Rotorua
February 23, 2016
73°F
45% Humidity
Scattered Showers
73°F
45% Humidity
Scattered Showers
February 24, 2016
78°F
50% Humidity
Partly Cloudy
78°F
50% Humidity
Partly Cloudy
After a 7 hour drive we arrived in Rotoura. I think I'm getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road. I took out one tiny little etsybitsy hard to see faded orange cone with my left quarter panel but that's at least an eagle for this course.
So the thing to do when you're near an active volcano is go hiking in its crater. What could possibly happen? We took the red trail out to the Lake Jetty (English translation...boat dock). I've seen geysers and volcanos in many places. They claim this one is special because the volcano erupted in 1886 (650 years ago) creating the youngest geothermal area.
I wasn't there but I have it on good authority that this is what it looked like.
The trail was very nice. It was an easy 4 km downhill to the lake.
This area was all molten lava 650 years ago and now it's lush with vegetation.
This area was all molten lava 650 years ago and now it's lush with vegetation.
Rotorua is famous for their geysers and volcanos. They claim "the youngest geothermal system in the world created as a direct result of a volcanic eruption." There are enough qualifications in that claim to make Old Faithful start to pulsate.
Along the way you catch glimpses of steaming craters.
This is the main crater created during the 1886 eruption. It covers several little volcano cones. It is filled with rain water. There is no outlet. The water temp is a cool 67°F despite the steam vents all around the perimeter.
So the thing to do when you're near an active volcano is go hiking in its crater. What could possibly happen? We took the red trail out to the Lake Jetty (English translation...boat dock). I've seen geysers and volcanos in many places. They claim this one is special because the volcano erupted in 1886 (650 years ago) creating the youngest geothermal area.
Cruising on Rotomahana Crater Lake
The black swans seem to thrive in this environment.
I took a lot of pictures of steam vents but once you've seen a few they get boring so I'll save them to put me asleep tonight.
