New Zealand day 8

          We headed south this morning toward Turangi, and past Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand.  600 feet deep in some areas and covering more than 225 square miles, this area was the source of the largest known eruption in the world in the last 70 thousand years--even larger than the one near present-day Santorini, which is said to have causes the elimination of Minoan society.   The explosion released more than 1,100 cubic kilometers of material, and caused more than 200 square miles of territory to collapse and form a giant caldera.  Fortunately, there were no humans close enough to observe in, since it happened about 26,500 years ago.  Since then, it has erupted 27 more times.  Just to be safe, we decided to spend only one night in the area.

           Parts of the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed around Taupo; remind us to watch the movies with you and point out the places we passed by!

          We detoured to a place highly recommended by Lonely Planet, called Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park.  It turned out to be a miniature Yellowstone--or should we say, micro-Yellowstone.  Covering 10 or 20 acres, there were pools of boiling mud, pools of boiling water, the makings of a small geyser several feet tall, and mineral deposits of varying hues.  There were also well-marked trails with descriptions of many of the native plants, and an interesting cave.  Actually, the most interesting thing about the cave was the fact that you couldn't actually enter it, or even get near it; there was a barricade high above the entrance with signs warning you not to descend because of the danger of falling rock.

  Orakei Korako

         The second most interesting thing about the cave was the little trail we spotted, leading down to a little sign that you couldn't possibly read without binoculars.  We used the telephoto lens to take a photo, and then enlarged that so we could read:

Sign at the cave

          During lunch at the thermal area, we had a long talk about the weight problem one of us perceived the other was going to have unless he cut down on sweets during this trip.  I made a commitment:  no more desserts the entire trip, except in real emergency situations.

          Leaving the thermal area, we headed south again, until we came upon a commercial enterprise that had been recommended to us--the Bee Store, which specializes in gourmet honey and honey products.  We thought it might be nice to have some souvenir honey, so we stopped and entered the huge showroom.  The first sign we noticed was one pointing to the honey ice cream counter.  I wandered over, just to see what was there, and a lady came over to help.  She pointed out the fig honey ice cream, and said it was made with manuka honey and was a prize-winning ice cream.  When I told her about my no dessert commitment, she reminded me that dessert was something that came with a meal, and this would just be an afternoon treat.  Soon, after noticing Tricia had wandered off to another part of the store I was enjoying the greatest treat of the afternoon.  The slivers of figs melded perfectly with the manuka honey flavor.  Another divine new flavor to savor on a beautiful New Zealand afternoon.

           Heading south again, we came upon Huka Falls, a 30-foot high waterfall that was unusual in a couple of respects.  The falls are at the end of a little gorge, about 50 feet across, where the waters of a wide river are forced into this tiny area, and 50,000 gallons of water rush through each second.  The bubbles created by this process create a beautiful ice-blue color at the point of the falls.  It was a pretty cool stop.

Huka Falls

          This is a nation of open roads.  The total population is around 4 million, less than half that of the State of Georgia, and nearly a third of those live in Auckland.  More than 50% live in the four largest cities, which leaves a couple million scattered out all over everywhere.   Down in Queenstown, for example, there is an international airport with a number of daily flights to other cities in New Zealand and some to Australia.  But the total population is 7,500, about half that of St. Marys, Georgia.  The roads are good, but except for one area of Auckland, are all two-lane roads--even the primary national highway running the length of the country--Highway 1, which we are now traveling.  Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), everyone travels at or near the speed limit, so there are seldom long lines waiting to pass a slowpoke.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), the speed limit is 100 kph, or about 62 miles per hour.  It takes a long time to go anywhere.

          We saw our first kiwi a couple of days ago.  As you know, kiwi is not a fruit.  New Zealanders are often referred to as kiwis, even by themselves.  But they are referring to the creature, and if you ask one of them for a bite of kiwi, they will think you are a bit daffy.  The kiwi is an endangered flightless, nocturnal bird, almost round--about the size of a soccer ball, with a long beak.  You don't see them in the daytime, and our experience was in a dark room where a couple of them were kept for the public to see.  Lights come on during the night, so these birds have their days reversed.

          We also drove through a redwood forest in Rotorua, which was quite a surprise.  Seems a hundred years or so ago, the kiwis test planted various trees from the U.S. to determine their suitability for New Zealand.  The redwoods grew much faster here than in California, and they are now huge, more than 100 feet tall already.  A pretty impressive forest.

          We head for the seat of government tomorrow, and will thrill you with tales of the politics of New Zealand.

Charlie & Tricia

©2013