Today I left Tauranga after being resident for 9 nights. It felt a bit odd packing my gear, loading up the car and starting the touring adventure again.
Checked out and on the road by 08:30, I made my way out of Tauranga and joined State Highway 36 on my way to Rotorua. I'd come up with a plan today to visit Waimangu Volcanic Valley for their full experience; a 4km (2.5 mile) walk down the valley with it's geothermal features, and then a 45 minute boat cruise on Lake Rotomahana.
The route took me past Rotorua and a few of the things that I'd quite like to do, and about a half hour south of the city into the quiet countryside. My start time had been planned for 12:00, but I was there at about 10:45, so enquired whether I could get going early. They said no problem, and even offered me a place on the earlier boat for the cruise, but I was quite happy to take my time and stick with the 14:00 cruise.
The first thing to mention that won't come across anywhere is the odour. Due to the various geothermal features in this part of the world, there is a higher than usual amount of Sulphur Dioxide in the air which has a certain 'flavour' that I remember well from my visits to Yellowstone ..... it has been described as rotten eggs, and who am I to disagree?
This whole landscape that I explored today was created in the Mount Tarawera volcanic eruption of 10 June 1886, and as a result is the world's youngest geothermal valley. In one night a line of craters from Tarawera all the way to the Waimangu valley almost 16 kilometres (10 miles) away were created in an area that had been rolling scrub-covered hills with no geothermal features at all.
This may be one of those occasions where the pictures do all of the explaining as I'm not sure that I have the words or the wordsmithing skills.
Leaving the reception and shop, I ventured onto a gravel and rocky path that lead downwards steeply, and the first viewpoint was of a green lake that was within Southern Crater.
Onwards, and shortly after Southern Crater I was treated to a panorama of Echo Crater and Frying Pan Lake. In contrast to the first lake I had seen, this was more of a blue/green, but what was particularly noticeable was the vapour that was coming off of the surface. The path took me down closer to the surface of the lake for some fantastic views, and also views of the vapours emitting from the ground around the lake. Indeed, the colour of the water seemed to change as I hiked lower and came closer to the waters.
On I continued, taking my time and many many photos and videos, past the lake, and the stream that flowed out down the valley. There was an area where vapours were emitting from bubbling pools, and the colours surrounding the vents were fantastic, caused by the bacteria living in the hot waters.
Down a bit further, and sign pointed up some stairs to Inferno Crater just 5 minutes away. What would a New Zealand walk be without some stairs involved, so up I went (this time the steps were perfectly sized for my stubby legs) and came to a viewing platform to be presented with a cauldron of sky blue water with a haze of vapours covering the surface encircled by sheer rising rock walls. Further vapours were being belched from half way up the hillside, which made for an otherworldly view.
Back down the steps, and just around the corner there was this small hot spring disgorging it's steaming water into the air.
Downwards once more as the path descended beside the stream, until I reached a stage where the main trail was closed due to flooding. Instead we were directed to the Wetlands Path which given the name was ironically on higher ground, giving an overview of the wetlands. Where this path started a side track lead to Warbrick Terrace, which was a great little diversion to see a small terrace formed by the minerals in the waters being deposited. The colours here were remarkable; if I'd not seem them myself I wouldn't believe that you could get these colours in nature.
I followed the Wetlands Path for a while and then arrived at the lake, and the jetty for the boat cruise; I arrived at 13:20 for the 14:00 cruise.
After a bit of a wait, the boat started boarding and we set off on a new part of this adventure. Before the 10 June 1886 eruption, there had been two lakes in the area now occupied by Lake Rotomahana. The eruption deposited a huge amount of materiel that blocked the outflow from these lakes, and as a result the current water levels are approximately 40 metres higher. There is no outflow from this lake, but water levels stay consistent as the water flowing into the lake is offset by the water that evaporates from the surface.
We cruised in an anti clockwise direction around the lake hearing about what had been here before 1886, but wasn't any more. We heard about two of the eight natural wonders of the world that were here; the Pink and White terraces, both of which are believed destroyed by the eruption (although there are some who suggest that the Pink Terraces survived, but are far underwater now)
We then cruised around a submerged volcanic crater whose walls rose vertically from the lake apart from a narrow entrance, and witnessed the eruption of a Geyser on the lake shore and a few hot springs. We learned that the difference between a geyser and a hot spring is that the geyser needs to recharge the chamber from where the eruption originates, so it erupts after a period of stillness. A hot spring on the other hand continuously discharges and does not need to recharge.
Any day that you learn something new is a good day!
After the cruise completed, there was a bus to take us back along a steep gravel road back to the gift shop and reception (these things always end at the gift shop!), so I changed footwear and started the half hour journey to my accommodation in Rotorua at Jetpark Hotel. It appears that I've been upgraded to a freshly refurbished executive suite, which I'm happy to accept but have no idea what I've done to deserve this.
The first task after checking in was to get my laundry done, so I acquired some change and detergent packets, asked a few question of how the equipment worked (it was commercial equipment so everything was able to go in one load) and washed and dried all of my dirty laundry (for less than it would have cost for a single T-shirt in Tauranga!). An hour and a half after checking in, I had nice clean and warm laundry folded in neat piles on my bed. Guess I'll have a further job to do before I'm able to go to sleep tonight!
Tomorrow is a little up in the air at the moment. Thunderstorms are forecast for Rotorua, and I had planned to be doing the luge track here, so I'll have to keep an eye on that and see if I can put it back to the morning after if it's not doable. I'm not sure that I want to be out in the open in the middle of a thunderstorm!
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