Volcanos

As prophesied by Margaret, the environment was about to get a lot smellier. We had a little taster just outside Taupo at a little walkway park called "Craters of the Moon". Silly name really as the moon proper is geologically inert whereas this region of planet Earth most definitely isn't. Between the ever-present steam from the the eponymous craters, the sun and a ground temperature that was suspiciously higher than normal, this was a warm and uncomfortable 45 minute walk.

As we left Taupo we stayed with the theme. First stop was a "Thermal Wonderland" called Wai-O-Tapu, a volcanic disneyland some 18 sq. km. in area covered in collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud, water and steaming fumaroles. The streams from here flow into the previously mentioned Waikato River which is fine until one examines the amount of Sulphur, Iron Oxide, Silica, Manganese, Chlorine and Antimony that is also introduced by way of the still bubbling volcanic activity. The official brochure rather understates it somewhat by saying "which account for no fish life in the stream". There were further clues as we walked round: one of the pools at the bottom of a crater was a bright lime green (and probably glowed in the dark). Other clues included bright yellows, oranges and reds and the most devilish of smells.

Onward, then, to Rotorua, having satisfied our geological urges (tell you the truth, I was feeling a bit queasy -- probably a bout of antimony poisoning). This is probably heresy, but we found the famed Rotorua rather unattractive. The approach boulevard was a wall-to-wall dual carriageway of motels with nary a bar to break the monotony. The town centre itself was huge and sprawling but strangely soulless. Maybe you had to stay there for a 24 hour bender to fully appreciate the amenities. We decided to travel onward.

North, then, to stop at Papamoa Beach (another excellent example of a 4 or a 5 or a 6 kilometer sandy beach with only 6 people on it) and thence to Tauranga where we had pre-booked that night's accommodation. We liked that place; a charming, precinct shopping centre next to a plethora of bars and cafes on the waterside. The evening's entertainment was a short pub crawl in the setting sun and a very French-styled cook(burn)-your-own meat event on hot stones at your table.