Dear all
The rain had still not stopped so we had to plough on and move onto Te Whakarewarewa the largest thermal reserve in the area, but you have to gain entry via Te Puia, the Maori Arts and cultural centre. They have a meeting house in which they put on cultural shows including a very enthusiastic Haka. Once we had escaped the show we started to walk around the park in the pouring rain, but within 10 minutes it had pretty much stopped so we were quite lucky. The area had loads of bubbling boiling mud, steaming rocks and boiling pools, but the biggest attraction is the famous Pohutu (big splash/explosion) geyser which is supposed to erupt twice an hour. The geyser next to it the Prince of Wales feather Geyser is supposed to provide notice to the eruption, but due to the rain that one was gushing continuously whilst the former was conspicuously quiet. Oh well we had seen enough water anyway! 
town itself we reached what is known as the Huka falls tourist loop. At the top of this loop is Aratiatia rapids which used to be a really spectacular park of the river until the government stuck a hydroelectric dam across the waterway! (there are before pictures there as a bit of propaganda!). However to appease the public, they now open the sluice gates every two hours from 10am to 4pm. When we arrived at round 6pm the rapids were pretty spectacular with water crashing down the chasm so were a little confused at how this gushing stream could be made any bigger as we could see it the sluice gates were fully open. Anyway we took our photos had a walk along the river and duly departed to our final watery stop for the day - Huka falls. On a scale of waterfalls I doubt this fall would make most travellers top ten, but this little fall does pack a punch! The counties largest river, the Waikato is forced down a narrow chasm and then makes a 10m leap down into a large swirling pool. The spectacular bit of it is that the water is forced out down the falls into a frothing mass of white spray and glacial blue water which the Maori name of Hukanui or Great body of spray which is very appropriate. We had a walk around for a while, but as it started drizzling we pottered off down to Taupo to complete the days travelling.
Oh lordy of all the days to wake up to grey skies this was probably the worse as the clouds kept the rotten egg smell firmly at ground level and even the rain did nothing to dissipate it. Poohy!! We thought we would give the rain chance to clear before we hit the thermals so headed off to a Maori village Ohinemut just outside town on the lake, which neatly traces the fusing of Awara Maori and European cultures. There is a very simple Anglican church which is covered in Maori carvings, scroll work and woven flax panels and behind it a simple Maori military cemetery . We were restricted from too much more wandering as there was a traditional funeral in the sacred historic Tamatekapua meeting house.
So we flitted of to the impressive Museum of Art and History which is housed in an old mock Tudor spa built in 1908. They have kept some of the rooms and parts of the basement intact so you can see the mad therapies which used to be practiced including putting an electric current through bath water to cure various ailments including 'nervous exhaustion' and skin complaints! There are also some tremendous galleries showing the treasures of the local Awara Maori's, the wholly Maori WWII 28th Battalion. There is a great film and displays about the terrible 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption that killed many people and changed the local landscape forever including the submerging of the white and pink terraces for which the area was famous at the time.
The rain had still not stopped so we had to plough on and move onto Te Whakarewarewa the largest thermal reserve in the area, but you have to gain entry via Te Puia, the Maori Arts and cultural centre. They have a meeting house in which they put on cultural shows including a very enthusiastic Haka. Once we had escaped the show we started to walk around the park in the pouring rain, but within 10 minutes it had pretty much stopped so we were quite lucky. The area had loads of bubbling boiling mud, steaming rocks and boiling pools, but the biggest attraction is the famous Pohutu (big splash/explosion) geyser which is supposed to erupt twice an hour. The geyser next to it the Prince of Wales feather Geyser is supposed to provide notice to the eruption, but due to the rain that one was gushing continuously whilst the former was conspicuously quiet. Oh well we had seen enough water anyway! The weather had only cleared a little so rather than spend another night in stinky town we decided to escape down to Lake Taupo a little earlier than planned. Lets face it once you have seen one bubbling spring you don't really need to see 10 more! The journey down the SH5 is very pretty and about 10km out of Taupo
town itself we reached what is known as the Huka falls tourist loop. At the top of this loop is Aratiatia rapids which used to be a really spectacular park of the river until the government stuck a hydroelectric dam across the waterway! (there are before pictures there as a bit of propaganda!). However to appease the public, they now open the sluice gates every two hours from 10am to 4pm. When we arrived at round 6pm the rapids were pretty spectacular with water crashing down the chasm so were a little confused at how this gushing stream could be made any bigger as we could see it the sluice gates were fully open. Anyway we took our photos had a walk along the river and duly departed to our final watery stop for the day - Huka falls. On a scale of waterfalls I doubt this fall would make most travellers top ten, but this little fall does pack a punch! The counties largest river, the Waikato is forced down a narrow chasm and then makes a 10m leap down into a large swirling pool. The spectacular bit of it is that the water is forced out down the falls into a frothing mass of white spray and glacial blue water which the Maori name of Hukanui or Great body of spray which is very appropriate. We had a walk around for a while, but as it started drizzling we pottered off down to Taupo to complete the days travelling.Tomorrow we will travel around this great lake which is considered by most to be the heart of the Island. It was formed by one of the biggest volcanic eruptions ever more than 26,500 years ago and the area just like Rotorua is still active and has thermal areas. Nowadays the 606-sq-km lake is extremely popular for trout fishing and for people like us to drive around a gawp at!
Nite all
Hugs
Sara
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