Mt Tarawera, Orakei Korako & Lake Taupo

I've read about the Mt Tarawera tour on Lonely Planet but it was a little hard to locate on the net but my lovely travel buddy found them and we promptly made bookings for the trip as soon as we were sure of the dates.

We arranged to be picked up at the Rotorua tourist information centre at 8 a.m. The morning started out really badly with our hotel. Firstly, they did not deliver our breakfast at 715 as requested and then the reception was not attended by anyone which meant that we could not check out even if we wanted to, which meant that we had to return to the motel to check out after our trip. So in the end, we left a note voicing our displeasure and left so that we weren't late for our tour.

Fortunately, our tour only had 2 of us as the other party cancelled, and the lovely guide, Jude took us back to the hotel as it was closer to get to Lake Taupo after we finish Mt Tarawera without getting back to Rotorua. So we headed back to the motel in hope that someone would be there now and someone was, so we checked out. Jude also found out that we weren't served breakfast and made the lady in the motel made us breakfast-to-go. Hahaha.. I have to say, Jude was quite an imposing figure :) . Executive on Fenton - you were disappointing.

Anyway, we made it to Mt Tarawera behind the intended schedule but hey, there was only 2 of us! It was like a private tour! :). And Jude was the lovely tour guide anyone who wish for.

First views of where we're headed

The mountain is privately owned and there is only one company that is allowed to bring tourist up there for a tour. Our tour cost NZD 266 for the both of us. We took the guided half day volcano adventure tour. They're probably best contactable via their website : www.mt-tarawera.co.nz

Our path

We took the short scree, crater walk and crater exit. The other ones requires absailing and mountain climbing so we skipped it. The short's good enough. The other option for those who doesn't want to go into the crater as it can be quite steep, is to walk around the volcano.

Making our way

In the hands of our trusty guide, Jude

Sneak-peek of what we're in for

The actual downward walking into the crater was quite daunting initially. The ground was made up of loose pebbles and there wasn't much grip on it despite wearing trainers. And the walk, it was some experience! Because there wasn't much grip and the degree of downward slope was quite extreme at certain areas, we were made to dig our shoes into the ground when we walk. The right way of doing it is that your legs , up till about 3-4 cm above ankles to mid calves should be buried under the ground and you sort of slide your way down with your feet. *Do wear dark coloured pants and covered shoes*

Making my way down

The happy 2

We weren't allowed to take photos while going down into the crater so there's only 2 pictures of the process. The photos doesn't do it justice though - it looks wayyyy steeper in real.

And now, some random photos because I took so many of them!

The fab 2 :P

The path we conquered! Hehehe~

:)

Don't be fooled - it was still quite steep off the the side!

Finally made it back up *It was freezing!!!*

Mt Tarawera

The mountain had the largest eruption in New Zealand in living history. The 1886 eruption was the most impressive and it lies over one of the most active fault lines in the world. The 1886 explosion extended to 17km long of area and magna was ejected over a 6 hour period. The last explosion was also a mystery in the sense that it exploded sideways and not upwards, which was unusual as all it's previous eruptions were of upwards. We were told that it was unusual for a volcano to change its eruption ways. Interesting....

@ Base Camp

We then drove back to base camp to collect our 'certificates' and to sign the guestbook. More volcanic informations are available there for those interested.

There are 5 volcanic alert levels and they differ slightly in the frequently active and reawakening volcanoes. Generally, level 1 is dormant/quiescent state and level 5 are large hazardous eruptions are in progress.

Our transport for the trip

Love the car plate! :)

We didn't finish that late in the end, it probably only took us about 2 hours and a bit to finish up. We picked our car up from Waimangu and headed off to Lake Taupo, our next destination. We had lunch at one of the cafes opposite the Lake which was wonderful!

Cafe

Forgot what the place is called but the burger that I had - it was really really good!!

My lunch

They also sold random food items in the shop, even indian spices and things!

Items for sale

We checked in to our accommodation for the night - Lake Taupo Motor Inn. I booked the luxury suite which was only about 10-15 bucks extra from their standard room which was a bargain! It was a 2-bedroom place, LCD TV and mini kitchen! It was great!

Just realized there's a CD player above the couch!
*LOL*

My room

Both of the rooms were quite similiar - both cosy and nice with electric blankets. Absolute bliss! :)

After dropping in our bags and things we then headed off to our next destination - Orakei Korako.

