Sightseeing around Taupo

Tags: New Zealand, Orakei Korako, Waitahanui River

Date: December 10, 2024

In the beginning of December we stored the boat in Marina Puerto Escondido on the Baja Peninsula and flew down to New Zealand to visit the country and celebrate Christmas with Bjarne's family who was traveling there from Denmark.

We started out in the town of Taupo on the North Island, a three-hours drive from Auckland. We spent about a week there and went for a few hikes around town, here at the Waitahanui River that runs into Lake Taupo, a few km outside town:

There is a footpath along the river and several small bridges crossing it:

It ia popular spot for trout fishing and we did see a few anglers while we walked the paths following the winding river:

It was very lush and green and full of plants and birds well-known to us, since many species were imported from Europe by the first European settlers in New Zealand.

Some sort of duck:

A couple of black swans, also introduced birds, but from Australia rather than Europe:

On another of our outings from Taupo, we visited the Orakei Korako Geothermal Park.

From the early 19th century Māori settlements around Orakei Korako used the hot springs for cooking and bathing. However, the eruption of Mount Tarawera in1886 likely changed the area considerably and by the turn of the century almost all settlements had been abandoned. In the early 20th century that area started becoming a visitor attraction. One must cross the Waikato River to access the geothermal area, and initially visitors would use a dugout canoe. In the 1930s a wire and pulley system was erected across the river to tow a small boat across the river. Still, today, part of the visit is the crossing of the river but today it happens in a motorized shuttle. Here we are in the geothermal area looking back towards the river and the visitor center/ticket sales place on the other side:

Orakei Korako may be translated to the "place of adornment near the white" — the white probably referring to the white silica layers deposited by the geysers and hot springs:

The many different colors come from black, green and yellow algae growing next to the white silica layers. The algae grow at temperatures between 35 and 49 degrees Celsius:

This is the so-called Golden Fleece terrace. Its Maori name is Te Kapua, which means "The Cloud":

A pool of boiling water:

A small geyser starting its eruption:

A pool of bubbling mud:

There is also a cave in the area: The thermal Ruatapu Cave (Sacred Hole) with a pool at the bottom of a 23 m vertical drop containing clear, sulfate-rich, warm acidic water — probably not a good place to go for a swim but supposedly great for cleaning jewelry: