20 November 2010: Smelly, Hot and Amazing

So this last weekend we explored the Rotorua region. We briefly explored this area when we visited in Jan/Feb 2009 but really didn’t leave the town itself (which itself has plenty to keep you busy). This area is extremely wet with lots of lakes and streams/rivers of varying sizes. It is also EXTREMELY geothermally active.  Our goal for the weekend was to enjoy the town a bit on Friday afternoon/evening, then explore through some short treks the beautiful landscape and the thermal features.

Friday night was lovely. Kevin spent the day assisting the Chris, the buoy guru, with several buoys on lakes in the Rotorua region. Megan met him down there in the evening. We finally got some delicious fish and chips, followed by a few drinks and live music at a local pub. Great night!

Saturday we started early down to Rainbow Mountain or Maungakakaramea, meaning mountain of colored earth.  The hike to the summit of this mountain is a 5km return (3 mile roundtrip) with some amazing crater pools and fumarole laden cliff-faces along the way. At the summit you get a spectacular 360 degree view of the Rotorua region including Mount Tarawera (we will get to this later), Lake Tarawera, Lake Rotorua, Lake Rotoiti, Lake Rotomahana, Lake Taupo, several geothermal parks and even the peaks of Tongariro National Park to the south. In other words, on a clear day...wow! And this day was pretty clear.

One of the crater lakes

Fumaroles

From the summit

After this hike we headed south in search of one of the other cool features of the area, hot pools in the bush.  In different areas all over the North Island there are areas where water bubbles (and sometimes boils) up from the ground and mixes with flowing fresh or ocean water. Many of these places are commercialized but there are many areas that are tucked away on remote beaches or in the forest. Here in Rotorua there are lots of bush hot pools/streams.  We went in search of 4 different locations to pick our favourite to soak in for a while. However, there are a few things to keep in mind: 1- Don’t get your head wet in these thermal areas (right Steph and Mark J). There is a very, very small risk of contracting amoebic meningitis (see here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_amoebic_meningoencephalitis ) but this disease has a fatality rate of almost 97%; and 2- Try to find a hot pool area that fits into the Goldilocks principle (not too hot- ouch, not too cold- no thanks, and not too acidic- bummer). After checking out all four sites we actually settled on the most popular area because of the waterfalls and the fact that it wasn’t actually busy that day. Kerosene Creek was wonderful.

As if boiling water and mud aren't enough, let's throw in a fatal parasitic disease

Next we journeyed back north and to the east past lakes Rotorua, Rotoiti, Rotoehu, and Rotoema to the town of Kawerau to get a permit to drive on logging roads to get to the Lake Tarawera Outlet campground for the night. What a pretty spot. It was wickedly windy that night and the next morning but still beautiful  and a lovely evening.

Sunset over Lake Tarawera

After a nice night’s sleep we packed up our gear and decided to hike out to Tarawera Falls before heading out. This hike was a fairly flat 10km return and it did not disappoint.  This track offers quiet time in the bush with views of the crystal clear Lake Tarawera outflow river, 3 different waterfall areas, and the climax is when the river disappears into a hole in the ground to gush out of the middle of a cliff face in the final waterfall area. Amazing!

First set of falls, we almost stopped here b/c we though this was it...lesson in persisting/exploring

Gag if you must, but I thought it was a nice pic

Welcoming us to the second major waterfalls

Beautiful

The river just disappears into this hole! (Not a a small river either)

And here is comes!

Little side note here: Mount Tarawera is kind of looming in the background in this area at all times. This “dormant” volcano has an interesting recent history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tarawera  You can now take helicopter tours through the 7 craters on the top of the mountain or visit the Buried Village where they are attempting to excavate. This is a popular painting made by one of the survivors of the eruption from a local Maori village:  http://www.clearwater.co.nz/PicsHotel/clearwater/GeneralPresentation/ID6926Pic1.jpg  . No thanks right? Thankfully it’s a little quieter now.

Our last stop on our way home to Hamilton was in the town of Okere Falls where we hiked along a short track to the Kaituna Falls. For those of you who enjoy whitewater rafting, this is world renown. This short raft trip takes you over the highest commercially rafted falls, 7m (about 21 ft). Kevin is going over these falls as we speak as part of a buddy’s Stag Party (Bachelor Party for us Americans).

Insane!?!

Well that’s all for now. This week has been kind of boring with Megan and Kevin both working.  As a little teaser we will share a bit about where we are headed this next week. Next week is Thanksgiving week back in the states, so we considered doing a big potluck but everyone we are close with are heading to the South Island for a conference. No worries though, time for an adventure. We will be heading out to our first Great Walk, the Lake Waikaremoana Track (http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/east-coast-hawkes-bay/aniwaniwa-area/lake-waikaremoana-great-walk/ ). There are 9 Great Walks (including one canoe journey) in New Zealand. When we finish on Thanksgiving Day we will be heading down to Napier which is in the Hawke’s Bay wine region (yeah!) for a relaxing day of winery tours on Black Friday. 

Thanksgiving Side Note:

We hope you all know how thankful we are for all of you. Each of you brings so much to our lives. Thank you for being amazing. We don’t know where we would be without the love and support of our family and friends.

Lots of love and hugs!