Waimangu Volcanic Valley

Waimangu Volcanic Valley*****

Created by the eruption of Mt Tarawera on 10 june 1886, which is the world's youngest geothermal area.

Actually in Rotorua, we got quite headached, trying to figure out which geothermal park we should go, because there are simply too many to choose and each with a ticket to pay!! One of them with famous Lady Knox geyser @ Wai O Tapu and another with beautiful terraces. Of course if we have the time we would love to visit all these amazing parks.. But we are indeed short of time to travel the rest of NZ. So we chose Waimangu Volcanic Valley...

Frying Pan Lake, world's largest hot water springs.

Love is in the spring!

Look at that hot springs water bubbling up!

Bird nest terrace

Inferno crater, pale blue colour, we are just lucky to see that beautiful colour as the lake will turn to brown colour when it overflow for few days.

Lake Rotomahana

Marble terrace, orange, white and brown, just nice combination to become marble on the ground.

Warbrick terrace

We spent about 4 hours here wondering at the amazing volcanic valley, captivated by the forces of nature! Rotorua is really a one of a kind town, so many geothermal areas! And the whole city smells like rotten egg, caused of the sulphur from the pools, thus nicknamed Sulphur City.

Mount Tarawera Eruption:

These days Rotorua is known for its geothermal activity. But what many people don’t know is that not so long ago, the region experienced a large volcanic eruption. On 10 June 1886, Mount Tarawera’s three peaks erupted, sending smoke and ash thousands of metres into the sky. Shortly after, a pyroclastic surge destroyed several villages within a six-kilometre radius. Sadly, between 108 and 153 people are estimated to have been killed. The eruption buried a number of Maori villages including Te Wairoa, which can now be viewed as a tourist attraction. http://rotoruasuperpasses.co.nz/blog/little-known-facts-about-rotorua/ 

Huka Falls & Crater of the Moon

Huka Falls***** at Lake Taupo area.

Huka Falls, its name means 'foam' in Maori language. 

It's really amazing that the river colour is light blue! Water flows from Lake Taupo (the largest lake in NZ) into this Waikato river, the longest river in NZ, 425km!

5kAbout 200,000 litres of water plunge nine metres over the great rock face of Huka Falls every second, which is enough to fit five Olympic swimming pools every minute O.o simply amazing....

If you are a fan of STEAM, this is the place to visit--> Craters of the Moon***** Located near Huka Falls.

There's an entrance fee of $6 pp for this one hour walking track. We thought it would be a nice place to visit since we have yet to see the more re-known places in Rotorua. Definitely an eye opener!

 It has a wide variety of thermal features like large Craters, boiling mud pools, steaming trenches, roaring fumaroles and brightly coloured soil.

Its amazing how the water gets so boiling hot from the magma down under and forms the geysers.

Our yummy dinner of Roast Chicken from Countdown supermarket =)

Sailing the largest lake of NZ