Up early this morning for the 50km drive to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. An early start because we wanted to be there before 10:15 to see the Lady Knox Geyser erupt. We must admit that we were just a little bit disappointed when we actually got to see the geyser as we were expecting it to be a natural occurrence. Instead, we discovered that the geyser is encouraged to erupt by dropping a surfactant (small cakes of soap in this case) down its vent. Despite that disappointment, the eruption is quite amazing with the geyser shooting something like 20 metres into the air. The history behind all this goes back to 1901 and the country's first open prison. Inmates were using the hot water bubbling out of the ground here to do their laundry. The soap reduced the surface tension of the water and allowed the geyser to erupt, to the prisoners' astonishment and our continued astonishment today.
The rest of the park is not unlike Hell's Gate. Named "One of the 20 Most Surreal Places in the World" - Thousands of years in the making, you can choose one or all of three walks which take between 45 and 90 minutes. We did two of the walks. Unique features include the world-famous Champagne Pool naturally coloured springs, bubbling mud, steaming ground, expansive vistas, huge volcanic craters and sinter terrace formations. The natural bush setting is also a pleasant place to be. If we had to choose just one of these experiences we would probably settle for Hell's Gate - but then we wouldn't have seen the geyser.
Originally we had planned on travelling further south to Lake Taupō but decided that we couldn't fit everything in in our time in New Zealand and instead chose to spend the afternoon at Waikite Valley Hot Pools about 10km west of Wai-O-Tapu. What a lovely spot.
The pools are fed straight from the Te Manaroa Spring, the largest single source of 100% pure boiling geothermal water in New Zealand. Before dipping we took the informative geothermal Eco-Trail along the stream to where the spring erupts from the cliff face. Just amazing watching the spring discharge thousands of litres of geothermal energy into the Otamakokore Stream that winds its way downstream, leaving a trail of calcite formations in its wake, to the pools.
Near to the pools the hot water runs over artificial rapids in order to cool it for bathing. there were lots of choice - the main Settlers pool (35-38°C) and adjoining toddlers' beach area as well as the sit 'n' soak pool (38-40°C) and luxurious tranquil garden and pergola pools. So well done and we loved the natural surroundings. We had a lovely soak.
