Walking in a Thermal Wonderland

Today I drove down a lovely country road nestled in between lush rolling hills dotted with grazing cows and went to Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park, which is located in between Taupo and Rotorua.

After purchasing my $34NZ ticket, I hopped on a ferry to the other side of Lake Ohakuri, where I began my thermal journey. It was fascinating walking around steaming, bubbling, gurgling Earth; the smell, not so cool, in fact rather nauseating! The craziest thing is that approximately 20 million liters of hot water trickles thru these streams into the lake each day!

Everything about the walk was enchanting. Around every bend was a natural treasure more striking than its predecessor. Highlights include:

Anawaniwa

the artist's palette

and mud pools which seemed to create their own songs with their symphony of popping.

However, hands down the most amazing thing was Ruatapu Cave. No picture, not even video footage from my HD handycam can do justice to this cave. It’s majestic, humble, humbling, brilliant. Vibrant green moss covers the rose rock walls at points and I swear the cave has a pulse…it just felt to alive. After slowly descending into the mouth of the cave I stood there, jaw-dropped, trying to soak in its unspoiled beauty. I think I could have stayed forever in “Alladin’s Cave” and never fully grasped the subtle magnitude of this natural wonder.

The turquoise pool at the bottom of the cave was warm to the touch, stunning to look at, and can even remove the tarnish from your silver jewelry. Too bad I left the Tiffany’s at home!

If you venture to the North Island of New Zealand, Orakei Korako is something you absolutely must see. Because it is on an island it is one of the only places in the world that looks like it did millions of years ago.