Wai-o-Tapu, another planet

Today we went from Rotorua to the Wai-O-Tapu National Park. This park is located about 30 minutes from Rotorua and is halfway between Rotorua and Lake Taupo.

This national park gained worldwide fame for its 'Champagne Pool'. I was very excited. I considered this tour to be one of the highlights of my North Island tour of New Zealand.

At around 1 pm, we reached the national park. The ticket price was 32 NZ$, which is approximately 19€. I quickly bought postcards and stamps before finally going inside. From a distance, you could already see many hot steam clouds rising. It was truly impressive. You could almost imagine one bonfire after another. But appearances can be deceiving. There are dozens of bubbling springs that evaporate the water.

Mark from the USA and Sharon from Germany informed themselves about the hiking trail we took. After a while, I noticed that we couldn't get lost as the paths formed a circular tour through the national park.

We mainly saw barren landscapes. No green, at least rarely. At some point, we came across an area the size of several football fields that looked like chalk soil. There is no chance for nature to spread here. The gases make the soil uninhabitable. The whole time, an unpleasant smell that stinks like rotten eggs followed us. It's also the escaping gases that are responsible for this, you can still smell them in Rotorua, which is 50 km away.

At some point, we came across the world-famous 'Champagne Pool'. It was incredible! It was bright orange at the edge and bright green on the inside. It produced so much water that you could only look 3 meters into the lake. After that, you could only see the color of the rising steam. It is 62m deep, 74 degrees at the surface, and 273 degrees at the bottom. After taking a souvenir photo, we continued towards the exit.

There, the next surprise awaited us. A lake that is yellow. Neon yellow! I've never seen anything like it in my life. For me, it was an even bigger highlight than the 'Champagne Pool'. It's called 'Devils Bath'. That's exactly what it was! All in all, a very nice trip.