30th pictures

Ducks are surprisingly resilient to nasty swamps! Also,I liked this bicycle tree :-)

Wednesday 30th September

I caught the bus from Taupo to Rotarua this morning...and being only an hours journey I arrived with plenty of time to explore my new surroundings. I have a couple of excursions planned for tomorrow, so decided to stay around town today and see what was on offer. It turns out there are bubbling mud pools and steam vents everywhere... The geothermal park I saw the other day was just the tip of the iceberg! That one had larger craters, but here they are everywhere. Steam is even bubbling up through the lake, up the occasional drain and cracks in the pavement! There is stinky pond after stinky pond. And let me assure you, it really does smell pretty bad! There are windows of fresh air (my hostel is nice and odour free), but I was trying to think of a way to describe the smell when you get near the ponds. I think it's like if a dead tuna fish were put out to rot for several days with a heap of seaweed, and then slowly burned (not cooked evenly, so some is still raw and the other side is smoking) you might get something like the smell. Not that I put too much thought into it! Still, it's all pretty fascinating!

I also discovered equally fascinating St Faith's church, it's Anglican, established by missionaries and the Maori people who apparently in this area were happy to accept Christianity. The building that stands today was built in 1914, and its unlike any church I've been to.... In shape much like a European church but fully decked out in Maori carving and pattern. Quite an amazing collision of two cultures. I particularly liked the window of Jesus walking on water, wearing traditional Maori clothes.

I wandered on along the shoreline, saw and smelt more geothermal peculiarities, and enjoyed a spot of live music in a bar, with a drink and a book.

Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th

I moved hostels this morning, but within the same town, as yesterday's was closing for refurbishment. It was a bit of a claustrophobic room though, and lacking in sufficient plug sockets, so this one is possibly marginally better. Hired a bike from my new hotel, and headed out of Taupo to the Huka falls, a very spectacular waterfall series where I wide river goes through a much smaller gap... Think "the strid" in Yorkshire, but many times bigger! The mountain biking track was good too, just the right amount of technically difficulty without being dangerous. I decided to head on further as it was still looking sunny, and much of the day remained. A bit further along I found the Craters of the Moon park, an area with lots of geothermal activity, such as steami craters and bubbling mud pools. They've had the occasional eruption in the past, but not for a little while... And there's a nice wooden walkway all the way round to keep you on safe ground. Like yesterday's steam, there. Was a somewhat interesting aroma to e place! But all in all rather interesting. 

I had more time, so went on to the dam further down the river, which like Huka falls, created some spectacular waterfalls. The water is such a vivid example blue here, which adds to the prettiness. Then headed back up the other side of the river, and decided I had to stop for food at Huka falls, which was handy, as there was a massive hail storm just as I got there! I had a hot pie, which was great to begin with, but slightly concerningly I found to be cold in the middle, so asked for it to be further heated up...but I'm hoping there are no sicky repercussions as I'm booked on a trip tomorrow to do a famous walk...the Tongariro Crossing. It's meant to be one of the most beautiful in the world, and I've spent a bit of money to go with a group with a coach transfer, guides and equipment. So really hoping I don't get food poisoning, as this could somewhat put paid to my plans!!

I was fine on Tuesday, phew! So I was able to partake in my planned walking of the Tongariro Crossing. This is a 20km trail that takes you through the highest mountains (actually volcanoes) on the North Island. Because it's so snowy up there, and the track doesn't return to he same start point, the best way of doing it is to go with a group who transport and guide you. In summer it's easier to get the shuttle bus and walk it on your own, but that option isn't running at the moment. Which is good, because they were expecting up to 150 people to do the route today, as opposed to the summertime average of 3000 people. It must be extremely crowded in summer, as it felt like there were a lot in our group! It was a beautiful walk, and there was much fresh snow from yesterday. The guides didn't run the walk yesterday as it was predicted to be poor conditions...and I'm sure that hail storm would have been troublesome up there! The walk bypasses the highest peaks, which are more commonly attempted in summer, but they did look enticing. We all were supplied with crampons just in case, but the snow was stable enough not to require them. It was so unspoiled with yesterday's fresh snow! We got to slide down some slopes, as it was easier than walking, and safe due to the thickness of the snow, and the flat areas at the bottom of said slopes. The area didn't quite resemble the Mordor of Lord of the Rings that I am more familiar with, as in the films the area is so dry and snowless! There were a couple of bare patches without snow, where the geothermal activity beneath us had turned the snow to steam... And one volcano in particular the route takes a wide course around, as it last erupted only in 2012, and it still produces quite a torrent of steam! I asked the guides if there's any advance warning of such an eruption, to which they said there are usually earthquakes and a loud cracking noise first, and that if we saw them running we were to follow. Reassurance at its greatest I thought!!! It was a long descent to the car park at the bottom, but our bus was waiting, with drinks ready for us :-) A very lovely day out!

29th pictures

Again, writing to follow when there is better Wi-Fi... in short, today I walked the Tongariro crossing, a very popular walk.It was snowy and fun :-)

28th pictures

Words to follow when I have Wi-Fi!

Pictures 27th

Sunday 27th

I woke up in Napier this morning, and hired a bike for an hour in order to see as much as I could in the short time I was there. It was nice enough...though a bit of a grey day, with showers! Lots of beaches, with quite dark coloured sand rather than a typical golden sand, which was interesting. I think it's quite a popular place with water sports and surfing types, but for a visitor, it's not the most exciting place on this Island when the weather isn't great...one overnight was fine for me! The experience of getting on the coach was fairly unpleasant, and three coaches arrived, and shed their passengers, each to get onto a different coach to continue their journeys. But it was fairly unclear which coach was going where, and there were so many confused people that it was difficult to navigate through them with a large rucksack, in order to try and find someone who knew!

But eventually I got on the bus, and had an interesting journey chatting to the man next to me who was of a combination of Maori and English descent- so he was able to tell me loads of things about the land and it's traditions, and he also pointed me in the direction of the youth hostel his friends run and we all had a nice drink and piece of cake together :-) 

After settling into my room, I went for a walk to the geothermal stream, and had a brief dunk in the water (was too hot to stay long, I went all headachey!) it had a somewhat unpleasant aroma, which may not have helped. Sulfurous and nasty!

There's lots to explore here...oh I didn't say where I am! I'm at Lake Taupo... There are lots of bike and walking trails, so think I'll have another cycle tomorrow!

The pictures show the beach in Napier, and a lovely sunset in Taupo, which of course looked better in real life.