Taupo/Waikato

After yesterday's meeting on the farm, it was now a waiting game. He will let us know in 3 days as he has many other applicants. But he said he has always been happy with Germans so our chances are not too bad despite the lack of experience. The next day we went to the Aratiatia Rapids. Here, the Waikato River (New Zealand's longest river) drops 28 meters in a short section. A dam is opened 3 times a day to generate environmentally friendly hydropower. From various viewpoints, you can watch the river rise in seconds. Truly impressive!

Since we still had some time before it got dark, we decided to drive to the nearby Craters Of The Moon landscape. Steam rises from the ground everywhere because the earth beneath it is so hot. There were bubbling mud pools, acid-stained soils, and plants adapted to the hot environment. We explored the area on the 45-minute walking trail and then climbed up to the viewpoint, from which you could overlook almost the entire volcanic landscape.