20/12/2017 - Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

The journey continues - we leave Rotorua. Before heading to today's destination, we made a short stop. Visiting a real maze has always been on my personal "must-do" list. We happened to find one on the outskirts of Rotorua two days ago. Once again, we managed to get discounted tickets through the website 'bookme.co.nz' and for €5 per person, we entered a classic maze with various mini-games. We arrived at "aMAZEme" around 09:00 and were the first guests of the day. The maze is round and the goal is in the golden center. After a brief explanation that there are two ways to reach the goal, we wasted no time. Our paths diverged - who would reach the goal first? Tobi went left, I went right. It seemed like we were going the same way back and forth, but somehow we kept pushing forward towards the center. Our paths crossed at times. - Where do we go next? Have I been through this corridor? Did I come from here? Do I need to go that way?... - Since we were still alone, we could "talk" to each other across the labyrinth. But eventually, I figured it out and reached the goal first: "Yeaaaah!". The feeling of accomplishing this task filled me with happiness and pride. Tobi realized I had reached the goal from my joyful exclamation. In the meantime, I sat comfortably on a bench and waited, and waited, and waited. I kept seeing his head above the hedge - he was trying to figure out how to reach the goal. But somehow, it didn't quite work out, so I went and fetched Tobi to bring him to the goal. :)
After we both made it, we walked around the maze again and played some mini-games: Connect Four, "Soccer Tennis," Battleship, etc.
But since we had plans for the day, we said goodbye to this lovely little park around 11:00.

Our next stop was the "Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland". This paid thermal park offers the opportunity to explore a small part of the overall 18 km² thermal area. Just like in Rotorua, you can discover hot lakes, mud pools, and much more here. Depending on the elements or connections underground, natural color plays are created. If, for example, there is a higher concentration of sulfur in the crater, you will see yellow deposits on the walls. On the other hand, if the earth is colored red and brown, it indicates an increased dosage of iron oxide and iron hydroxide.
The park has three walking trails. Of course, we decided to take the longest route to see everything.
The path led us past various natural wonders - here's a small selection:
First, we came across collapsed craters up to 50m in depth. It's hard to imagine how deep and wide they were. In addition, the path led past various lakes that shimmered in different colors. The first one was pitch black and called the "Devil's Ink Pot," and the next one was colorful and referred to as the "Artist's Palette." One of the highlights of the park is the "Champagne Pool" - it is one of the most famous thermal springs. It gets its name from the bubbling, just like you would see in a glass of champagne. The rising bubbles are caused by carbon dioxide. The pool has a diameter of 65m, a depth of 63m, and a water temperature of 74 degrees Celsius. It was formed 700 years ago by an explosion. Additionally, there are "terraces" that have formed solely from the fumes of the Champagne Pool. Just before the end, the park surprised us with another highlight. Unaware that something special was about to come, as we were approaching the end of the tour, a bright green lake appeared. The color of the "Devil's Bath" seemed so unnatural and left us speechless. The more arsenic sulfides the water contains, the greener the lake becomes. We were lucky because usually, you can see to the bottom of the rugged crater. But the sight of this bright green water was much more impressive.
The visit to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park was definitely worth it! That was just a tiny glimpse of what the thermal park has to offer. Wherever you are in the park - volcanic activities were either visible, smelled, or heard. We had a great time and can definitely recommend the visit!

After this impressive visit to the Thermal Wonderland, we still couldn't get enough of these bubbling waters. Just a few minutes' drive from the thermal park, you can admire a large (free) mud pool. The mud from the "Mud Pools" was particularly viscous, causing the mud to shoot meters high into the air when it popped.

Afterwards, we continued to Taupo. We will stay here for the next two nights and decide where we will spend Christmas.