We were a bit sad to leave the south island. Driving around there was a lot of fun – we saw seals, albatrosses, penguins, sea-lions, lots and lots of sheep, and some of the most spectacular scenery we’ve ever seen. But none the less we had to move on back North to move forward… after all, we do have a flight to Tahiti to catch in a few weeks! So we gave the Nissan back to ACE rentals at Picton, hopped on another ferry across the Cook Striates and stopped-off in Wellington briefly… during which time it never stopped raining. To avoid dissolving completely we swiftly hired another car which turned out to be yet another Nissan Sunny… this one automatic to my horror (although Gary admitted he missed gears too – he’ll see the light!). And so we prepared to drive up to Auckland … stopping off at a few places en route of course.
We decided to spend a few days in Taupo - to wander around the beautiful lake we had glimpsed a few weeks earlier on our long coach journey south from Auckland to Wellington. Lake Taupo is the largest in New Zealand, a hugely scenic expanse of water snuggled in the midst of volcanoes. But as we drove north from Wellington we got a bit distracted! As soon as we left Wellington it stopped raining (yay!) but oddly for New Zealand the scenery wasn’t that remarkable at first. But this all changed when we reached the ‘Desert Highway’. Not a good title – definitely not a desert. No sand, cactuses, and it was pretty chilly, despite being late spring. The ‘Desert’ is actually an area of volcanic ash left from an eruption of numerous surrounding volcanoes in the past. It’s mostly a barren wasteland, with only tufts of grass punctuating black soil, but in the distance you can see the snowy peak of one of the volcanoes responsible for all the destruction... very beautiful!
Anyway, realising we’d ventured into volcanic country we decided to have a break from our journey on the southern shore of Lake Taupo at a small thermal spring area. And here we became completely addicted to wandering around natural hot-pools and holes of bubbling muck! It’s strangely fascinating and hypnotic to gaze at steam rising from a crystal clear bleu-green pool, or watch mud to burst up in miniature liquid explosions from the ground! And of course to try and photograph the perfect mud bubble bursting! Saying that, we also found watching the sun set over the volcanoes flanking Lake Taupo later that evening pretty fascinating - the clouds turn more colours than seem possible.
I suppose this sums up what we enjoyed most about Taupo: geothermal activity and water! Just north of lake Taupo is Hukka falls and the Aratiatia Rapids, where pale blue crystal water cascades in impressively powerful jets over the rocks… although unfortunately the cascading only happens a few times of day for the Aratiatia rapids as they’ve built a hydroelectric dam just above them and open the water gates every now and then. But it’s all very pretty to watch if you turn up at the right time! We also liked a much smaller stream near Lake Taupo which was naturally hot – flowing directly from a geothermal hot spring. It seemed to be a favourite place to go and bathe for locals, although we just waded about for a while.
But perhaps our favourite thing in Taupo was The Craters of the Moon. This is a small geothermal park – a very hyperactive, small geothermal park – which formed relatively recently following the construction of a geothermal power station nearby. Unfortunately it doesn’t boast any hot-springs, but has wonderful craters, pools of mud, and very active fumaroles belching vast quantities of steam into the air. We spent ages wandering around the tracks gazing at the sulphuric wasteland near the craters, or the patterns the rising steam made when swirled by the wind. Absolutely beautiful in a very desolate way… as long as you ignore the smell of rotten eggs!
Which is perhaps why we’re so excited about our next destination – Rotorua. This town is situated in the midst of the most geothermaly active areas in New Zealand. It has geysers! And (apparently) Rotorua has much more impressive areas of geothermal activity than any near Taupo. Brilliant!
We decided to spend a few days in Taupo - to wander around the beautiful lake we had glimpsed a few weeks earlier on our long coach journey south from Auckland to Wellington. Lake Taupo is the largest in New Zealand, a hugely scenic expanse of water snuggled in the midst of volcanoes. But as we drove north from Wellington we got a bit distracted! As soon as we left Wellington it stopped raining (yay!) but oddly for New Zealand the scenery wasn’t that remarkable at first. But this all changed when we reached the ‘Desert Highway’. Not a good title – definitely not a desert. No sand, cactuses, and it was pretty chilly, despite being late spring. The ‘Desert’ is actually an area of volcanic ash left from an eruption of numerous surrounding volcanoes in the past. It’s mostly a barren wasteland, with only tufts of grass punctuating black soil, but in the distance you can see the snowy peak of one of the volcanoes responsible for all the destruction... very beautiful!
Anyway, realising we’d ventured into volcanic country we decided to have a break from our journey on the southern shore of Lake Taupo at a small thermal spring area. And here we became completely addicted to wandering around natural hot-pools and holes of bubbling muck! It’s strangely fascinating and hypnotic to gaze at steam rising from a crystal clear bleu-green pool, or watch mud to burst up in miniature liquid explosions from the ground! And of course to try and photograph the perfect mud bubble bursting! Saying that, we also found watching the sun set over the volcanoes flanking Lake Taupo later that evening pretty fascinating - the clouds turn more colours than seem possible.
I suppose this sums up what we enjoyed most about Taupo: geothermal activity and water! Just north of lake Taupo is Hukka falls and the Aratiatia Rapids, where pale blue crystal water cascades in impressively powerful jets over the rocks… although unfortunately the cascading only happens a few times of day for the Aratiatia rapids as they’ve built a hydroelectric dam just above them and open the water gates every now and then. But it’s all very pretty to watch if you turn up at the right time! We also liked a much smaller stream near Lake Taupo which was naturally hot – flowing directly from a geothermal hot spring. It seemed to be a favourite place to go and bathe for locals, although we just waded about for a while.
But perhaps our favourite thing in Taupo was The Craters of the Moon. This is a small geothermal park – a very hyperactive, small geothermal park – which formed relatively recently following the construction of a geothermal power station nearby. Unfortunately it doesn’t boast any hot-springs, but has wonderful craters, pools of mud, and very active fumaroles belching vast quantities of steam into the air. We spent ages wandering around the tracks gazing at the sulphuric wasteland near the craters, or the patterns the rising steam made when swirled by the wind. Absolutely beautiful in a very desolate way… as long as you ignore the smell of rotten eggs!
Which is perhaps why we’re so excited about our next destination – Rotorua. This town is situated in the midst of the most geothermaly active areas in New Zealand. It has geysers! And (apparently) Rotorua has much more impressive areas of geothermal activity than any near Taupo. Brilliant!
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