August 12, 2005
Breakfast today brought us back to the Fat Dog, a cozy little eatery with a fireplace where we had stopped for lunch the day before. I ordered the muesli with yogurt and fruit, pretty
After brekkie, it was off to Wai-o tapu (Maori for "Sacred Waters") Thermal Wonderland, home of the Lady Knox geyser, which supposedly erupts at 10:15 am, everyday! How does nature time it to such accuracy, we wondered? We soon found out as we arrived at 10:14 am, just in time to see the host drop a bar of soap into the mouth of the geyser. The soap breaks the surface tension of the water insde, he explained, before jumping out of the way. The geyser spurt out hot water 20 meters into the air, and would continue to do so for the next hour.
We took a 3 km hike around the park, which took us along a path with 24 different geothermal miracles for our viewing pleasure. They had colorful names, like "Devil's Hole," the "Inferno," amd "Champagne Pools." The colors of these sites were absolutely phenomenal... even the bark of the surrounding trees were coated with sulphur and magnesium residue, giving the whole area a "golden" hue.
The hike was good exercise, and we left Rotorua feeling refreshed and energized, although the distinct rotten egg
Although you can't see it in our pictures, behind the clouds to my left are Mt. Ngauruhoe, known more popularly as Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings, and Mt. Ruapehu, a volcano that blew it's top off in the 1980's. Lake Taupo itself was created when a huge eruption in the area created a crater, and spewed 800 cubic kilometers of ash and pumice into the atmosphere. But that was 26,000 years ago, before NZ was inhabited by humans.
On our way to Napier, our last stop for the day, we stop off at two Hawkes Bay wineries, Hawkes Bay being one of the leading wine making regions of New Zealand, producing mostly Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. We stop off first at Mission Estate, the oldest vineyard in the area, originally started to produce the blood of Christ for the Catholic church, and although it is now a commerical winery, it's still owned by the church. Our second stop was at the Church Road winery, which has nothing at all to do with the church, except that it's on Church Road.
Our palates satiated, we head on to Napier, a small town on the eastern coast of the island, rebuilt in the Art Deco style of architecture after most of the town was destroyed by a 7.8 earthquake in the early 1900's. Our hostel, the YHA Napier, is right across the street from the beach!
Even though we've been by the coast for much of this trip, this is the first actual beach that we've set foot on. At sunset, it had a beautiful rosy glow.
And here's a little glimpse of the Art Deco in the center of town:
much what I've had for breakfast every day so far. The yogurt here tastes so wholesome and fresh, compared to the chemically aftertaste of Dannon or Yoplait back home. 
Jack ordered toast, and was presented with 4 slices of the thickest, most filling toast imaginable. Oh, and 2 flat whites, which is what they call their cappucinos.
Isn't that last picture totally nasty? That was the actual color of this huge pool of mineral water at the end. YUCK! 
smell of the place hasn't quite left us. We hopped back into the car and headed to Lake Taupo, passing the Huka Falls along the way. The cool thing about Huka Falls is that whereas it's not the highest I've ever seen, it's among the clearest, and when the sun was shining down on it, the water was a bright turquoise color (in stark contrast to the murky, mineral-rich waters of Wai-o tapu).
Here's me, looking quite cross-eyed over my lunch of udon in Lake Taupo. The town of Taupo is a place for the sporty traveller- the lake is filled with rainbow trout, which, strangely enough, are actually native to California's Russian River. Taupo is also the skydiving center of the North Island, not to mention bungy, white
water rafting,
and jet boating. We almost talked ourselves into bungy jumping here, but full stomachs and a "I'm not ready!" mentality prompted us (or at least me) onwards. 
Back in the car, we pass so many beautiful scenes, although now, the rolling green hills from the northern part of the island are giving way to rockier peaks, though still lots of sheep and cows. Just as a side note, we are really loving our iRiver mp3 player. It's only 5 gigs, but it holds just about everything we feel like listening to, from the Thievery Corporation to the Black Eyed Peas to the Schumann Piano Quartet to the Victor Lin Trio!
