Nature's Colors on Display in Taupo

From Hawke’s Bay we drove 2+ hours to the Lake Taupo area to see Huka Falls and a thermal area that is only accessible via a short ferry ride.

Turquoise-colored Huka Falls only drops 9 meters, so it appears more like a river cascade than a falls, except that it is thunderous! The amount of water flowing is enough to fill 5 Olympic swimming pools every minute. As you’ll see, tourists get a thrill in jet boats that go right up to the falls.

Then we moved on to a quieter, almost contemplative setting at Orakei Korako thermal area. Very few tourists come up to this hidden valley, preferring some of the more mainstream sites around Rotorua. We saw a small geyser, and many beautiful colors made by algae growth in the thermally-heated water, and by minerals and chemicals picked up from the surrounding rocks.

We ended the day on the shores of Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest lake—the caldera of an ancient volcano.Читать далее