Wet and Wild

February 1

Charlotte:

This morning, we went on a boat called Sail Fearless in Lake Taupo. It was a sailboat that was like a pirate ship. We saw carvings that the Maori people made in the rocks. The biggest one looked like a monkey with two mouths and lots of tattoos. It represented the leader. There were also a lizard, mermaids, a woman, dragon, and more. They were so pretty, and you can only see them from the water. The artist used a boat and built platforms to work from. There was also a cute family of ducks that kept following us.

After that, we went swimming off the boat into the lake. It was not as cold as I thought it was going to be. It was about 20°C.

Then we sailed back almost the whole way. Sam and I got to steer a bit. Captain Mark taught us how. It was so fun!

Sam:

We then drove to a place called Huka Falls, and it was really cool because it looked really powerful with so much foam. We also watched some kayakers go down the falls as we were leaving.

After that, we then went to another geothermal field named Wai-O-Tapu. We almost didn’t go because we were worried that it would be the same as the Craters of the Moon park. It was different because it was a lot more forested, much bigger, and didn’t only have steam vents. We were glad we didn’t skip it.

One pool was cool in particular – it changes colour every day because of all the different minerals in the water, and it is called the Artist’s Palette.

Next, we saw a pool called the Champagne Pool because it has lots of tiny bubbles… but be warned, the “champagne” is spiked with arsenic. This pool is huge! It’s 60m in diameter and 62m deep. It is also about 200°C.

We walked along the trail for a while longer, past many small pools and vents and up a huge hill. Over the hill, we saw a giant green lake with a waterfall pouring into it. The water stays green because the water is warm all year and a certain type of algae grows in it, giving it the green colour.

At the very end of the path, we turned and saw a neon green lake. I mean NEON. The pool was super acidic and looked like radioactive sludge. It was pretty fascinating.