Visiting several Geo-Thermal areas whilst on holiday in New Zealand.
Either of New Zealand's towns of Rotorua or Taupo are ideal locations to be based when visiting some
of North Island's thermal areas .
New Zealand Thermal Parks. General note about visiting these thermal areas
in North Island. We found the four
thermal/volcanic areas we visited closed their gates for entry at around 1530 to
1630hrs - this is so that visitors could wander around with enough time to see everything
before actual closing times - so you need to get to these locations by mid afternoon at
the latest.
We were on holiday in New Zealand during November and December 2007 i.e. early
New Zealand's Summer time so it's possible
opening times may be different in January, February and March which is the
middle of Summer in New Zealand.
Craters of The Moon. Located off SH1 just north of Taupo,
Craters of the Moon offers an easy walk on well surfaced paths and on wooden
walkways where you can see several hot craters and boiling mud holes. The
craters are still active of course - there were eruptions in 1983 and 2002 - the
whole area is quite steamy and really interesting and takes perhaps 40 or 50
minutes to wander around. You can also divert up on a higher path which is quite
steep and has steps in places for a look over the area.
Craters of the Moon has a fairly large car park which is watched over by a Charitable Trust - there is a
small charge to enter the site and they close their doors at 1630hrs for new visitors.
Wai-O-Tapu - These two photographs are taken from a mud hole area which is
located on the SH5 just before reaching Wai-O-Tapu Park itself. Look out for a road
on the left which takes you to a smallish parking area. There is a quite large expanse of
boiling mud (and a lovely smell too) on this free to enter area right next to the car park.
Wai-O-Tapu - Thermal Wonderland. Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters)
thermal area covers around 18 sq. kilometres and is administered by New
Zealand's Department of Conservation.
The amount you want to walk is up to you -
with signed 1.5km, 2km and 3km options available - the whole area is really
excellent and we spent quite a while wandering around - you walk as far as
Lake Ngakoro if you wish - it's certainly worth doing.
There is a huge amount to see - the steaming Rainbow Crater, lots of mud pools
at the aptly named Devil's Ink Pots, a small geyser at Artist's Palette, a walk
across sinter terraces on a boardwalk, Bridal Veil Falls, the Pied Stilts which
have made Frying Pan Flat their home, Lake Ngakaro Waterfall and so on and on.
We took loads of pictures whilst walking round and we hope that these might
better show what can be seen at this excellent thermal park.
Orakei Korako - Cave and Thermal Park. The park is
located north of Taupo and the trip of around 35kms should normally take about
50 minutes.
You have to take a two minute boat ride across Lake
Ohakuri to get to the Thermal Park - the boats leave on demand. The first thing
to appreciate is that this is a very active thermal area with boiling mud holes
and lots of boiling water and steam around - so you must stay on the
walkways.
We really enjoyed our walk around - the colours and activity were
excellent - if you are lucky you might even see Diamond Geyser let rip and of
course their world famous Champagne Pool. Other
features are the Rainbow Lookout, the fantastic colours and mini geysers at the
Rainbow and Cascade Terrace, The Golden Fleece which is a 40 metre long fault
scarp, the highly dangerous, volatile and colourful Artist's Palette and then
lots of mud pools as you start to head back to the boat jetty.
You can also walk
down the steep steps into Ruatapu Cave (Sacred Cave) which is only one of two
geothermically situated known caves in the world.
Waimangu Volcanic Valley. This is the
location of the world's newest geothermal eco-system and was our
furthest drive on our various thermal visits whilst we were staying at Taupo.
Waimangu is around 60kms from Taupo and you go via Sh5 to SH38 and then about
1.3kms along the SH38 take the Okaro Rd and then the Waimangu Rd.
The area has four walks with the furthest being 3.6km which get you as far as Lake Rotomahan
(where incidentally you can take a boat cruise). Yet again there is just so much
to see as you walk around the craters, geysers, mud pools and boiling streams
and ponds.
Also the amount of foliage, ferns and mosses as well as many birds
to be spotted especially from Marble Terrace to Lake Rotomahan was
excellent. The park run a free bus which will take you as far as the lake and/or
back - with two other intermediate stops available.
When you buy your entrance tickets you get a Wanderer's Guide - this is
particularly good as it clearly maps out all the features and gives a fair
amount of background information about what you are looking at. Inevitably we
again took many photos whilst meandering around.
Waimangu's website is well worth
visiting as well - with lots of interesting pages and information.
Our Other Holiday and Travel Web Sites are about the Greek and Canary Islands,
England, Cyprus, Portugal, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Egypt - Sharm el Sheikh and Luxor. Please see our
Home Page for links to these topics.
www.New-Zealand-Travel-Guide.co.uk
Craters of The Moon. Located off SH1 just north of Taupo,
Craters of the Moon offers an easy walk on well surfaced paths and on wooden
walkways where you can see several hot craters and boiling mud holes. The
craters are still active of course - there were eruptions in 1983 and 2002 - the
whole area is quite steamy and really interesting and takes perhaps 40 or 50
minutes to wander around. You can also divert up on a higher path which is quite
steep and has steps in places for a look over the area.
