Thermal Wonderlands

We stayed two nights in Taupo and two nights in Rotorua. in between these towns is a grab bag of tourist spots where one can witness the earths inner heat letting off steam and boiling a some mud. We were lucky with the order that we visited our choice of attractions. The awe and wonder ramped up steeply over these thermal themed days.
Craters of the Moon impressed us, but was actually the new kid on the block. The following day Orakei Korako did truly amaze us. Especially the cave. On a negative note. Toward the end of our walk I saw a chap from Europe with a dyed red mullet sticking his finger through a one inch thick colourful skin just below the Diamond Geyser and pulling at it. How long did nature take to form this? He was over 40 and behaving like a 4 year old. These badly dressed vandals are getting on my goat.
Back tracking the next day from Rotorua, to visit Wai-O-Tapu, turned out to be a real treat. Greg had mentioned it as the best thermal activity in the area. Stunning stuff indeed. You could not make it up. Phenomenal.
We were tipped off that there was a good creek for a swim just half an hour from here. We found Kerosine Creek just to the North. It has a nice pool below a waterfall. With a water temperature of about 40 degrees celsius, it was more of a bath then a swim but an appropriate full stop to a day that was literally not of this world.

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