To RotoruaNov 2, 2005
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Captions Later
Lake Taupo to Rotorua - 81 KM - 11/2/05
Short drive, busy day. The morning started with a Scenic River Cruise of the Haka River. We went in two shifts as the boat wouldn't hold everyone. Volunteers, including us, got to sleep in another half hour or so by taking the second cruise. Between cruises both groups met at the Haka River Dam to view the release of water to recreate a rapids similiar to the river before the dam. It's just a tourist thingy. They do it 4 times a day for tourist viewing. But, what the Hey! Niagra Falls does the same thing. The pool formed by the dam creates an attractive environment for the native golden eye scaup, a diving duck, and the not native black swan. Since the swans have no natural predators there is a hunting season for them each year for population control.
The river is crystal clear. From the bridge we could see huge rainbow trout swimming in a large pool below. You can see the bottom 30 feet down in the river. The river stays clear, even after rains - no mud in the banks. The entire area is on top of a huge thermal furnace and numerous hot streams feed the river. They even have a hydro-thermal electrical plant which produces 3% of the power used by North Island. Some of the group opted for a Jet-Boat ride up the rapids. We didn't do that ride.
The drive to Rotorua continued through the central plateau and back toward the coast. Nearing Rotorua we walked through Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, a series of paths through a large area of thermal vents. Some were bland, others colorful, depending on the minerals the escaping steam passed over. One of the most active mud pools anyone has seen was in the area. Mud was continuously exploding somewhere in the half acre site. The entire area from Taupo to Rotorua has occasional steam vents. There's one about 100 feet from our parking site tonight. The North Island sits over three continental plates and is one of the most active geothermal areas in the world. The largest volcanic eruption that has been documented occurred here 2,000 years ago - tens of times larger than Mount St. Helens. It's really only a question of time until another such event occurs. This time it will be incredibly disasterous as the entire area is developing as a tourist destination and bringing the full time residents that accompany such development.
We visited Rotorua this afternoon as the Caravan Park is some distance out of town. It's another most attractive town, on a lake, much like Taupo. By accident we ran into Government Gardens, a simply georgous botanical gardens built by the Morai's as a gift to the world. It was built out of a swamp, but it's also a hot spot with a sizeable new steam vent erupting at the end of the Lawn Bowling Court. The town, like all we've seen here, was full of youthful backpackers. There are large hotels, cafe's and Internet Facilities that cater to them in all the towns.
Fearless Leader was dealt another challenge by the tour bus company. Our early morning pickup, for a full day tomorrow, was changed to noon. We'll make lemonade out of that lemon by returning to Rotorua tomorrow morning for breakfast and more exploring until noon.
