Today we went on a bus and a boat trip and then a hike;to explore the youngest geothermal system in the world.

It was a 45 minute drive from Taupo towards Rotorua. If you remember when we were in the Bay of Plenty we came over this way and saw a buried village and waterfall. This is the other side of that lake and right in the huge caldera of the Okataina volcano.

We bought a ticket for both the walking tour and the boat trip. There are buses running down to the lake Rotomahana and back up to the cafe at Waimangu. You have the choice of 3 stops to walk to to catch the bus. So the way we did it…. First we took the bus all the way to the lake and boarded the boat. We were the only passengers! Then after the boat trip we got on the bus and returned to the top for lunch. Then we walked all the way down to the lake and bussed back again. Phew!

So first the boat cruise around Lake Rotomahana:

We were in the Taupo volcanic zone part of the New Zealand Pacific “ring of fire”. The molten rock is only a few kilometres below the surface. The whole area was born from and dated from the volcanic eruption within Mount Tarawera. On 10th June 1886. At this moment the lake grew bigger, the area was covered with mud and many people died. New springs of boiling water appeared and sadly beautiful pink and white salt terraces were destroyed for ever.

On the lake we saw hot streams, volcanic rock walls of many colours, steaming cliffs, fumerole steam vents and geysers.

Next the hike down the mountain:

Walking steeply down to the lake, we saw the whole area of the mountain with craters and pools of differing colours due to the algae, a crystal wall and terraces, geysers, bubbling springs of boiling water, creeks and stalagmites, Rift Valley and wetlands surrounding the lake.

5.3kms is the distance we walked. The geology was spectacular.

We both really enjoyed the whole day. It came to about £36 each( $70 for seniors).For both the walk and cruise. Not too bad for all we saw was it?

Hope you like the photos It has been an amazing day xxxx

I’ll end with the Huka waterfall and Taupo, We went there again last night and did a bit of the walking tracks along the river down to the falls.