It was the third day of our trip. We had driven for a long time. Here's what happened.
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| The Geyser |
I woke up at 8:00 am for a cool and exciting day. I got ready and went in the car. We drove for 30 minutes. We were going to Wai-O-Tapu (
we went the day before to see the mud pools), I was so excited. We turned to Waiotapu Loop Road and saw the Mud Pool sign, we went further and saw the visitor centre. We wanted to see the Geyser because the show was at 10:15 am. There was half an hour left until the show was going to start.
We bought the tickets for the show. Then we went back to where we came from and followed the blue arrows. After one minute we turned to The Avenue (
the way to the Lady Knox Geyser). We parked at the show parking and went in. There were fewer cars because we came early. We went in and chose our seats so we could see easier. The Geyser was volcano shaped and there was steam coming out of it. We took pictures and here's one of the pictures on the top-right. After 10-20 minutes later, the host came and talked about the history of the geyser, then she added the salt. When she was talking she said, "around the geyser was a prison, where the prisoners built the geyser. When the geyser erupts they wash their clothes by the hot sulphur water." Before she left, she said, "If the geyser is in a good mood then the fountain goes from 20 to 25 metres. If it is a bad day then the geyser goes up to 10 metres." The geyser slowly erupted. A few seconds later, it erupted so high, it might be from 20 to 25 metres. There was more steam coming than before. The soapy water came on us. The water reached all the way back. The bad thing about that place that it has mosquitos that bits you and makes a big lump (
luckily that's not happened to me!). After seeing the geyser erupt we went back to the visitor centre.
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| Devil's Bath |
I opened the map and checked the places that we are going to. The first number was the Devil's house. It was a deep crater with mud bubbling. The first few were deep and steamy. So No. 4, was the Devil's Ink Pots. It was all dark grey and bubbling like the mud pools. There were two of the ink pots. We walked forward to the Artists Palette. There were some shade and viewing areas. I said, "The Champagne Pool" (
well it really wasn't champagne, it was just the name of the area). The view was awesome. Ahead was No. 6, the Opal Pool. Near No. 6 were No. 7, 8 and 9. When we went near No. 6, there was a dead end, most of the things were dried up. The path on No. 7 and 9 was narrow (
but easy to walk). There was the Champagne Pool and it was really steamy. There were two ways to go, Walk 2 or going back to the exit or start. We chose to move on and go on Walk 2. Most of Walk 2 was all bushy and there were heaps of trees. At No. 10 was the Sacred Track. We went left to see what was there. It was a dead end. No. 11 was the Panoramic View of No. 14 and 15 (
Walk 3). After leaving No. 11 was steps going down to the starting of Walk 3.
We went to No. 13, 14 and 15. No. 13 was the Wai-O-Tapu Geyser, however, we didn't notice any geyser (
weird right)? Between No. 14 and 15 was a long rock which in the hole has heat in it. The view was cool. Suddenly, it began to drizzle, that time we were planning to go back because it was a dead end. We walked to the Champagne Pool and went to the exit. The Champagne Pool was hard to see. As we go further we saw more. No. 22 was the Inferno Crater, it's a deep crater with boiling mud. No. 24 and 25 were one of the best ones that I've seen in Wai-O-Tapu. So in No. 24 were the Sulphur Cave. The cave was steamy and cool. No. 25, the last number was the Devil's Bath. The water was green. I was in shock. I was thinking "How could the water be green?" We exited the Walk and went back to the entrance. That time it was sunny.
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| Wai-O-Tapu to Waitomo Glowworm Caves |
We went back to our car and thought about where to go next. One of our plans was to see Hobbiton and Waitomo Glowworm Caves. We chose to go to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, but it was really far away. It was 1:35 pm, and we would reach there at 4:15 pm. We booked in for 4:00 pm. It was a 2 hr and a 40-minute drive. We went on State Highway 5, 1, 57 and 3. We passed, Rotorua, Tirau, Piarere, Cambridge, Kihikihi, Otorohanga, Hangatiki and arrived at Waitomo. We went straight to Waitomo Cave/Village Road and arrived at Waitomo Glowworm Caves at 3:50 pm. We had the tickets so we waited outside.
At 4:00 pm we went into the cave and the host talked about the cave. We weren't allowed to take photography in the cave so we "Every time the water drops from the rock it creates the rock. Every thousand drop makes about the size of one cubic centimetre." The host showed other rocks and said that that looks like a family with a mother, two kids, a dog and a tiny father. There was a big rock that looked like an elephant. The host also talking about the rock shaped Kiwi. The rock was all shiny when the host turned on the lights, but there were some parts where it was brown because people had kept touching the rocks.
Before going into the cave the host said not to touch the rocks because they would be brown. We went further and the host said to keel down and see the glowworms. The glowworms were light blue coloured. It was so cool, and there were heaps of Glowworms. "Glowworms' food can be their family members." said the Host. I was shocked. The host leads the way downstairs and went by the boat. We sat in the second-last row. We waited for the other people to sit down. There were heaps of glowworms above us as we go. The host talked to us as we go. Then it was so dark that we saw the glowworms really easily, it was also beside us. It was awesome! We reached at the end at it felt like it had been just 10 minutes.
We came out and walked back up to the start. We went in the car and went to Hamilton, by State Highway 37, 3, 39 and 1. We stayed at Hamilton until 8:50 pm, and went back to Rotorua, by State Highway 1 and 5. We reached in Rotorua really fast because there was an express highway that was a speed of 110kph. We went back to our rooms and went to sleep. It was a long day walking and having fun. Hope you like my post. Comment down if you like my post. Have a cool day!! Bye!!
