Hot, colorful and smelly

Tuesday, January 10th was supposed to be a day full of volcanic wonders and landscapes never seen before. We were going to visit the Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. It was a 45-minute drive from our overnight spot on the northern shore of Lake Rotorua to this volcanic park. We arrived there at 9:00 a.m., bought two tickets for 32.50 NZ$ each, and had just enough time to look at the first steaming waters and craters before we had to drive to Lady Knox Geyser at 9:45 a.m. It is only a few hundred meters from the main entrance and erupts daily at 10:15 a.m. with a valid ticket, you can watch the eruption. When we arrived, there weren't so many people yet and we got a good seat. However, it quickly became crowded and many had to stand. At 10:15 a.m., a nice Maori man arrived, threw an eco-soap package into the geyser, and told us a few interesting things until the eruption. The geyser was artificially created by someone piling stones over a spring because a few prisoners had accidentally discovered that the water from the spring reacts with soap while doing laundry. Over time, the stones are glued and smoothed by deposits, so the geyser now looks like one too. For years, the geyser has been artificially erupted as a tourist attraction by pouring soap into it. First, you can see foam running out of the geyser until finally, the water shoots out up to 20 meters. I found the whole thing quite impressive, even though I had imagined the geyser to be more pompous. The eruption didn't last long either because after a few seconds, the water jet was only 30 cm high. After that, we walked to the parking lot together with about 5000 people and went back to the actual Wai-o-Tapu Area. By now, the tour buses had also arrived, and it was clearly more crowded!

After we were back on the site, we walked past the first attractions because we had already seen them. There were funny names like Devil's Home, a collapsed crater, Thunder Crater, a crater with steaming water at the bottom, and Devil's Ink Pots, a few small mud pools that were quite dry during our visit because it hadn't rained enough in the past few days. So, you can see that these landscapes were probably not the work of God.

Next, we visited the Artist's Palette, which was truly breathtaking. Such beautiful pastel colors on such a large area! All the colors are created by different minerals and can vary with water depth and wind direction. Very fascinating. From the viewpoint of the Artist's Palette, we went to the small Opal Pools overlooking the Primrose Terrace, and then to the Champagne Pool. With its bright orange rim, small bubbling bubbles, and the stinking steam, it is rightly the main attraction of the park. The pool has a diameter of 65m and is officially 62m deep, although some believe that the thermal source reaches much deeper. Creepy thought! At 11:30 a.m., the guy from Lady Knox Geyser held a little talk about it in front of the pool, and we were there in time to learn some interesting things. Among other things, the source is called Champagne Pool because small gas bubbles constantly rise to the surface, reminiscent of the bubbles in champagne. However, I found that the bubbles were quite inconspicuous and often disappeared behind the dense steam. By the way, the water in the pool is 75°C hot but quickly cools down as it gets closer to the surface. The water from the Champagne Pool flows in different directions across the site and is responsible for some noticeable coloring of other waters due to its minerals.

After the talk, we continued through the park, through an old forest, and past other sulfuric ponds and streams. Truly a fantastic landscape! At the end of the site, we headed back and passed a bright green lake that looked totally unreal. But the water was colored by nature.

In the early afternoon, we had completed the Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and had lunch at the parking lot on a picnic table. Then we went back to Rotorua because we wanted to visit the Whakarewarewa Village. It is a small Maori village in an area right next to the city that is full of thermal pools and volcanic activity. The descendants of the people who survived the volcanic disaster in 1886 and had to find a new home because the old village was buried under ash mainly live there. Locals guide tourists through the village and explain how people have been living with the hot waters and how they use it for centuries. You can also watch a Maori Cultural Performance for free. That was something I really wanted to see because such a show is otherwise quite expensive. Unfortunately, we had no luck, and the last performance of the day was at 2:00 p.m. We arrived there at 2:30 p.m. We then debated for quite a while whether we even wanted to go into the village because the price was still the same and quite high at 35$ per person. Besides, the woman at the counter was incredibly unfriendly. Ultimately, we did go in and joined the last tour at 3:00 p.m.

Our guide was very nice and at the beginning, she told us some general things about Maori culture. She also explained the correct name of the village, which was written below the sign saying "Whakarewarewa Thermal Village". But really, no one could pronounce it! First, we walked across a bridge under which some children were bathing in the water. Freezing cold water, mind you! Tradition has it that tourists throw some coins down, which the children then dive for. However, I don't know if anyone in our group did that. After that, we visited the assembly house and a large steaming pool in the middle of the village, used to prepare essences. The traditional food is called hangi and is a kind of stew made of meat and vegetables, cooked in the hot steam of the springs. There is a large wooden box on the ground with the ingredients inside, and steam is directed into it. You can also try a hangi prepared there, but the restaurant was closed when we were there.

Next, we visited the herb garden and the bathing spots. The Maori simply use water from the hot springs for bathing and divert it into stone tubs. Our guide also explained to us that the people there bathe in much hotter water than we are used to and that 60°C is no problem at all. Somehow, they have adapted over time. And of course, the water is not toxic when people bathe and cook in it. After the bathing spots, we walked through the main street of the village with souvenir shops and a tattoo studio, where a tattoo artist was a cousin of our guide, and they briefly chatted. Real people live there, after all!

Then we passed a small church and the cemetery to a viewpoint from where we could see the Pohutu Geyser, located in the neighboring thermal area called Te Puia. We could have visited that too, but it was too expensive for a half-day trip at over 50$ per person. The Pohutu Geyser is the tallest in New Zealand, but its eruptions cannot be predicted. So, you have to either wait (which can take up to 5 hours in the worst case) or be lucky. When we were on the viewpoint, a smaller neighboring geyser erupted, and that was also cool to see. At least it wasn't over after 10 seconds! The platform was finally the end of our tour, and we walked back. Once through the pretty souvenir shops and then for a little walk through the surrounding landscape. Finally, we went to the mud pools at the edge of the village. They just look so funny!

Shortly before 5 p.m., we left the village and drove back south. We had reserved a spot at a small campground in Waikite Valley for the night the day before. There, there is a boiling hot spring whose water feeds the pools of the Waikite Valley Thermal Pools. And the campground is part of this spa, so for 22$ per person, we had an overnight stay and unlimited access to the pools. It was really great! Unfortunately, today was the hottest day so far, and the hot pools weren't as cozy as they would have been in cooler weather, but it was still quite nice. From dinnertime until closing time at 9:00 p.m., we sat in the pools and enjoyed the fantastic landscape with the steam rising from the hot stream. We met two nice German girls in one of the pools who are doing Work & Travel in New Zealand, and we exchanged some experiences with them. That was also quite interesting.

After a shower, we went to bed, and the next morning, after breakfast, we jumped back into the pools. We also walked along the short path next to the hot stream to the source because we were curious to see what it looked like. The source was like a pot of boiling water, but in the middle of nature among green plants. Truly fascinating. Furthermore, the hot water had to be cooled down by spraying it into the air and running it over stones before it could be led into the pools. And with us, heating water is quite complicated!

This day in the volcanic region around Rotorua was truly a highlight of our trip and will remain unforgettable :)