Taupo & Thermal Wonderland - Day 8

What day is it today actually? After the hike, we had lost track of which day of the week it was. But the phone knew: Today is Sunday, March 4th! And just as we were looking forward to showering and the warm, soft bed yesterday, we were now looking forward to a delicious breakfast. We can recommend both Victoria's Cafe and Fine Fettle Cafe in downtown Taupo. However, it will always remain a mystery to us why the cafes in NZ close at 4, during the best coffee time..

Do we need to mention that we only got the plug adapter today... While Smiths department store had none left, the local Bunnings hardware store saved us :))))

We decided to drive to the nearby Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland in mostly sunny weather and 24°C. Wai-O-Tapu means 'sacred water' in the Maori language. It is a geothermally active area with hot springs, craters emitting sulfur steam, and bubbling mud pools. The Taupo Lake with a circumference of nearly 200km is actually a crater lake that formed from a collapsed volcano about 26,000 years ago. It is now filled with water and surrounded by rich vegetation. So, the volcanic activity is very high even in the northern part of the Tongariro National Park. Really cool and exciting!! :)))

We strolled through the geothermal wonderland for about 3 hours and saw incredibly many hot, sulfurous water and mud springs with fascinating colors. The highlight was certainly the Artist's Palette with the Champagne Pool. Arsenic, antimony sulfate, thallium, gold, and silver create a beautiful orange edge there. The red discolorations come from iron oxide, while the black ones are created by sulfur and carbon.

The green lake was also impressive, which gets its color from sulfur and iron sulfate.

Some tree branches were covered with red algae cells.

Practically throughout the wonderland, there was a smell of rotten eggs in the air (H2S) :))) One special combination was this smell with the fascinating, intensely yellow-green "Devil's Bath" at the end of the circuit.

Janina did a great job guiding us through Wai-O-Tapu by reading the information about the respective attractions from the flyer.

After the opening hours (6pm), we drove to the Mud Pool, which is located near the Wonderland. The small mud fountains were great and funny :))

On the way back to our accommodation, we enjoyed the view at some lookouts, especially the sunset with a view over Taupo was amazing!!