Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Pools, 22 Feb o9

The next day was our only full day at Rotorura and we had to make the most of it.  It started with breakfast with our hosts (it's a custom that we don't really have in the UK, but here in every b&b that we'd had so far, because you are staying in people's homes, they have their breakfasts with you). It can feel a bit strange, at first, but you soon get used to it actually :)

Rotorua  is famous for its thermal pools and the famous shot of Champagne Pool's orange shore graces the cover of most guide books on NZ.  It's almost iconic.  So, it is the one shot that I really wanted to take.  I had only seen thermal pools and geysers in Yellow Stone National Park (USA) and I have no desire to go to Iceland ever, so I guess that this is my final chance to see some fine specimens.  NZ has got some of the best thermal pools in the world and we did have a thoroughly enjoyable day taking a closer look and wandering around Nature's Wonderland. 

The first stop was at Wai-O-Tapu, probably the biggest thermal park in NZ.  We started our tour there by visiting Lady Knox, a geyser that goes off at 10.15am every day, with a little help from its friend... i.e. a member of staff.  He explained to us that 150 years ago the Wai-O-Tapu national park was a prisoners' camp.  They were 'employed' to plant new forests and a handful of prisoners stumbled across Lady Knox one day.  "She would have been a much younger geyser back then, not a cone shape (as it was today) but more like a pool with a bit of a raised edge.  The prisoners felt that they'd found the easiest way to wash their linen. Instead of dragging buckets of cold water and then getting it boiled, mother nature had provided an instant solution. Bingo!!!  So the next day they came back with their dirty clothes and they dipped them in the hot pool, then took them out, scrubbed them with soap and put them back in... and then got the scare of their lives when Lady Knox erupted and sent their clothes up a jet of stream 20+ m in the air.  What they didn't realise at the time (what nobody knew at the time) is that soap actually breaks down the cold seal at the top, releasing the steam underneath".  So, nowadays, when they want to give a helping hand to nature, they just put some sort of bio degradable soap-like bars and watch the geyser spit some bubbles out and then propulse a 20m high jet of steam in the air - to the delight of tourists like ourselves.  

We then endeavoured to go around the 3 tracks suggested, around various pools.  Again, all the signs said 'Tracks 1 + 2 + 3 = 75mins'.  I told Janet : 'you can double that I guess'... sure enough. There is no way you can do the whole lot in 75 mins... 'not with someone like Sylvie who likes to frame photos nicely' she smiled.  The pools were quite spectacular, some were a vivid lime green, some called it 'yukky green' but it was certainly unusual. The sun really came out as we were strolling around I must have taken about 100 shots as every corner offered a different scenery.  Champagne Pool was my favourite pool, it has to be said. Maybe because it looked so familiar but it was so active, you could feel the steam just heat up our bodies and wet our hair. I tell you, if you had creased clothes, you stand there for 2 minutes flat and they'd look beautifully ironed afterwards. It was quite pleasant actually, cool winds and heat waves... a bit like sweet & sour type of scenario.  We enjoyed it so much, we had lunch there in a little cafe outdoors, to polish up our tan.  We even bumped into a few people we'd met at the maori evening. 

I happened to be seated next to an English lady who was also well travelled (her last trip was Nepal and trekking the Himalayas).  When I mentioned to her that I didn't think NZ had anything much to rave home about she was SO relieved, she said 'I feel vindicted  now.  Everybody tells me how great Milford Sound is and I looked at it and thought 'really?', after the Himalayas, it looked very small. It's a pretty country but that's it really'... I told her I couldn't agree more.  It is TOO much like England for me... we can drive for one to two hours and I swear I'm back home near Besancon or in the Lake District.  Admittedly, it is like driving around 'the best of England' but still... as this lady said, the experience here is SO minimal compared to what you would get if you travelled somewhere utterly different, as in: with a different language, different food, different smells, different ways of dressing, praying, etc. and I was with her 100% on that one.  I just cannot understand what the 'fuss' is about and neither could she.  She said it was the most expensive trip of her life (India for 3 weeks would have cost her £1,000 when she'd spent £3,000 in 3 weeks here) and she felt it was a terrible waste of money as it offered a poor ratio of memorable experiences for money.  I'm afraid that this is the curse of the well-travelled people.  As you see more and more of the world, you do raise your expectations.  

Anyway, she asked me if I felt Wai-O-Tapu was worth it (we were leaving as she was coming in) and I said 'it's not bad. If you haven't been to Yellow Stone before then at least it'll be a new experience'.  In fact, Janet & I loved it so much that we went to Orakei Korato next ('The Hidden Valley').  It was a little gem, about 35kms away and we had to take a little boat across lake Ohakuri to get there.  The BBC had filmed part of their 'Walking with Dinosaurs' series there.

One area called the Artist's Palette was very much like Yellow Stone's Morning Glory actually, if you've been there.  We wandered around this park for just over an hour and then had a drink overlooking the serene lake (it did look beautifully tranquil with lots of water lillies dotting its shores and mountains in the distance) and then headed for Huka Falls.  

