Earthquakes and Volcanoes

A drive from Napier to Rotarua was today's challenge.  The morning in Napier was miserable - grey and wet - which left us hoping that things would clear up before our scheduled walk and boat ride in a volcanic valley near Rotarua.  The news on the radio reported that there had been two earthquakes last night in New Zealand - one in Christchurch and one in Napier.  It was a by-line in the news and the Napier 'quake was only 3.7 and 40km east and, therefore, we did not even feel it.  As earthquakes are basically a daily occurrence here (see http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/recent_quakes.html), this is hardly a headline event.

As we cross the hills toward Taupo, the clouds cleared and the sun came out.  We called in at Taupo on the way to Rotarua and passed the Swiss Chalet where we stayed in 2001.  We had a wander around the town so that we did not arrive early for our booked trip.  The Waimangu Volcanic Valley is claimed to be one of the world's youngest geothermal systems and we had arranged a self guided walk (advertised at 1hr 50 mins) and a boat trip.  The walk was well organised (and signposted) and a leaflet explained all of the main sights.  There is, half way through, a choice of route - the 'easy walking' route or the Mount Hazard hiking trail.  We opted for the latter and set off up the hill.  Half way up we were not convinced it was the right choice given the steps and the humidity, but it was worth it as we saw a couple of craters that you cannot see from the main route and, because you are higher, the views along the valleys are probably better.  The boat trip was very interesting in that one is in a lake created by a relatively recent eruption and which has covered the principal tourist attractions of the late 1800's (the white terrace and the rose terrace).  There is plenty of current activity around the lake and we saw a couple of geysers and several hot springs, one of which only appeared 3 weeks ago!

From there it was on to Rotarua.  The smell here is much the same as we remember it!  Oddly though, the volcanic valley was not as pungent.