Taupo, Rotorua, Turangi

The areas are located in the center of New Zealand and are among the most active geothermal areas in the world.

Totally touristic, but rightly so. Seeing, hearing, and smelling active volcanoes was super impressive. Everywhere there were large 'pools' with the coolest colors. The water was boiling in some places and we saw two geysers erupting. The mud pools were the best, with mud made of melted rocks bubbling, hissing, and splashing.

In Taupo, there is the largest lake in NZ, which is larger than Lake Constance in terms of area, and it is a volcanic crater. The eruption about 2000 years ago destroyed all life in New Zealand and covered the land with a layer of dust up to 10 meters thick. The effects of the dust cloud were even felt in China and ancient Rome, through, for example, particularly red sunsets, etc.

After a few days, we were glad to escape the smell of rotten eggs. (sulfur smell)

In Turangi, we were in NZ's first national park and at an altitude of 1635 meters we still had a bit of snow and a view of the highest mountains on the North Island (2797 meters), of course, another volcano that last erupted in 2012.

In this area, pretty much every mountain is a volcano.

Now we are in Napier, famous for its large wine region. We have taken a job as meat packagers and hopefully start next week and stay there for two months.