So we are already in the middle of the North Island and in the general area that includes two main cities: Taupo and Rotorua, both included on our New Zealand wish-map. We stayed in total four days in this region and oh my God what a plethora of experiences did we have!

The first of our experiences was seeing active volcanos! Since Kaikoura we have started a stupid Road Trip Bingo game, which we are trying to complete by spotting all the things from our card during our trip. One of them is a volcano and as they are only present in the North Island, volcanoes have been in our discussion ever since we started from Welington. On the west coast of the North Island is Taranaki, the most famous volcano of New Zealand, which however was not included in our destinations, but Dominik saw it already in his previous stay here and during skydiving (that didn't count for the road trip bingo as it was not from the car). The way north from Welington goes through mostly flat and fertile areas without remarkable hills or anything. But suddenly ee see a magnificent snow-covered peak and guess what - it was a volcano! Mount Ruapehu, North Island's highest mountain and one of the world's most active volcanoes. It looked so beautiful. Who cares about Taranaki now? We got our tick for the game and some beautiful photos.

Northeast of Ruapehu was another nicely shaped peak, but this one was covered in clouds. It is Mount Ngauruhoe, a conical single-vent volcano with perfectly symmetrical slopes, that has starred in the Lord of the Rings movies as Mount Doom. What a pity we didn't manage to see the peak through the clouds!

And a bit further north was the third of the major landmarks of this area, Mount Tongariro. This has been considered to be the most sacred of the three by the Maori and it gives the name to the whole of the National Park that includes all this area: the Tongariro National Park. 

Our second interesting experience was water related. Both Taupo and Rotorua have lakes. Lake Taupo is New Zealand's biggest lake (the second one was Te Anau, remember?) and it sits in the caldera of a volcano. What we found interesting about it is Waikato River that runs out of the lake. The biggest lake creates the longest river in New Zealand and the most famous point of this river is the Huka Falls. The river is forced through a narrow chasm, making a dramatic 10m drop into a surging pool. Words cannot describe the force of the torrent, but maybe a picture can give you an idea. Unfortunately you won't be able to hear the tremedous noise it does, though...

Besides the Huka Falls, we also saw the Aratiatia Rapids, a bit further north. This place does not look anything amazing really, as there is a huge hydroelectric dam planted just in front of a narrow waterway. Most of the time of the day there is only a little bit of water running among rocks. But around some designated times during the day, you first hear a sirene once (hmm nothing happened), twice (oh now they will do it), three times (maybe it is as in theatres), four times and there it goes! They open the dam (unfortunately only slowly - I was expecting a more spectacular opening that would empty the pool of the dam...) and let it run for about 15 min. The water starts accummulating in the wide part in front of the narrow rocks and then it starts flooding the rocks and running spectacularly through the Rapids! And then about 20 min later it slowly slowly goes back to the boring quiet stream. That was interesting!

And now what do you get if you combine water and fire in this geologically interesting area?

1. Hot springs

During skydiving, my buddy told me about this place close to Taupo were the hot water meets a river and you can move from cold to warm water just by walking some meters away. We found out that it is the Otumuheke Stream that meets a branch of the Waikato River. The spot where they meet is a free natural bath. The Otumuheke Stream is so warm that I couldn't even stand to put my feet in there. But the point where it meets the river is cooled down enough so as to be pleasant, but also quite popular. 

But there are so many hot springs around both Taupo and Rotorua, that there are several spas and thermal areas. And since the second day of our stay in Taupo the weather became rainy and not so warm, what better idea than to spend the morning soaking in the mineral-laden waters of Wairakei Terraces and thermal health spa. In this facility water from the Wairakei steamfield is piped up from 1.5km underground. It is originally at 130°C and as it is cooled down it cascades down man-made terraces, where it deposits silica. The overlaying of deposits has developed into amazing coral-like shapes and formations. The water is then collected in pools with different levels, where the water is in different temperatures depending on the distance from the cascading hot stream. It was the best way to spend a grey morning!

2. Mud pools

Well this was a curious sight! The first thing you notice about these areas is the beautiful smell of rotten eggs. Then you see a grey area full of a viscous substance that boils and splashes in several points. Did I mention that they smell awfully?

3. Earth steaming

This was the most curious sight ever! Grassy fields or the edge of the street or the middle of the lake or anything around just steaming. This is the descrption of Rotorua! Wherever you turn (except from the town's centre with shops and stuff) there is a bit of steam coming from the ground. The feeling it creates is incredible.

4. Geyzers

Wherever very hot geothermal water comes into contact with the cooled air the pressure is released, billowing steam high into the air. This is exactly the function of a geyzer and we saw a man-made one in the Wairakei Terraces. But the spectacular ones we saw in Rotorua: Pohutu (Big Splash in Maori) and the adjacent Prince of Wales' Feathers. The former is one of the most spectacular geyzers in the area, spurting hot water up to 30m skyward. They are both an amazing view with the amount of steam they produce and if the wind blows from the correct direction, spraying you with water!

Unfortunately, all the previous mentioned characteristics are accompanied by the distinct smell of sulphuric substances (resembling rotten eggs). It is everywhere, especially close to geyzers, hot pools and mud pools! 

And the Big Splash brings me to the last and equally amazing experience we had in the area: Maori culture!

The two big geyzers we saw from the Whakarewarewa village, a living Maori village in the centre of the geothermal area around Rotorua. The locals living in the village gave us a hearty tour in their way of life for centuries, besides bubbling steamy pools, silica terraces and geyzers. Our young Maori guide explained us how her family has been giving tours for generations and how the community cooks their food either in a boiling pool or in holes inside the earth with geothermal steam, or how they bath in the common baths that fill with geothermally warmed water. She explained us their tradition about the Maori meeting house and what the face tatooing meant for them. It was just a simple guided tour, but from people that are locals and, although in the end do it for tourism, they still just explain their way of life. 

We completed our Maori cultural experiences by attending an evening full performance at the Tamaki Village. This is a touristic place, built as a fortified village, contrary to Whakarewarewa. They welcomed us with their own traditional way, where warriors go through movements and recite chants, sending out a challenge before offering a token of peace. The formal welcome included intimidating gestures and movements with their Talaha (spear-like weapons) and it was really awe-inspiring. Then, through a tour of the village, we were given a short introduction in the different activities of the Maori, such as the haka dance (war dance performed mainly by men), poi twirling (a soft ball the women use in their dancing to create sounds), games they used to train themselves, traditions about their canoes and the woodcarvings and tatooings they were doing. Then we were given a performance of dances and songs that the Maori have, including the famous haka dance.



The evening ended with a hangi which means earth oven. The food is cooked under the earth on hot rocks for three to four hours. It is arranged in layers depending on the time each ingredient needs cooking, with the meat on the bottom, the vegetables on the top and last the sweet! The food tasted delicious! We had lamb, fish and chicken with potatoes and carrots, all cooked to perfection. Even the pudding was so nice!

Hmm it has become a long post! But the two towns of central North Island are so connected and had so many things to offer that it was difficult to decide from where to start. And I have even left some of the activities we did out. One of them I should mention even just with a line: we did a treewalk! Over half a kilometer is traversed on a suspended walkway combining wooden bringes between century-old redwood trees. And we did it in the evening, so we enjoyed a series of lights and lamps that they have, that make the forest look magical!