Hi everyone,
This morning we got up at 6.20 ready to head to New Plymouth, with a few stops along the way.
The reason we got up so early was to avoid the crowds. In 2001 when we came here as a family, we went to what was then a hidden secret called Kerosene Creek, a naturally heated creek in the forest. I don’t remember there being many people around at all. But today due to word of mouth and the easy research the internet allows, apparently it’s absolutely jammed full of people later in the day. Unfortunately, because it’s so popular with tourists, some local youths have also taken it upon themselves to burgle hire cars and camper vans.
Our car was luckily untouched, and even if broken into they wouldn’t have gotten anything. We took all our valuables in my pacsafe bag and then locked our suitcases to a bar in the back of the car (we have a hatch - no out of sight boot). I’m a bloody pro at this by now, so good luck thieves!!!
Luckily for us we also had the place virtually to ourselves. We swam from about 7.30-8.45. During that time we had it totally to ourselves for a little bit, and shared it with just two couples the rest of the time. The temperature was perfect and the surrounding forest and trees were lush and beautiful just as I remembered. What a perfect spot. Just a shame that like most other things on this planet, we as humans ruin it with rubbish, crowds and greed. If you’re going to go, do what we did and head there early so you get to experience its beauty properly. Also - don’t put your head under the water! There’s a bacteria called amoebic meningitis in the water, but it’s harmless so long as your head is out (the Italian couple clearly hadn’t read about this - they kept standing under the waterfall part!).
Just down the road we then went to Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. We walked two of the three suggested circuits, but popped our heads in to the highlights of the final one anyway. Along the way we saw many beautiful natural sights - craters, terraces, coloured lakes due to the appearance of different minerals, cliffs, sulphur mounds and then a geothermal power plant in the distance. I’m getting definite Icelandic vibes from this part of NZ. All the geothermal side of things reminds me of the beauty I experienced there too.
Our two favourites were towards the end of our walk; the green and orange Champagne Pool with sizzling temperatures up to 100 degrees Celsius which was formed 700 years ago by a hydrothermal eruption, and the lime green Devil’s Bath whose colour is the result of excess water from the Champagne Pool mixing with sulphur and ferrous salts. Both were stunning!
Afterwards we went to the 10.15 Lady Knox geyser show at the complex. This geyser was named after Governor General Lord Ranfurley’s daughter. In the 1800s there were 130 active geysers in this area, but now this is one of just ten. The park induce the eruption with a natural soap called surfactant each day at 10.15 so tourists can see it. We were glad of that explanation as we were very suss as to how it could go off at the same time each day, especially given we just put our clocks back!! After telling us that prisoners in this area used to use the geyser eruptions to shower, some idiot tourist took it upon himself to strip off, jump the fence and hop in after it started erupting. We in the crowd couldn’t figure out if he worked there, but soon found out he didn’t when security arrived. What a moron!
Finally we headed to the mud pools before leaving the complex. Overall we had a really good time and thought it great value for all the different natural creations you get to see.
Our next stop was Huka Falls, about half an hour further on. ‘Huka’ is the Maori word for foam, which makes sense because 200,000L of water per second plunges down the 9m drop at the end of the bottleneck. The water was so powerful and a pretty ice blue colour.
Then we continued on to Taupo for our lunch stop. We found a cute little bakery where we bought some lunch, and ate it on a bench in the sun by the lake. We’ve been so lucky with the weather thus far - fingers cross it continues!
We chose the scenic route to continue on and drove around the south east and south west parts of the lake. Then the next three or so hours were spent driving to New Plymouth. Along the way we enjoyed beautiful velvet green hills, bursts of sunshine, mini rain showers and lots of sheep! The silly GPS took us a really windy way though which was a bit of a pain in the rain, but at least we knew we were headed to New Plymouth in the end.
We got to Rob’s Nanny’s place just before 6pm. She’s lovely and very easy to get along with. She made us a delicious dinner and we all talked and talked. Then Rob’s cousin Josh came over for a bit too. Turns out the way we drove was very roundabout, Josh hadn’t even heard of some of the towns we drove through! GPSes have a knack for doing that I guess!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
WEDNESDAY 4/4
Hi all,
This morning Rob and I have been driving around New Plymouth. The weather has absolutely turned it on again!
We went to see Mt Taranaki from the roadside. Because it’s so clear today we got a nice view!
Then we went to Pukekura Park and looked at the free Brooklands Zoo. The park was beautiful and we enjoyed a lovely walk, then got to see some monkeys, otters and more.
We went for a walk along the foreshore in the sun where we saw the 45m tall wind wand that blows in the direction of the wind. Now we are having a coffee before we head back to Rob’s Nanny’s for lunch.
Later today we are going to the cemetery to visit Rob’s Poppa and then seeing some family and family friends the rest of the time we are here.
I’ll post once we are in Queenstown in two days time. We fly to Christchurch Friday morning, will have a look around there and then drive to Queenstown.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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