Rotorua

The first thing you notice as you drive into Rotorua is the smell. And the steam rising from a geothermal park on the outskirts of the city – but that’s not as notable as the smell. Rotten eggs. Having lived near the steal works in Portalbot for much of my life I’m quite familiar with this one – every time you drive past the place on the M4 you get that distinctive sulphide whiff! I’ve always felt sorry for the people living right next to the thing, and wondered if their sense of smell adapts over time to completely block it out.

Rotorua may have the lovely sulphide stench in common with Portalbot, but little else. And after having spent four nights there at least I do know now that your sense of smell adapts quite happily to block it out after a while… but it comes back all too readily if you leave the area for a few hours! In the case of Rotorua of course the smell is due to the geothermal activity of the place, which is of course why were interested in visiting in the first place. There is actually a section around Lake Rotorua near the eastern end of town which is called ‘Sulphur Bay’ – where unsurprisingly yellow deposits on lava-formed rocks near belching fumaroles are the norm, the water is strongly acidic and the smell is particularly bad! This area is very popular with birds which nest on the shore of the lake as the hot ground keeps their eggs warm. Another great thing about Sulphur Bay is a hot-spring complex called the Polynesian Spa. We spent a very relaxing afternoon lazing in hot pools gazing out over the acidic lake complete with steam rising in the distance! They have pools of geothermally heated water at different temperatures… some very pleasant, others a bit hot! My favourite pool was situated right on the shore of the lake where the view was sublime and the water a toasty 41 degrees Centigrade. This proved a bit warm for Gary who preferred a 39 degree tub with a woody smell to the water. And we both thought the hottest tub was a bit much – after 5 minutes in the 42 degree Celsius water we nearly passed out!

While we were staying in Rotorua we thought we might as well make the most of the geothermal attractions. After Taupo we had developed a healthy fascination with them! The most notable features are in parks or reserves… meaning you have to pay to get in unfortunately, but how often do you get to see multi coloured steaming lakes or geysers?

So we first went to Te Puia in the Whakarewarewa Thermal reserve on the edge of Rotorua itself. The main attraction here was Pohutu geyser, apparently the most impressive geyser in New Zealand. And it was pretty impressive! As we entered the park we could see it spurting water in the distance, but by the time we had wandered around to it the devil had gone dormant, only letting a plume of steam out. OK, we did take a while to get there as we’d stopped at some particularly entertaining gloopy mud pools on the way… But signs near the geyser reassured us that it performed regularly, 2-3 times an hour, so we joined a few other bored lingers to wait for a good view of the next spurt. Pohutu took its time – well over an hour – but it was worth it. Eventually some water started to gush from the hole in the beautifully coloured silica terrace surrounding the geyser. And these feeble spurts were soon replaced by torrent of water that must have reached 20 meters above the ground! And once it got started the geyser continued for some time, not quite so forcefully, but enough to keep us entertained. We tried to avoid getting caught in the fine spray from the geyser though – it was freezing cold and smelt REALLY strongly of bad eggs!

The next day we visited the volcanic valley of Waimangu. This is apparently the newest active geothermal region in the world – formed by a big eruption just over 100 years ago. At this time a geyser which spurted water, mud and rocks up to 400 meters in the air was active… but sadly it died in the early 20th century. But in the 100 years since the geyser died a truly beautiful place has evolved – lush subtropical plants surrounding vivid blue-green steaming lakes and colourful silica terraces formed when the hot water from springs and streams deposits minerals onto the ground over time. We walked for 4 km from one end of the valley to the other and were truly impressed. It might not have any active geysers, but as a geothermal area Waimangu knocks the socks off Te Puia!

The final area we visited was also pretty special – as beautiful as Waimangu, but in a more desolate but surprisingly colourful way. This was Wai-O-Tapu, which like Waimangu is about 30 km south of Rotorua. It has a geyser called Lady Knox, which isn’t very active… to get it to perform someone has to pour soap suds into it! This is done at 10:15 every morning, after which the geyser foams a bit before erupting a good jet of water that reaches about 10 meters in the air. Pretty and fun to watch, but not as impressive as the Pohutu geyser. But the rest of the park was incredible, lots and lots of small caters with bubbling water and mud were near the entrance, and colourful volcanic deposits were sprayed all over the nearby rocks. But as you ventured further into the park it became even more fascinating and beautiful, the highlight being the huge neighbouring hot pools of the Champagne lake and the Artist’s Palate. Here vivid blue water rose fizzing and steaming over a bright red rock lake edge to flow gently into orange yellow pools which gave way into a vast white silica terrace. Hopefully some of the pictures below might give you and idea – it was stunning. And there were other active valleys beyond this to stroll through until they gave way to a huge crater lake. Amazing place.

Anyway, although we’d happily stay here longer (despite the smell), we now move on back to Auckland. After all, we do have a plane to catch to Tahiti in a few days time…