Wai-o-tapu June 18, 2008

We woke up, ate some breakfast, and headed out to a geothermal wonderland called Wai-o-tapu. We arrived around 8:30 am. When we got there, we were the only car in the parking lot, making us wonder if it was open. Luckily, it was open…just seems like many people here don’t get a start until later in the day as we are often the only people at attractions early in the day…it is winter here, so the tourist season isn’t in full swing. The walk around was approximately 75 minutes long. That gave us just enough time to walk around as a geyser would be erupting at 10:15 am, and it was a short drive away, so we wanted to make sure we would be there in time.

As we began our walk, we saw huge craters in the ground with boiling mud and/or water inside. The mud was very soupy looking because it had rained a bit the day before. The most recent crater was formed in 1986 when some geothermal activity caused the ground to collapse. While walking, there were many danger signs warning us to stay on the path because our weight could cause a collapse. The smell emanating from the park was pretty wretched…just as we started getting used to it, the wind would bring a new smell of sulpher or something else pretty smelly. After seeing the craters, we walked over a bridge with the champagne pools on one side and a mud terrace on the other. The champagne pool side was very steamy and had an orange rim. We then walked through a wooded area with really cool trees to another section of the park. We saw an approximately 10 foot high waterfall colored fluorescent yellow by sulpher. We continued walking to another lake. Everywhere you looked there was bubbling water and you heard hissing sounds. While walking, we saw really cool rock walls that were wavy and had many different colors in them. Lastly, we walked down to a waterfall at the end of the park which cascaded into another lake. When looking over the lake, you could see mountains in the distance. It was very beautiful. As we were finishing our walk and heading back to the visitor center, we saw a place called “Devil’s Bathtub”. It consisted of fluorescent green water…crazy! We hurried back to the visitor center as it was nearing 10:00 and we didn’t want to miss the geyser. We actually had to drive there, so we got in the car and drove a short distance to the car.

We got to Lady Knox Geyser at 10:05 and took a seat in the mini amphitheater. Slightly after 10:15, a park ranger came and began a speech about the geyser. He also dumped soap into the geyser telling us that the soap helped mix the hot and cold water, which forced the explosion of water. Although the soap helped bring the eruption on, the geyser would naturally erupt everyday without the soap. The soap was added so that tourists could watch is at a specific time each day. While he was talking, water started bubbling and trickling out of the geyser. As time went on, the water force became more powerful, until it eventually shot approximately 20 meters in the air. It was pretty cool to watch.

After the geyser, we headed back up to town. There were two lakes near the airport which were supposed to be really cool…called the blue lake and the green lake. You were supposed to be able to walk between the two lakes to see the contrast in color. When we arrived, the walk was closed, so we were only able to view the blue lake…which looked like a pretty standard lake…no special blue hues. From there, we headed up to the airport in Rotorua to take our flight to Christchurch. It was a short and uneventful flight. After landing, we picked up the rental car and realized the camera bag was missing. All the videos of the Grand Canyon and North Island New Zealand in addition to some of our Los Angeles pictures and North Island New Zealand pictures are gone. Worse, our brand new camera and camcorder are gone. We were not happy, but what can you do?

We headed out towards Darfield. It was a pretty small town with not many accommodations, so we continued on to Springfield. On the drive out, we passed many wineries. As we got closer to Springfield, we were able to see the Southern Alps off in the distance as the sun was setting. The snow seemed to glisten as the sun set. We found lodging in a place called Springfield Motor Lodge. Although it provided a backpackers type of accommodation, it was quite nice. We were the only people staying there. We had a full kitchen, a living room, two and a half bathrooms, laundry, outdoor cooking and hot tubs, and four bedrooms available. The only bad thing was that the heating stunk and we were freezing until we went to bed…the comforter was quite warm! There was only one main restaurant in town, so we headed into town to grab some dinner before it closed at 7:00. At this restaurant, we realized what they called “pies” is closer to what we call “pot pies”. When speaking with the cook/owner/waitress/everything, she told us that New Zealand doesn’t really offer fruit pies. Ed had a venison pie and Jeanette had a chicken pie. They were quite tasty. The lady felt bad for us, so we wound up getting two pies, two salads, some potatoes, and a beer for $23…which is quite cheap for New Zealand. We’ve found eating out here to be really expensive…by US standards anyhow. Breakfast the next day consisted of bacon and eggs on toast for Ed and eggs on toast for Jeanette (they only offered eggs…nothing else!) cost $25. Luckily, almost every accommodation has a mini kitchen in it so we can cook food. We need to start doing that!

After dinner, we headed back, watched some television, and then fell asleep…we got under the covers in layers…Jeanette had on two sweatshirts and a long sleeved shirt and pants and Ed wore a sweatshirt and pants to bed because it was so cold. Luckily, we stayed warm during the night. From everywhere we’ve stayed, it appears that the places are heated with little space heaters and nothing else.