Waimangu, Rotorua, Mt Maunganui

[Sarah...] Our busy days on the North Island continued with a drive north from National Park to Mount Maunganui, making many stops along the way.  The first stop was at Huka Falls, which mark the spot where NZ's longest river (the Waikoto) flows into a narrow chasm and makes a 10 metre drop.  The falls look more like rapids than classic waterfalls, but they're pretty cool.  I also read on a sign there that because the falls are so traumatic for them, eels can't make their way upriver and thus there are no eels in Lake Taupo.  I can't complain about that!  [Note from Chad: Sarah, you eel hater. Do you hate rainbows and puppies too?]

Next up was a stop at the Waimangu Volcanic Valley.  This valley contains the newest hot springs and volcanic area in the world - formed during a big 1886 eruption.  Below, the volcano in the far background erupted, and with it a chain of volcanic craters was formed, straight from it to where this photo was taken, 22km away.  Everything in the photo died - plants, animals, birds.  Barren in 1886, it has slowly regenerated.  Until the early 1900s they also had the world's largest geyser here - it would spray water and rock up to 400m in the air every 36 hours.  A few unlucky tourists were killed by debris - and some of them were even standing in areas that had been thought of as safe!

At Waimangu we did something very un-McFrothy like and paid a bunch of money for the chance to do a (self-guided) walking tour through the volcanic valley.  This is thermal NZ at its finest - lots of steaming vents and bubbling water for us to look at with a minimum of other tourists compared to sites nearer to Rotorua.  Our wander through the valley did not disappoint.

So it's a bit bright...

Frying Pan Lake is the largest hot spring in the world.

80 C water

Delicate sulphur crystals

Mini geyser!

Pretty blue Inferno Crater Lake regularly overflows with water that is 80 degrees Celsius.  Not an ideal spot for a swim!

Halfway through the walk there is a 'hike up the rim of a crater' option or a 'wander down an easy path creekside' option.  Of course we took the hike option and were rewarded with some stairs (which felt particularly steep after our Tongariro hike the day before) and some nice views.

Overlooking lake Rotomahana ('Warm Lake').

Back at the bottom, we wandered the rest of the path to the bus stop - a perk of paying all that money is that you don't have to climb back up the valley!

A mini 'terrace'.

Reminded us of Pammukale in Turkey, but more colourful.

One of the streams had lots of cool-looking algae beneath the clear water.  I don't know how it wasn't all boiled up.  Must be hardy stuff.

Next stop: Rotorua.  Rotorua is one of NZ's most famous cities and the home of many, many spas and volcanic/thermal related activities.  It is also a bit of a tourist trap/zoo, and we decided to spend minimal time there.  We splurged again and got a private pool with a lake view at the Polynesian Spa [Note from Chad: which is actually the cheapest way to go for a soak in town].  The warm water was heavenly on our sore muscles, and the views weren't bad either!  If only I could afford to do all my hot spring visits this way.

We had also planned to make a stop at a craft beer pub run by a local brewery called Croucher, but like most restaurants on Rotorua's touristy eating strip it didn't open until four pm.  Maybe it's a daytime ghost town because everyone is off on bus tours?  So we were out of there, and on our way to Mount Maunganui.

The town of Mount Maunganui is named after the 232 metre 'mount' (hill) at the end of the peninsula, sitting above it - a volcanic cone on the same Ring Of Fire as Rotorua, Tongariro, etc.  The town sits at the end of a sandy peninsula, with the Bay of Plenty in the Pacific on one side and a protected harbour on the other.  It was a great little spot, and another where we probably would have spent more time if we had it.  We were lucky enough to be hosted by Lesley (sister of Stephen, who we stayed with in Auckland), who showed us where to find awesome Turkish food and told us about the best way up the mountain.  Well yes, of course we were going to climb it!

Ready to go - never mind those still-stiff legs!

Sheep still graze the slopes of the Mount.  They were as unwilling photo subjects for Chad as they were for me.

Hiding out from the ring wraiths in the shadows of an oak, Lord of the Rings style. I'm starting to think Chad is part hobbit.

We were treated to many, many scenic views on the way up.

Looking back at the town - Bay of Plenty on the left and harbour on the right.

At the top!

Lots of raw log exports - despite the endless tree farms and much logging, we didn't see a single sawmill in NZ. Unfortunate.

Back at the bottom, Chad tried another NZ speciality - Hokey Pokey ice cream.  It's vanilla ice cream with caramel and bits of honeycomb in it, and got his stamp of approval.

Another great NZ town - this place is filled with them!