Ideally, we wanted to take the jet boat for 30 mins up to the falls ($95) but we got there at 4.45pm and the last boat had left at 4.30pm.  Now that's another thing that really frustrates us about NZ (and I'm sorry if I sound sooo negative).  We are the equivalent of late August here, there is decent daylight till 8.3opm and all attractions shut by 4.30pm.  WHY ????  What a complete waste.  Businesses lose money, tourists are having to dash around to squeeze everything in by 4.30pm... beats me.  And yet tourism must be one of their prime revenues.  

So we drove to the Huka Falls instead and stood over the various view points to look down on them. They were pretty unusual falls I have to say.  A remarkable shade of blue, almost like a creamy turquoise blue, if you can imagine what I mean.  I think that some glacier dusts or minerals get caught in the swirls and create this vivid scenery.  It was the same colour as Agua Azul in Mexico (not that I've been, but I did research it as I did contemplate going there next year).  But only for a few meters, where the falls are... my camera, however, really struggled with the sun shining on the white-blueish foam and would not give me a true representation.  I could have cried.  In reality it could have looked like a river colour straight from the Garden of Eden, on my camera screen it looked like a river from hell... all black. Totally under exposed. And of course, though I've been on 4 camera courses in the UK, Australia and Costa Rica, I still do not understand how to compensate my exposure, or do bracketing, so I had to use my small non-SRL camera to actually get truer pictures. 

From then on we quickly drove to Taupo (about 10 mins away) to have a look at the famous lake, but only from a hilltop. We didn't feel inclined to take a closer look. 

Our last stop was onto Karosene Creek... and I know, I know, it sounds terrible, but it was actually a beautiful little spot, that really didn't smell of karosene and was the only free natural hot springs in the area.  It was just amazing.  You follow this little stream that is very clear and steams slightly, and it leads you to a small waterfall with a pool at the bottom, and you go down a few steps and it's like stepping into a bath.  Must have been about 30C temperature. Wow.  It was the perfect way to end our day and soothe our muscles.  I loved it. This is my kind of bath. Some guys stood under the falls (like an outdoor hot shower type of experience) but I passed because they have some germs in the water that can damage your brain.  There is a warning sign, before you enter the area to say you must never put your head under the water because of this parasite.  One local bloke didn't seem too worried but we were taking no chances.  Janet had never been in a natural hot spring before and loved it, but probably not quite as much as I did as she'll readily admit she's not as adventurous as I am.  I could have stayed there an hour, it was so relaxing.  I just loved to watch the mist raise from the water, it looked so pretty.  Add a few ferns and a couple of palm trees and it was quite close to perfection by my books.  But the strong 'river' smell lingers on. Even now as I'm typing this and have had a shower and washed my hair with shampoo and conditioner I can still smell the 'river' in my hair. Hum.

We then drove back to Rotorura and though I'm getting quite good at navigating, another thing that's a bit difficult to adjust to in NZ is the infinite number of street names that they have that have kept their maori names.  I wrote down a handful from the map I had of Taupo, just to give you a flavour of exotism: Kaimanawa, Ngamotu, Horomatangi, Ngauruhoe, Motutahal, Paora Hape, Tamamutu, Hinemoa, Whakaipo, Taharepa, Hinekura, Rotokawa, Rawhiti, etc. etc. etc.  and if you think I am kidding you and making these up, feel free to goggle them! :)  So you can just picture Janet and I driving along, with me trying to give her directions, and saying 'well, when we get to Horomatangi, we turn left'... half of the time I'm not even sure how to pronounce the names, and it's such a mouthful and they all sound so similar (to my French ear anyway) that I soon lose the plot - and my marbles.  On the other hand, on another side of the same town, you'll have perfectly good English names and it's like such a relief and so much easier to remember.

Anyway, enough moaning for today. It's half past midnight here so I'm past my bedtime but not tired yet, strangely. I'm happy to say that I am now officially over the jet-lag (I was brain dead by 9pm just 3 days ago), but it did take a good 6 days. So, when they say 'it takes one day for every hour of time difference', I find that at 44, I'm on '1 day for every 2 hours'.  That may soon change as I'm getting older, no doubt.  6 days to adjust is a lot out of 3 weeks though. 

I think that tomorrow we'll be heading back to Rainbow Springs to see it by day, as it's such a magical place and I really want to take photos of the striking pools in the daylight - if you can see the water at all.  Our flight to Nelson is not before 6.40pm I seem to recall so we have quite a bit of time to explore more of this unusual area.

I still wouldn't rank NZ in my top 40 fav. countries but it still beats being at my desk in London on a rainy day, that's for sure.  So long as I can take 50 good shots a day, I'm happy enough, honest.  We have 4 more stops all over the South Island next and so I will see if I can improve its rating over the next 12 days.  After Abel Tasman, we'll head for Christchurch, Fox Glacier, Franz Jospeth and Queenstown for Milford Sound.  To be cont ! :)