We didn’t head off intending to spend as much time near active volcanos as possible, but somehow our weeks itinerary took us exclusively to volcanos for over a week .
It started off with Lake Taupo, the largest fresh water lake in Australasia. The lake in North Islands centre was formed 25,500 years ago; a super eruption from the Taupō volcano caused the surrounding land to fall away, forming a caldera basin that has since filled with water leaving the volcano tip jutting up picturesquely near the center of the lake. Although still live, Taupōs super eruption days seem to be on pause, making it a fairly popular tourist destination rather than a danger zone, but before we get to Lake Taupō, let me rewind to how we got there, man, was that drive amazing.
The sweeping landscape that had previously been shielded by rain on our drive to Operu was shown in its full glory on our exit. We skirted around the tops of mountains, rolling emerald hills dotted with yellow buttercups that led down into the valleys far below. The sharp peaks and troughs in the landscape reminiscent of the wrinkles in a stiff fabric that's been discarded on the floor. Eventually we descended, reaching a flat plain bordered by mountains soaring high on the horizon, giant boulders jutting out of the ground, giving texture to an otherwise homogenous landscape. Finally we left the pasture land behind as we reached the mountains that cluster in New Zealand's center, winding our way up amongst them, finding pine forests uniformly planted and destined for logging, before skirting round a dam and entering a more alien landscape, one where steam billows from the earth. We had reached Taupō.
The town of Taupō itself was nothing to write home about, a modern town laid out in neat organised gridded lines with all the amenities you would expect and none of the charm. The landscape however was another thing entirely.
A forty minute walk from our camping spot, through a forest of towering redwoods brought us to Huka Falls, an 11ft tall waterfall that funnels enough water every 10 seconds to fill an olympic sized swimming pool. We heard it before we ever saw it, and although the roaring it produces is impressive, the falls themselves are mesmerising. The white waters churn and froth, sending waves splashing violently on the walls of the gorge that surrounds it, it seems lethal and it is, with only a few experienced (or mad) kayakers surviving the journey. We, alongside a steady stream of other tourists, stood and stared at this natural wonder before continuing on with our walk.
Down the opposite bank of the river heading back towards Taupō town are the hot springs, coming from a small stream leading into the main body of Waikato river . We had the intention of breaking up our walk with a relaxing dip but it seems like everyone else had the same idea and it was absolutely packed, without physically picking people up and removing them from the hot section of river we had no chance of getting a spot… so we decided to give it a miss.
One place I’m glad we decided not to miss was the craters of the moon. A sulphur field overlooking the town where we could walk amongst the billowing steam and look into the fissures of the earth caused by this phenomenon. As the craters are caused by hydrothermic eruptions - due to the pressure of steam trapped beneath the earth - new craters can be formed at any time… this was only apparent by a small footnote on the information signs which warned us to leave the area if a siren lasts more than a minute. It's alien, wandering along a wooden path as warm steam wafts up from the earth, peering into massive holes into the earth with mud bubbling at the bottom, seeing the clear delineation of where plants can no longer survive the heat and only pink earth remains.
We couldn’t visit New Zealand's largest lake without going in but we decided to find a less touristy part of it, with over 120 miles of shoreline we were sure to find somewhere. We chose Motutere Beach, mainly because it was on the way to our next destination and because it was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. From the main highway we turned down a small little exit to a rest stop and it was here we managed to find a deserted spot to go for a morning swim. It was crystal clear and freezing cold, but at least the sun was shining so we quickly warmed back up while drying off on the rocky beach.
So we’d visited the most recently erupted super volcano in the world and it was time to visit the largest active volcano in NZ, Mount Ruapehu... but first to get our movie nerd on.
Lord of the Rings is a big part of New Zealand tourism and we hadn’t found a single filming location so far, but that was all about to change with Gollum's pool. I must admit I just couldn't see it, the waters of the waterfall were far too powerful and I just couldn’t imagine Gollum sitting there on the rock, waiting to dive in for a fish. I suppose that’s the problem with natural places, they change over the years, erosion happens, vegetation grows, 22 years later and without any movie magic it just didn’t look the same at all. Don't get me wrong, it was still a pretty nice waterfall but I wouldn't be able to recognise it as the same one used in the films. What did look the same was Mount Ngauruhoe, more famously known as mount doom and it can be seen off in the distance while standing at the base of Mount Ruapehu. I think to be completely fair, without an eruption a volcano filmed 20 odd years ago isn’t going to look all that different today.
