North Island trip - Part II - Rotorua After our fun adventures at the Rere Rockslide, Mike and I decided to travel to Rotorua, which is known for being a "hotspot" of geothermal activity.
Located within the Taupo Volcanic Zone, Lake Rotorua is formed by a 16 kilometer-wide circular depression, known as a "caldera", which is actually one of several large volcanoes found within the region. The depression itself was created when the magma chamber collapsed following the most recent volcanic eruption 240,000 years ago. So, if I have this right - Lake Rotorua is actually a volcanic crater?! Neat! We spent a bit of time in central Rotorua, with a quick stroll at Sulphur Point. On this very warm summer day, the rotten-egg smell coming from the lake was quite noxious. To beat the heat, we headed northeast from Rotorua and took a refreshing swim in Lake Rotokawau.
Lake Rotokawau - a local swimming spot.
For the night we camped at Waikite Valley Thermal Pools. It was well worth the $22 pp/night as we had full access to a variety of thermal pools, which are fed untreated from the Te Manaroa natural boiling spring. We found the campsite to be very crowded, but the following morning we had the entire spa to ourselves as everyone had packed up early and left. Ahhhhh.......that was so relaxing.
We enjoyed the Pergola pool most - a relaxing 38 - 39 degrees Celsius.
Te Manaroa natural boiling spring.
After we were refreshed from relaxing at the thermal pools, our next stop was Wai-O-Tapu, where one can enjoy a wonderful array of colourful volcanic features.
Admission to Wai-O-Tapu was not cheap ($32.50 pp - 10 % with coupon from Waikite thermal pools); however, it was a very neat place to explore. I especially like the colours and bubbles of Champagne pool.
The shoreline of Champagne pool is a grey-white silica sinter.
The pool is constantly bubbling with carbon dioxide.
The orange precipitate contains metalloid compounds such as arsenic sulfide and antimonite.
Harsh environments only suitable for the most extreme microorganisms (i.e., not weak, fleshy humans).
As you walk along you can experience numerous sulphur vents, hot mud pools, craters and mineral terraces.
Some of the craters are up to 20 m deep.
I wouldn't want to fall in this crater, with boiling black mineral soup.
This bright green pool is called 'Devil's bath'
We had a fun time exploring Rotorua's geothermal features and relaxing in thermal pools. If I could I would like to go back to Rotorua for a few more days for mountain biking and hiking.
Stay tuned for the next leg of our North Island trip - Hot water beach & Whatipu Scientific Reserve....
No comments:
Post a Comment