A walk through a volcanic landscape

Today we went to Oraki Karako, half way between Taupo and Rotorua. It was a bit of a drive through rolling beech forests and pine. But we found it eventually.

A quick ferry ride across the lake took us to the geo-thermal feature. Here there are bubbling hot pools, boiling mud and geysers blowing their tops.

The winding path through the landscape is mostly boardwalk, which is a bit reassuring, with loads of steps. My knees were knackered by the end of it.

It’s a 2.5 km circuit, which does not sound far, but it was still a huge challenge for my wife. But she was up for it, so she climbed stars and ogled mud pools, watched geysers and generally enjoyed the strangeness of it all.

There were very few people out enjoying the sights so we had most of the walk to ourselves, which was nice.

We managed to get halfway around the circuit before it decided to rain. Neither of us had bought a raincoat. There was nothing to do but giggle about it as we trudged through the rain.

The rain seemed to have an effect on the hot pools and minerals – when we came back past them the colours were much brighter, and the steam coming off the rocks was a lot thicker.

By the time we were nearly back to the ferry, the rain had stopped and the sun was out again.

So it was back on the ferry to cross the lake and head to the café for a well earned cup of tea.

If you are in this part of the country it is well worth checking out. Just remember to bring a raincoat.

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