused by the different minerals in the water. It was by far the best place we'd been to today, an amazing and spectacular place and just a reminder why I enjoyed Yellowstone so much.

We drove on from there into Rotorua, which reminded me a lot of the US when we drove into it. Big roads filled with motels and fast food places either side. We had a drive around, looked at a couple of Backpackers before deciding on the Central Backpackers. We'd been unlucky with all of them trying to get a double so had booked and paid for a dorm room, we were just unloading our stuff when the lady called Lee back to say a double had just become available and would we like it? Oh yes, we were in that room faster than you can say fumerole!

We left the car outside the backpackers, which is right by a police station, so we were assured that it would be ok and headed into the main strip for a drink. We had some vouchers from the hostel to headed to the Pig & Whistle (in a former police station), the Pheasant Plucker and the Lava Bar. The whole of Rotorua smells of sulphur, all the time, it made me a bit sad really because it reminded me of Yellowstone and I was sad that we weren't there. But Rotorua is cool though, it's a bit busier that a lot of places but seems to have a lot to offer so I'm looking forward to staying here for a few days.