Volcanoes and Hot Springs.........

 Feb 6th 2012 - Feb 12th 2012

Tauranga and Mount Maunganui

On then to Tauranga on the North East coast.  Tauranga is a large port but is adjoined by a large spit at the end of which is Mount Maunganui.  A small brake problem with the van meant that Wanda needed some garage attention so we stayed two days – the second of which we used to go deep sea fishing just of the coast.  A lovely day on the sea but in spite of catching quite a few fish most were not of legal catching size so had to be returned  – including a 560mm King Fish (needed to be 760mm)..  We did however manage two decent red snapper – which - after a filleting lesson for Malc from an old seadog - we had for dinner the following day.

Tauranga sunset................

and in the morning.

The beach at Mt Maunganui

Camping under the mountain

Rotorua

About an hour south of Tauranga is the famous Rotorua.  Kiwis have nicknamed it “Rotorvegas” because of the sheer number of tourist attractions associated with the thermal springs – so we didn’t expect much.  In fact, it’s a very pleasant and pretty town.  We avoided the main commercial attractions and opted instead for a simple walk in the main park.  This is somewhat disconcerting.  It looks like a normal park BUT it has many fenced off areas where mud and steam bubble to the surface.  It was interesting nevertheless.  After some research we chose to go to the less touristy Waimangu Volcanic valley – some 20 miles south of Rotorua itself.  This is billed as the world’s youngest  hydrothermal system as it only began in 1886 once the volcanic eruption on 10 June 1886 allowed geothermal fluid direct passage to the surface of the earth with much of the recent volcanic activity dating as recently as 1917.  A four kilometre walk down the valley gives a small insight as to how life itself evolved from the swamps.  The valley is very eerie – with steaming lakes, pools and streams, boiling mud, erupting springs and unusual vegetation created by the unusual conditions.  For most of our walk we were the only folk there – and all that seemed to be missing were the dinosaurs roaming! 

A bubbling pool in the park..in the middle of town!

Echo Crater

Emerald Pool

Frying Pan Lake - the water is 55 degrees C

Hot water springs

Inferno Crater Lake

Rainbow Crater

Tarawera Volcano and Lake Rotormahana

 To finish the day we travelled 2 hours further south –amidst more steaming landscapes to Lake Taupo – the largest lake in Australasia and a popular holiday spot for Kiwis.  The Lake is in a fact a caldera (crater) formed by a massive eruption 26.500 years ago – very recent in geological terms.  We stayed on the edge of the Lake – which measure some 100 miles long and 30 miles wide and wondered with awe what the eruption might have been like.  In the morning when we woke it was cool and we could see steam rising from the land around the Lake.  As with the rest of our visit to NZ – a constant reminder of the power of nature and the fragility of man in comparison.

Napier

From Taupo we travelled east again to the coast and the town of Napier.  This town’s claim to fame was that it was pretty much entirely destroyed by an earthquake in 1930.  They rebuilt it quite quickly BUT with no less than two stories and in the art deco style that was popular at the time.  The art deco is what attracts the tourists.  It was the weekend so we found a nice spot in a large car park very close both to the town and to the seafront walk.  Napier isn’t a “beachy” place but pretty nevertheless – a reminder of the old seaside towns in the UK.  On Saturday evening we enjoyed an Indonesian/Dutch “ristafjel” (meaning rice table) at a delightful restaurant on the seafront.  The meal consisted of about 14 small dishes of all sorts of Indonesian food   The Dutch owner was entertainment himself!

Napier seafront

Kiriwhakapapa

On route to Wellington we stopped at another Department of Conservation site – off the beaten track in a forest next to a stream.  A very quiet location with only a few fellow campers for company. And then on to Wellington – capital of New Zealand.