Taupo and Rotorua

Lake Taupo- a caldera from an extinct volcano. At least that is what we think, it hasn't erupted for a lot of years now, but with what goes on round here you never know. Across the lake in the hills beyond we can see a live one, at first we thought it was a forest fire, but no- it's a steam outlet.There are dozens around here, some of which are used to create electricity almost for free.




We took a boat trip up river to the Huka Falls, a spectacular gorge outlet from Lake Taupo into a reservoir. It brings down so much air with it it is said that any boat who ventures into the cauldron will sink. No less than two Olympic swimming pools come over every ten seconds, not rapids I would care to raft over!





Later we visited Orekei Korako, a hidden valley of colour, hot springs and natural beauty. The colour is caused by hot water algae which forms at about 60 deg C. Several small geysers play in the valley, which was formed in 111AD by a massive earthquake.

Terraces were formed around the same time by earthquakes, this one is about 6 mtrs high, and is white with the limestone that comes down with the hot water.
All around are old forest, an abundance of tree ferns grow among the indigenous trees.
It is said that this is one of the finest thermal areas left in the world, it is certainly worth seeing.



Moving on to Rotorua, we visited Pohutu  geyser, one of the largest in New Zealand. It erupts on average once or twice every hour, and can reach heights of 30mtrs. (90ft).It is thought that this geyser has an intricate plumbing system involving one or more chambers many kms into the earth into which hot water, steam and various gases are fed. Eventually it becomes pressurised and hot enough for the water to boil, which forces the water up the vent and then ejected. It is spectacular to see the water and steam ejected with such force, however there is not the colour variation that we saw earlier in the hidden valley.

There are a considerable number of mud geysers in the area also, this one bubbles continually with boiling mud, and the pit is contually growing towards the buildings behind, and will eventually engulf them it is thought. Hopefully not while they are still occupied, but we are told that a geyser can erupt anywhere in this valley, under a house, a road, anywhere. And they are just a mile up the road from our motel.......