Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Noy's 4th Walkabout
Last Wednesday IT RAINED AGAIN! As heavy as ever from the middle of the night! We were determined to finish understanding the story of Napier so went to the Museum to find out more about the earthquake and about the city before and after. By lunchtime we were heading out of town for Taupo, still in torrential rain but leaving behind a city of great character and some good memories. The journey north was up over more mountains and it rained so hard it came in the back side window onto our bed clothes! Over the top the rain eased as we passed men clearing up a massive landslip which had blocked the road two days ago - then the scenery changed into a gentle plateau with forests and we slowly descended into Taupo, viewing first the lake.........and then a tell-tale wisp of steam seeming to emanate for the ditch. Yes, we had our first experience of Geothermal activity! Getting out of the car we sensed the first smell of sulphur in the air Richard's childish glee at finding his own little "volcano" was quite absurd (but tolerable!). Arriving at the campsite we realised that volcanic activity was all around us. The site swimming pool was heated "from below" and when we returned to the site at night the steam arising behind our park was quite eerie (see photo!).
So on Thursday we got into volcanoes and thermal activity, as well as visiting the sites of some impressive falls and rapids. The sun stayed out and so did we, stopping only for the freshest prawns you'd ever taste, straight from a prawn farm that benefited from the waste heat from the thermal power station nearby, keeping the waters at a constant 28C needed to breed the little critters! Then BACK came the rain on Friday, so badly that Jill wants it know there was a very grumpy old man in the party! WE tried to do Waiotapu justice but photos do NOT lie and the colour of the thermal activity centre was just NOT there! We then drove on to Rotorua where we studied the history of the city in the dry. We hadn't realised the significance of the area for "taking the waters". The Old Baths are now a museum (so at least our "studying" was done in the dry!) but were never the success of Bath or Harrogate in the UK, mainly due to the corrosive nature of the hot springs here. We had a lovely meal at Bistro 1284 in the evening (recommended by the Rough Guide and it moved into the second spot in the "Noy top 4", beaten so far only by The Gondola in Christchurch.
Saturday and sights in Rotorua looked much better in the sunshine! We walked around town as well as visiting Lake Tarawera and seeing for ourselves the mighty Mount Tarawera, whose destructive forces brought great damage to this area in 1886. After visiting yet another area of thermal activity, Hell's Gate, we went back to the site and awaited collection by coach for our evening of Maori culture at Mitai. It turned out to be another highlight of our tour, with explanation of the Maori customs and traditions as well as some good food cooked in a "Hangi", underground in between hot stones, not heated by thermal activity in this case!! It was an emotional evening in some respects because you felt both their power (in their own Haka, which was performed memorably with a LOT of energy) but also their warmth and their connection with nature. Went to bed late (for us!) at 10.30!
- comments