After our stop in Tūrangi, we started heading north towards Auckland so we can be back in time for our return flight to the United States. On our way to the city, we took a one-night stop in Rotorua to check out the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.
Wai-O-Tapu is a collection of hot springs and geysers showcasing the results of New Zealand’s geothermal activity. To put it in simpler terms, it appears like the Earth has really bad flatulence in this area, and to relieve itself, it is fuming copious amounts of stench and steam from every available hole in the ground.
I was a bit disappointed at how absently dim the glowworms were in the Waitomo Glowworm Caves compared to the marketing materials on their website, so I adjusted my prospects and went into Wai-O-Tapu with fairly low expectations. However, Wai-O-Tapu delivered on its promises, and the thermal park exceeded what was featured online.
It was overcast and raining on the day we went, so there was poor natural lighting and some of the colors weren’t quite as vibrant as they seem to usually be. Even then, it still had very interesting sights. The closest thing I could think of that I’ve seen before was the bubbling tar from the La Brea Tar Pits, but otherwise, Wai-O-Tapu was a completely novel experience for me.
Admission was done on a flat-rate basis. There were three sections to the geothermal park, and your ticket allows you to explore as few or as many of them as you prefer, so we walked through all three. Here is a collection of some photographs I captured during my self-guided tour:
I know basically nothing about The Lord of the Rings, never really found it that interesting or compelling, and have consumed neither the books nor the movies. With that being said, when people found out that I was taking a trip to New Zealand, an overwhelming number of people insisted that I do activities related to The Lord of the Rings, because apparently the country of New Zealand was used as a set for the movie (or something like that, I don’t exactly remember).
I’m sure it’s no surprise that I did not partake in those recommended The Lord of the Rings activities. However, I happened to come across a crater that was used to produce sound effects for one of the movies, so I figured I’d post a photo of it to soothe the fanatics and be able to say that I technically did see something related to the franchise.