Big Birds and Old Geysers

After the wonders of Waitomo our journey took us back east again. We stopped on the way at a quirky little town called Otorohangu, known principally as a place that celebrates all things to do with New Zealand (Kiwiana) but also home to the Kiwi House a bird sanctuary, conservation centre and perhaps our only chance to see a live kiwi!

Kiwis are nocturnal birds and endangered so the chances of spotting one in the wild are remote. The Kiwi House gave us the chance to see a kiwi as they have a nocturnal room and you can observe kiwis but they are oblivious to your presence. They are larger than you might expect, hairy rather than feathery and despite an ungainly appearance are quite fast across the ground. As well as kiwis we got see see lots of other native birds including a very friendly spurred plover who met us as we exited the kiwi house and started to follow us....

After seeing lots of birds we explored Otorohanga itself. It really goes to town on celebrating all things 'kiwi' with gift shops selling all manner of things ranging from the tasteful to pure tat...but mostly the latter. Mrs B. was in her element!

Street art in Otorohangu

A reviving coffee later saw us journey on, eventually reaching Rotoroa. 

Rotoroa sits on the shore of a large lake and would be a pleasant but somewhat unremarkable town but for what goes on below ground. As you approach Rotoroa puffs of steam appear from vents at the edge of pavements or between bushes and there is a distinctive smell of sulphur. A weary traveller could be forgiven for thinking they were approaching the gates of hell, what with the tacky looking motels, bars and the odd casino. Further inspection reveals that Rotoroa does in fact have some curious delights.

Leaving Ned in the car park by the lake we set off to explore on foot. A 15 minute walk brought us to Kuirau Park. At first glance you would think Kuirau Park is a fairly ordinary municipal park, with neatly trimmed grass, tidy flower beds and lakes but then you realise that its far from a typical park. There are bubbling pools of boiling mud, steaming lakes and craters that are (mostly) fenced off to prevent the unwary from meeting a hot and sticky end. 

Not sure what this notice is referring to....

We continued walking and eventually found ourselves in a slightly ramshackle Maori village (with lots of steaming pools of water all around us) that had a number of marae (meeting halls) and a superb late 19th century Anglican church; St Faiths. It had wonderful Maori carving decorating the inside.

We eventually returned to our start point and rewarded ourselves with a modestly priced but enormous ice cream.

Deciding to camp somewhere less sulphurous we headed out into the hills to Lake Tikitapu also known as the Blue Lake. The air was clean and it was a beautiful place to park Ned and sleep for a couple of nights whilst we explored more of the area.

Lake Tikitapu....it really is blue!

Keen to see some more geo thermal wonders we set off early the next morning to Wai o tapu. This visitor attraction bills itself as a thermal wonderland and provides an opportunity to follow trails and view some pretty amazing thermal pools where the minerals produce water that alternates between red, blue and green. Its also very hot...average temperature of the hot springs and lakes is 100°c.

Definitely not pea soup!

The star attraction of Wai o tapu is undoubtedly the Lady Knox geyser. This erupts (with a little human intervention) at 10.15 am. Apparently convicts clearing the forest thought to use the hot water to do their laundry. The addition of soap powder broke the surface tension of the super heated water below ground and caused a plume of water to erupt. It is now triggered in the same way and sends a jet of water beween 10 and 20 metres into the air.

An old geyser...

After completing all the way marked trails we headed back towards the Blue Lake but detoured to see another couple of lakes including the impressive Lake Tarewara. An information board from a look out point told us that an eruption from Mount Tarewara, a still active volcano, had devastating consequences for a Maori community in 1886, burying an entire village and radically changing the landscape. It was a salutary reminder that the natural beauty of many parts of New Zealand and especially the geo thermal places we were visiting were not benign forces.  Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes were regular occurrences and could alter villages, towns and cities in unpredictable ways...as we were to find out in our next destination: Napier.