The Best of Rotorua

Rotorua, Bay Of Plenty, New Zealand
Friday, November 15, 2013

Friday 15 November

I think you can safely say we are geothermal'd out! We moved on this am to Napier stopping off at Wai-O-Tapu on the way. At last here were the type of volcanic features I had been expecting, in their natural setting. Those of you who know me well will be shocked to hear we were on the doorstep of the Lady Constance Geyser well before she was due to blow at 10.15am and this is 30 kms from Rotorua. The geyser is billed as a bigger event than Old Faithfull in Yellowstone. Not so on several accounts. Impressive certainly, but nudged into action by a chemical fixer and has been for the last 80 years, to prevent a huge blow out. There were sufficient coloured pools, boiling mud pools and travertine terraces to excite the average geographer to death. Peter on fixing his eye on the sixth mud pool was heard to mutter, 'seen one mud patch seen 'em all'! The sun shone, glistening off the silica deposits and the whole area looked like a scene from a moonscape. Fascinating to think what is going on under the surface of such a green and pleasant land and how close everything is to being blown away. New Zealand sits on the edge of two tectonic plates moving over one another. The resulting eruptions and earthquakes have shaped a land of great beauty that is still evolving at a fast rate (geophysically that is). We sped on down towards Taupo and it's enormous volcanic lake to view the Huka Falls, which is another sight not to be missed. The force of the water is phenomenal and it is pure turquoise, which is arresting on it's own. Interestingly, the foliages on the edge of the gorge are really alpine, whilst just a few feet away is sub- tropical lush vegetation. Such contrast in such a small area. It was relatively quiet and we had no problem getting to and viewing whatever we wished to. The only irritating factor was the ever camera happy Japanese/ Korean/Chinese who seem to have to be photographed in front of every half interesting feature available. Manners are clearly non existent in their culture and I am just relieved that we are unlikely to be asked to view their enormous photograph collections!!
The remainder of the journey to Napier passed without incident and as we neared Napier and Hawkes Bay the scenery became even more beautiful. Wineries appeared everywhere and we started to anticipate the wine tastings to come!
The hotel here is super, on the beach and each room has a spa bath in to accommodate the whole of the wine group in one hit. We ate at a really good restaurant called Pacifico tonight. I don't expect to better the meal in the next 3 months. We came on it quite by chance and if you're ever this way look it up.Read more