Upon entering Rotorua, we were greeted by the whiff of
sulphur (rotten egg!), bringing back memories of chemistry lessons at school! A botched
science experiment or industrial leak weren't to blame. Rotorua lies in the
main area of volcanic activity along the fault line between the Australian and
Pacific plates. The numerous thermal springs dotted around the city also bring
up some minerals from below along with the steam, with sulphur being the
dominant element. We benefited from this, as our motel accommodation also tapped
into a hot spring to provide a mineral pool.
After an extensive day’s
travelling we opted for a night in with an indian take-away. This also gave
Sarah the opportunity to tackle the pile of washing that had been building up.
More steam was soon rising from the radiators as the heating was racked up to
dry the wet clothes!
We had an early start the following morning, being collected
from our motel by minibus. This was courtesy of Rotorua Canopy Tours, a
recently established company, along the lines of ‘Go-Ape’, but with an emphasis
on conservation rather than an assault course. From their HQ in the suburbs, we
were bussed out to an area of indigenous Rimu forest in the hills surrounding
the city. To find such an area of forest is rare in NZ, even though forests
used to span the entire country below the snow line. This is because first the
Maori and then especially the European settlers carried out increasingly intensive
tree felling for timber and burning to set the land up for farming. They also
introduced mammals (possums, rats, stoats etc) to the islands, which thrived to
the devastation of large quotas of the indigenous bird, reptile and
invertebrate population – this pocket of forest had not escaped the latter
problem.
The basic format of the tour involved walking or zip-wiring
between platforms suspended high in the trees. There were a couple of
rope-bridges also to be traversed. Paul isn’t a fan of typical fairground
rides, but after the first trip on the zip-wire, when he realised that he wouldn't plunge to the forest floor if he didn't cling onto the strap for dear life,
even he found the experience of whizzing through the tree canopy exhilarating rather
than terrifying! Unlike our guides, he wasn’t exhilarated enough to travel
upside down!
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| Under a silver fern |
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| Looking up at the canopy |
The middle part of the tour was to explain that the conservation
element of the operation was central to the company gaining the lease to use
the forest. They are actively seeking to remove the alien mammal population, so
that the bird population and the original food chains that depend on it, can
flourish as was previously the case. Already in the 2-3 months that they had
been operating, the guides were convinced they had already started to notice a
difference and were confident that the difference would be striking if any of
our group were to return 5 years from now.
Back in Rotorua, we decided that a dip in the pool was
called for, but the natural heating was not really needed in the warmth of the
sun.
We then ventured out through a very quiet city centre considering it was
Saturday afternoon, for a more sedate afternoon at the Rotorua Museum.
For a
small entry fee, we were treated to exhibitions about the former use of this
fine building as a public bath, the history of the local Maori tribe, Te Arawa,
and ‘The World of Wearable Art’. The highlight was a short film about the most
recent volcanic eruption in the area in 1886, where we startled when the small
cinema started shaking in tandem with the explosions on screen!
We were
fortunate to grab the last available table at a local Mexican restaurant, for
yet another delicious meal to bring the day to a close, save for a brisk walk
back to the motel through the evening chill, still in our shorts!
Another early check-out was in order, as we had to be at the
nearby Wai o Tapu by 10:15am to see the Lady Knox Geyser provoked into action.
The remainder of the park consists of a walking trail and if you decide to walk
all three routes like we did, it will take the best part of an hour and a half.
The walk spans a volcanic landscape of various springs, pools and geysers with
the minerals spouted producing all the colours of the rainbow. No pot of gold
here, though, only an encounter with some steam as thick as pea soup when we
got too close to the Champagne Pool! Perhaps surprisingly, this area is not devoid
of either flora or fauna, lying amongst the country’s largest man-made forest.
More proof of the small nature of the World was when we bumped into a Swiss
couple who we had already encountered on two separate occasions during our time
in the Coromandel. Sure enough, they were heading to the South Island too!
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| Devils Bath |
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| Paul next to the Champagne Pool |
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| One of the Pied Stilts that have made this area their home |
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| Warning - watch out for hot ground! |
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| Overlooking the Mud Pools |
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| Plop plop plop! |
After a quick stop at the nearby mud-pools, we spent the afternoon
at Waikite Valley Thermal Pools. Although it is signposted from the main road,
this felt like a real hidden gem, located in beautiful surroundings, with a
short eco trail along a stream to the source spring. We tucked into a huge bowl of chips
accompanying a chicken salad before electing to book a private pool for a 40
minutes soak. This also allowed us access to the several public pools, which we
then sampled. We were impressed with the relaxed and friendly atmosphere of the
place and its staff and ended up staying longer than we had originally
anticipated.
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| View from one of the public pools |
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| In our private pool |
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| The Eco Trail |
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| The source of all the mineral goodness |
With the weather starting to close in, we escaped to Taupo, only
a relatively short drive away. We checked in at our motel close to the largest
lake in NZ – the water fills the caldera of a volcano, formed during the
biggest volcanic eruption in the last 70,000 years. Another meal out beckoned at
a place called Dixie Browns in the town centre. We were amazed at how much
space there was to park, in complete contrast to the UK! The main course of
burgers went down very well, the pudding less so, due to the annoying
appearance of a small piece of wire!
Our first morning at Taupo was spent updating this blog with
photos and clearing a load of washing.
The weather seemed better than expected,
dry and quite bright, so instead of driving there, we rented some mountain
bikes from our motel and cycled to Huka Falls, a dramatic point on the fierce Waikato
River.
This proved very difficult as firstly the bikes were not finely tuned
for the demands of the ‘beginner’ rotary cycle track. Sarah’s brakes were
almost non-existent and Paul could not access his lower set of gears – both essential
for dealing with steep, narrow, slopes. The weather then decided to wade in,
with some dark clouds in the distance looming closer and producing forked
lightning – rather disconcerting considering we were at the crest of a
deforested hill at that point!
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| Sheltering from the storm |
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| Steam rising from the car park after the storm passed |
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| Sarah (rather damp and cold!) in front of the falls |
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| The mighty Huka Falls |
Fortunately, we made it down to the river valley before the
first crash of thunder right overhead. Rather than shelter amongst the trees,
this prompted a mad dash across the bridge over the falls to the visitor centre
- so our first glimpse of them was rather fleeting! The storm abated somewhat
so we were able to admire the falls properly and refueled with the ginger
biscuits of a kind Swiss cyclist, we made the arduous trip back along a walking
track, which we now also found taxing as we were both tired and cold, if only a
little damp thanks to our waterproofs. We
did have to navigate our way around piles of hailstones that were had been left
behind on large parts of the track.
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| White bits = hailstones! |
Having warmed up, we then headed out again
to the local supermarket to stock up on snacks and for once we thought we’d eat
in so a simple ready meal was in order. The decision to take the Sunny was the
right one, as a further downpour greeted us as we left the store.
