Saturday, March 16 - Taupo

     The Lake Taupo region of the central North Island is the center of volcanic history for New Zealand.  The active volcanoes of the Tongariro National Park are near here, and Lake Taupo is actually the caldera of a gigantic volcano that exploded 25,000 years ago, one of the most cataclysmic eruptions of the past million years.  Scientists believe it may have actually caused the last big world-wide ice age.
     We stayed at a campground on the south side of the lake that had small rooms with hot mineral water baths.  Not a bad soak, but it is more fun to relax in hot springs in the great outdoors.  We haven't done that yet here in NZ.
      Lake Taupo is the center of big buck tourism, which doesn't appeal to us. You know, things like skydiving, helicopter tours, boat rentals, fancy hotels and restaurants.  But there were a couple interesting things for us to see.

At Huka Falls the outflow from Lake Taupo has
carved this narrow chasm into the hard volcanic
rock.

The perfectly clear water courses through the
channel ...

... then plunges over the falls with tremendous force.

Further downstream the river has been dammed
to provide hydroelectric power.  This produced
an outcry when it stilled the rapids going
through Aritiatia gorge.  The solution, release
a big bolus of water four times a day for fifteen
minutes, recreating the original appearance
of the rapids.

It takes a few minutes for the gorge to fill, but when
it does, it's quite a thing to see

Ironically, the display probably draws more
tourism than the original rapids did.

A perfectly preserved Morris Minor.  Have I mentioned that Kiwis seem
to love old cars, especially from the 50's and 60's.  Me too!

     After watching the rapid's resurrection, I went to the Volcanic Activities Center and looked at displays and watched videos, while Diana went to the Honey Center, and sampled some of NZ's sweetest products.

NZ gets a significant proportion of its electricity from geothermal plants

Standing near these stainless steel steam pipes, I could hear hissing
and puffing.