Orakei is about midway between Lake Taupo and Waimangu, so it was a little of a backtrack for us but we were quite hungry when we left Waimangu so that was ok. Anyway, we arrived at Orakei Korako at about 3 p.m and spent about 2 hours there. The thermal area is actually located across the lake from it's visitor centre but their boat runs on demand, so that was good. Plus it only takes 3-5 minutes to get across.

Walkway entrance to Orakei Korako

On the boat

When translated, Orakei Korako means The Place of Adorning. Apparently, Orakei was also the site of filming for the BBC series of "Walking with Dinosaurs". The visit begins with taking a boat across Lake Ohakuri and the first thing that comes to view is the Emerald Terrace which is the largest silica terrace in New Zealand.

Arriving at the 'hot' land! :)

Found this interesting and a little disturbing

Loved the strong colours

There was 9 main points in Orakei but we had one that we absolutely had to get to. And it was the furthest of all - Ruatapu Cave.

Fred and Maggie Pool

Te Kapua - "The Golden Fleece"

Looked nothing like gold, it is called Te Kapua which means clouds in Maori. The was formed in the 131 AD and is 5meters high and 40meters long.

Ruatapu Cave

Also known as the sacred cave, it is within the Hiwa Nga Ana (Hill of Caves), which origin is still uncertain. There is only 2 geothermal caves in the world, the other being in Southern Italy.

In memory of a boy

Love the blue/emerald waters!

The pond at the bottom of the cave is known as Waiwhakaata aka pool of mirrors. The blue waters seem to have a calming effect. It was only after reading the information guide that I dare to touch the water. *It is usually not recommended to touch any water in a geothermal as the temperature can be quite high*. It said that the pool had a unique ability to clean jewellery due to its acidic and chemical composition.

Looking down at the geothermal

Where we came from - across Lake Ohakuri

Loved the scenery!

The famous Kiwi

We then drove back to our motel for a rest before heading out to dinner. I was so tired by then that I was grumpy and couldn't wait to climb into bed for a quick nap while K went out to Lake Taupo to have a look-see.

We then booked in for dinner at one of the recommended restaurant (that was also in the entertainment book - YAY! ) - Pimentos Restaurant.

The wall displays

The displays were really quite interesting as they are made from random tools in a workshop. Like pieces of wood and some screws and nails and things. Really quite an art.

And our glorious dinner! It was really really good and I would recommend anyone heading to Lake Taupo to visit this place. It may not look like much on the outside, but the food was really good. K thinks its the best we've had in NZ (I think it comes second - will let u know which comes first for me in a later post :P)

Our appetizer

The delicious main :)

Wai-O-Tapu, Waimangu and Rotorua

We started off early that day, leaving Auckland early in the morning so that we could arrive before 10 am in Wai-O-Tapu to see the Lady Knox Geyser which erupts daily at 1015 am (with help of course).

Lady Knox Geyser *unprovoked*

We arrived on time to the visitor centre to purchase our tickets for the geyser and also for the thermal wonderland which cost NZD 55 per person. This also included the entrance fee for Waimangu Volcanic Valley.

Commentor and provoker
*see the froth building up?*

The weather was absolutely freezing that morning with drizzles throughout the whole morning. It was painful to be standing in the cold waiting for the show to start. But once it got rolling, it was good!! :)

Starting up

The story behind how the geyser was discovered was pretty interesting. According to the commentator, the 'hill' used to be of a small pond of some sort and workers around the area used to sit around it to have lunch and occasionally wash their utensils. One day, one of them accidentally dropped a soap into the water and then it began to froth and then erupted. Since then, it was 'christened' by a Lady Knox and has continued to be the star attraction in Wai-O-Tapu.

Full effect!

From there, we then drove back to the visitor centre to continue our visit of the thermal wonderland.

To be honest, I didn't actually enjoy this thermal wonderland as much as the next one. It felt too commercial and everything was rather bare, which I suppose may be what it was supposed to look like.... But still, the next thermal park that we went to was much prettier!

Anyway, we'll get to Waimangu later. Now, for some pictures in Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (Only putting a couple, as the rest look.... uninteresting).

The Champagne Pool

This pool is the largest hot water spring in Wai-O-Tapu. It occupies a 7000 year old explosion crater which had formed from an eruption.

For those interested in the details

There are lots of craters in this wonderland that ranges from 5-50 metres in diameter and up to 20 metres in depth which are formed when surfaces collapse into ground forming the craters. They really just look like deep holes... like a well, but with smoke coming out.

The next picture is probably my favourite in this park. The Devil's Bath.

Isn't it just the most eye-catching pond?!?!
The green was actually quite fluorescent!

The Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland opens from 830-500 pm, (last admission at 345pm). To get tickets for the Lady Knox Geyser, it is recommended that one arrives no later than 945 a.m eventhough it only erupts at 1015 as you need to drive from the visitor centre to the geyser (which is only about 5-7 minutes away).

Our next visit of the day was the Waimangu Volcanic Valley which is the world's newest geothermal system. There is a couple of walking tours and bus services in the valley itself which makes it quite convenient. The walking tours are generally about 1-2 hours each. We decided to walk on our own as we always do (so that we could skip all the uninteresting things :P).

We had a couple of highlighted must-see things in this valley and basically made our way there right away on supersonic speed.

Frying pan

This lake occupies 38,000 square metres making it the world's largest hot spring. The average lake temperature is about 50 celcius. Not somewhere I want to be in!

We then proceeded to our main destination - Inferno Crater

I was excited to get there as we were told that the lake may sometimes be bright blue in colour. But I also remembered being apprehensive about it as I wasn't sure if we were gonna be lucky enough to see it in its brilliant colour. The colour of the lake changes depending on the amount of activity it is undergoing. It can be of a dull grey colour (which I have seen enough!!) when the levels are low and then when it is in it's optimal state, the lake will assume a brillant skyblue colour.

And we were lucky!!!!!!

Look at that blueeeeeeee~~!
*It was worth all that leg cramp and SOBOE!*

The water temperature ranges between 35-75 celcius depending on the level of the lake. The water could also be very acidic at pH 2.8 at times.

After that, the two happy people from Melbourne left Waimangu with big smiles and headed off into Rotorua's town for a quick lunch before taking off for more touristy activities!

Rotorua Visitor Centre

Lunch @ Lime's

We were quite pushed for time as we had booked in to watch the sheep shearing show in Agrodome at 230 p.m and the restaurant was absolutely packed! The lovely waitress however was really kind and did try to warn us that they might not be able to serve us in time. But we decided that we really wanted to dine there and so we did. And they were so prompt with our orders and food, it was amazing! My lunch however wasn't, but K's was really quite good. Me and my poor choices. Who can I blame? :(

Meeting some friendly faces in Agrodome

We arrived at Agrodome on time and the place was absolutely packed with tourist. I had a sick feeling in my stomach that this might be a wrong choice of activity as it was probably gonna be a corny show. But I was so wrong! The show was amazing, the host were hilarious and the whole experience was far more enjoyable than I expected.

My favourite - the Merino
*love how his face seems to bury into his fur*

The performers

The entertainer

The show was for an hour and a bit and at the end of it, there's also a milking the cow demonstration, feeding the little lambies and a photo session for everyone.

Sleepy look

From there we then checked in to our hotels directly as we were both so exhausted from the day's activities. We stayed at Executive on Fenton's on the main street of the town, which was a fairly new motel. We had a really unpleasant time with the accommodation the next day *check next post for more*

Executive on Fenton's

Our room

The room was quite bare and had a small telly but the bathroom was great! The only thing that wasn't that wonderful was the smell of the water, or maybe the town. I don't know. All that sulphur in the air was starting to get to me. We had a quick rest before heading out to dinner/show/performance in Mitai Maori Village.

We booked in with Mitai Maori Village for their "Beauty by the night" which included Hangi ( a traditional ground cooked meal), a waka (warrior canoe), culture performance, glow worm walk and visit to the next door Kiwi conservative centre.

We arranged for a pickup from our accommodation which arrived pretty much on time. There was actually quite a few that was going to the same place.

Introducing us to Hangi

Hangi is the traditional cooking method by the Maori's where food is placed on the ground to be cooked. The process takes quite a few hours.

Sneak peek of what's coming! *yums*

We then started off the performances bit with the waka, which is a canoe performance where the warrior paddle along a river singing/performing a song. It was quite entertaining!

Waka

After the Waka we then headed off for a 45 - 60 mins performance of the local cultures, which was really good. For me anyway. Here's some pictures - check out their expression!

He looks scary!!

And now, some dances :

And now it's the girl's turn!
*The paintings on the face were really quite amazing*

Pictures just can't do justice to the show, so here's a video. I really enjoyed the energy from the performance.

And we were off to dinner...........

Dinner was buffet styled and the food was pretty good. And enough to go for seconds! It was yummsss...

And some local drinks to go with :)

And after that, we went for a walk in the area looking at glow worms and also to the kiwi conservation centre. Wasn't really my thing so there isn't much pictures to show. Plus, the kiwis were really hard to look for!

At the Kiwi Conservation Centre