Day 24 - Orakei Geothermal Park and Golf in Wairakei

The golf course in Wairakei is considered one of the 20 most beautiful golf courses in the world and we wanted to play it today. Norman, the best researcher, had already discovered yesterday evening that disturbing news was posted on the course's homepage. And this morning, after a nice breakfast with a fantastic view from our terrace, we had to realize that it's really true: all the greens are currently unplayable. Two holes cannot be played at all. Instead, two holes have been divided and now each house two holes, so four in total. Don't you understand? You don't have to, but in the end it means it's really stupid. Greens are the heart of each hole and it doesn't help to just mow another area short and try to putt the balls there. That doesn't work well at all. What happened: the greens were allegedly "poisoned"... I think they probably confused herbicide with fungicide or chose the wrong dosage. The green grass then died and is now being laboriously re-seeded... it takes months! Because of these circumstances, there was also very little going on on the golf course and Norman and I could take our time playing. So it's really a beautifully designed course, which is probably also really difficult, but it leaves a very bland taste for us. The experience was not complete, at most satisfying was given by us. It was also annoying that we were not informed earlier, otherwise we would have certainly changed the course and played somewhere else.

After golfing, we went to Orakei Korako, a geothermal park 35 km away, for a quick lunch. Norman already told you yesterday that this area is characterized by volcanoes and yesterday we already enjoyed a bath in one of the many hot springs here. The geothermal park is something very special. In the middle of the wilderness, more than 250 hot springs and geysers emerge in a forested mountain area, and since this has been the case for many thousands of years, fascinating rock formations and bubbling mud holes have formed. For example, there is a hot spring that springs from a rock crevice and boiling hot water pours down the mountain. When you arrive, you are first taken across a river on a small ferry. Over there, it is only about 2-3 degrees warmer on average because of the hot springs and geysers. And it bubbles, smokes, smells (sulfurous), is colorful and really worth seeing. The walk through this hidden valley takes about 60-90 minutes and is very interesting and worth seeing.

In the evening, we chatted with our hosts and they showed us their beautiful garden. By the way, there is a seismograph from a university in front of our terrace: You should know that Lake Taupo is one of the most seismologically active areas in the world and there is currently a research project going on here. When you look at the beautiful blue lake, it is hard to imagine that it is actually a water-filled volcanic crater. But our hostess also told us that you can swim very well in the lake because it is always slightly heated by the volcanic hot springs.