After our beautiful night out under the stars, Mary-Ellen, Geoff, and I woke to a slightly misty morning on the lake. We packed away the tent into the car and some oatmeal into ourselves with the lakeside as our backdrop and the numerous song birds and waterfowl serenading us.
We met back up with the rest of the family and headed shortly down the highway to the Wai-O-Tapu thermal wonderland. As with our own experience here, we began with the mud pools, where gases deep within the earth force their way up through this pool of mud, creating spectacular shows of bubbles, spitting, and miniature eruptions of the grey kaolin clay. This was also the first major experience with the strong sulphuric smells that would be persistent throughout the park. Fortunate for several members of the family, a cold was inhibiting much of their sense of smell.
Quickly purchasing our tickets, we backtracked to the geyser to make sure were got good seats for the show. Our announcer also seemed to be suffering from a cold, but managed to get through his piece before dropping in the surfactant that releases the pressure and sends the geyser going on command. It took its merry-ole time starting up but to our delight, it erupted in all its steaming glory!
So with two geothermal experiences crossed off, we headed into the thermal wonderland to see what other unique formations could be found. I will not go into too much detail, given that I have written about this before. For the next hour and a half, we wandered across great gaseous caverns, bubbling pits of mud and graphite, sulphur spurring from the ground, and the persistent smell of rotten eggs.
The most remarkable thing for everyone was the colours. Unlike when Mary-Ellen and I had gone, the sky was clear and beautiful making the colours even more vibrant. With one area, known rightfully so, as the artists pallet, whose waters ranged from turquoise blues, to kiwi green, to sunflower yellow, and even a rusty orange.
Another thing that differed greatly between this venture and the one Mary-Ellen and I did almost a year ago now was that we were able to see significantly farther which added some depth to the extent of the park and painted a greater picture across the landscape. This was not only true for the many lookout spots where we previously had simply walked past, but when we were walking the boardwalks across the small geysers and bubbling waters.
Wildlife was also much more visible, with small flies around the many waterways and several pied stilts (wading bird) wandering through the rivers snapping at small creatures. Although they were not shy to people, they did seem to avoid positions that would provide the greatest photo opportunities! This one in particular refused to go close enough that the bubbling sulphur could be seen in the same shot.
The one thing that Mary-Ellen and I didn't do was the green lake, a lookout at the extent of the park. It was fortunate then that we returned, as this gorgeous body of water was worth a second tour. The emerald green waters, fed by a water fall mirrored the green foliage on its perimeter but unlike most lakes was far from a reflection of the blue sky. The contrast to our preconceived idea of a lake was stunning.
Getting tired of the walking and with the increasing cloud rolling in we headed back to finish up the tour with the champagne lake. Unlike last time, there again was a greater visibility and the extent of steam coming off the lake was easier to see. The orange ring of archaebacteria among the bubbling greenish water is a sight few people get to see, and hopefully people realize they are seeing a form of life unlike any we are used to seeing, something few people can say they have actually seen.
Though, the favourite of many of the family was the Devil's bath, in all it's green splendor. It was here that we got our family photo taken and in return Dad reciprocated. Before we could leave though, Dad ended up getting asked to do so for another family from somewhere in the Asian Orient. As we left, the man kept asking Dad something, although he didn't understand. We heard correctly though and indicated to him that the man was asking if he was a Cameraman. With a big smile he responded, no only an amateur. We finished up, headed to Rotorua, got a feed of Burger Fuel and retired to the hotel. Given the rain that had started and would throughout the night, we opted to stay at the hotel rather than risk drenching. With lots of family pestering and goofy antics, we shared our memories of the last days adventures and headed to bed before our trip to Taupo.
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