I didn’t really comprehend the dangers of staying on an active volcano until I stood in our campground kitchen, reading evacuation notices, all explaining that if an eruption happens all our stuff would be buried under a lahar but we might be okay if we go and stand near the nearby hotel. The likelihood of this happening was fairly small, but it was still alarming. The best thing was we couldn’t even see the volcano as clouds covered its peak when we drove towards it and it soon began to bucket it down when we arrived. We did manage to catch a glimpse of it before we left the next morning, and we’re determined to return once the snow arrives, to see how the area looks under a blanket of white.
As the holiday season was upon us we couldn't stay longer than a day as we needed to head to a city to do our Christmas food shopping. So after a pretty drizzly night it was time to head off the New Plymouth.
Our drive was yet again scenic but this time the end point didn’t live up to the hype. We'd decided to spend Christmas at the only free camping spot near the city and it seemed that so was everyone else. It was crowded with campers, which was fine, it was the jet-ski-ers that really got on my nerves. You’d think a small lake near the sea would be fairly peaceful but it seemed from dawn to dusk all we heard was the whining of jet skis and the screaming of those being towed around on rubber rings. It wasn’t a business that rented theses things out, no, families have their own and as soon as one group left another would immediately arrive. On Christmas day itself we thankfully only had to contend with the noise in the morning, not wanting to wait and see how busy it would be on Boxing Day we decided to change location instead.
An iconic part of the New Plymouth Skyline is Mount Taranaki, a cone shaped volcano that looks so much like mount fuji that the last Samurai was actually filmed in New Zealand rather than in Japan. This, of course, wasn’t why we were going to visit it, we were going because the volcano itself is dotted with free camping spots and we thought it would be an awesome place to stay. We chose the Dawsons Falls Carpark as our base and from there the views to Mount Taranaki’s snow and cloud covered peak were just breathtaking. The first thing we did when we arrived, apart from indulging in a cup of tea, was to pack up our swimsuits and set off on the hike to Wilkies pools.
Wilkies pools, named for some local farmers, were a short 2km walk away from where we stayed along a well maintained track cutting through the forest. Once we arrived to a swing bridge, we could see the small series of pools dotting their way up the mountain side. We climbed up the slippery rocks along side the stream until we found a fairly quiet pool - all the others being filled with families playing - where we could go for a dip. You might think that pools on the side of a volcano would be warm but I have never entered water so cold, its primarily snow melt from Taranaki’s peak and it was certainly refreshing for the few seconds I was in it before my limbs went numb. After we’d thawed out a little we decided to complete the loop, the rest of the walk taking us away from wooden walkways but to a carved out track which led us to streams to hop over and rivers to ford. The forest in this region is named the goblin forest and it’s easy to see why, all the trees are adorned with moss, the trees sprouting so close together that their limbs twist around one another as they reach towards what little sunlight trickles through the canopy above.
Later on that day we headed off on the small hike to Dawsons falls itself, the route was tough, and the last few minutes had us clambering down uneven and slippery high steps making my progress slow to that of a snail. It was worth the shaking legs and burning thighs, to be standing at the bottom of the 18 meter high waterfall, soaking it all in. As the day was getting on, the light in the forest was starting to fade and it was time to get back to the van while we could still clearly see.
That evening, as the sun disappeared behind Taranaki we took ourselves up the viewing platform where we watched the vibrancy of the land far below slowly fade as the shadow of the mountain stretched over it. As the light faded from the sky, we finally got a clear view of Taranaki's peak, clear from the clouds that had hugged it all day, just as the stars began to spread across the sky. I can understand why people go on epic hikes, to camp under the stars with no one around, for me, I was just happy to steal a small portion of this feeling, while still having the comfort of my van and a flushing toilet nearby.
Trip Date : December 2022
Next Blog: Off to the capital
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