Skip to main content

Wai-O-Tapu and Huka falls - New Zealand

By
Quick post about a few stops in the Rotorua area - NZ's geothermal playground.

A geothermal pool with a pH of 2

Rotorua

Rotorua is a pretty town with a lot to offer - it's tidy, relatively wealthy and steeped in fascinating geothermal activity.  The news isn't all good- it also stinks... like all the time... think overcooked hard-boiled eggs - not for the faint ofart (see what I did there?)  ;)

Because Chelsea's stomach turns at the thought of a sulfur pool, we elected to keep our distance from Rotorua proper - only stopping in briefly for groceries.... I had wanted to checkout it's free geothermal park Kuirau park, but I was already on thin sulfurous ice as it was, so we skipped it.



Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Park

We went to this park in 2005 and loved it - really active geothermal features that are photogenic and not too sulfurous for Chelsea (Cheryl doesn't love the smell either).  It didn't disappoint!

I'll let our pictures do the talking here...

Champagne pool - always bubbling with tiny bubbles

An emerald lake - inhospitable though!

Cool sulfur deposits

Taking in geothermal bliss

Exploding mud bubbles

Silty rivers



Barren mineral pools
Lime-green pool





All told, the park took about 1.5hrs to tour and photograph.  Lady Knox geyser is a bit contrived (they induce it to erupt using a surfactant in front of a crowd of about 250 ppl, daily), but everything else is superb.

Lady Knox geyser

 

 

 

Huka Falls


Thunderous roar!
 

These falls move a massive volume of water through a very narrow channel - they literally roar - not unlike the sound of Niagara Falls.  What's neat about them is their turquoise colour and the fact that you can walk right over them on a foot bridge to really appreciate their power.

Narrow channel.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introducing the Family

By Nathan
This is my first post.  My name is Nathan and I am a 9 year-old boy (almost 10) and can't wait for this trip.  My older sister Chelsea is 12 years old and my younger brother Parker is 7 years old.   I am looking forward to sharing pictures and stories with you over the adventurous year ahead! This picture was taken a couple of years ago so we are all a bit bigger now!
6 comments
Read more

Tongariro Crossing - New Zealand North Island

By
Sorry for the brief hiatus folks - limited wifi slowed me down!  We did the Tongariro crossing 15yrs ago and fell in love with it then - we knew our kids had to experience it too. Ummm... can anyone say AMAZING! For those unfamiliar, the Tongariro Crossing is a 20km hike/tramp that takes you into the caldera(s)  of Mt. Ngauruhoe (more famously known as Mt. Doom in Tolkein's Lord Of The Rings trilogy). The mountain lies above Lake Taupo - New Zealand's biggest lake - which makes for a fitting backdrop throughout the 2nd half of the hike. Turangi - not far from Tongariro National Park We holed-up in VRBO/HomeAway a little town called Turangi, close to Tongariro National Park.  Cheryl's wrote a post about Turangi - check it out ! The hike route This hike is, very debatably, the best day hike in the world - certainly the best we've ever done.   If you like the outdoors, you're fit, and you can do only one thing in NZ - hike the Tongariro Crossi...
11 comments
Read more

Lanterns and Rice Paddies- Hoi An, Vietnam

By Cheryl
When we were in the planning phase of this trip, I wasn't sure I wanted to go to Vietnam.  I was nervous about stories I had heard about crime, health and safety, crowded buses, etc. and I wasn't really sure how comfortable I would be taking the kids to this country.  After doing some research, I came across some information about a small town called Hoi An and  decided this might be a great place to spend some stationary time- soaking up the culture, enjoying cheap food and doing some school work.  So that's just what we did.  We spent 10 lovely, low key days in Hoi An, Vietnam. One of many flower displays along the river A calm town in the morning The famous Japanese covered bridge Hoi An is a town of about 120 000 people.  It used to be a major port- for the Champa kingdom from the 2nd to the 10th centuries and then, after the 15th century, it was one of South East Asia's major ports. The Old Town of Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritag...
4 comments
Read more