Wai-O-Tapu and Huka falls - New Zealand

Quick post about a few stops in the Rotorua area - NZ's geothermal playground.

A geothermal pool with a pH of 2

Rotorua

Rotorua is a pretty town with a lot to offer - it's tidy, relatively wealthy and steeped in fascinating geothermal activity.  The news isn't all good- it also stinks... like all the time... think overcooked hard-boiled eggs - not for the faint ofart (see what I did there?)  ;)

Because Chelsea's stomach turns at the thought of a sulfur pool, we elected to keep our distance from Rotorua proper - only stopping in briefly for groceries.... I had wanted to checkout it's free geothermal park Kuirau park, but I was already on thin sulfurous ice as it was, so we skipped it.

Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Park

We went to this park in 2005 and loved it - really active geothermal features that are photogenic and not too sulfurous for Chelsea (Cheryl doesn't love the smell either).  It didn't disappoint!

I'll let our pictures do the talking here...

Champagne pool - always bubbling with tiny bubbles

An emerald lake - inhospitable though!

Cool sulfur deposits

Taking in geothermal bliss

Exploding mud bubbles

Silty rivers

Barren mineral pools

Lime-green pool

All told, the park took about 1.5hrs to tour and photograph.  Lady Knox geyser is a bit contrived (they induce it to erupt using a surfactant in front of a crowd of about 250 ppl, daily), but everything else is superb.

Lady Knox geyser

 

 

 

Huka Falls

Thunderous roar!

 

These falls move a massive volume of water through a very narrow channel - they literally roar - not unlike the sound of Niagara Falls.  What's neat about them is their turquoise colour and the fact that you can walk right over them on a foot bridge to really appreciate their power.

Narrow channel.