New Zealand on a Very Tight Budget Day 26
This story happened on: 13/03/2017
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Today we awoke to........light rain . which dried up by 8am! We bade a fond farewell to the campsite - not much of a campsite but great bathing facilities and went across the road to the Wai-O Tapu Thermal Wonderland.
Now I have a bit of an antipathy to anything that calls itself "wonderland" I'll be the judge of that thank you! I was also not sure whether we would be wasting a not inconsiderable amount of money - notwithstanding our 10% discount thanks to the campsite - especially as it had one stinking review on Tripadvisor (although a lot of positive votes. )
I was also having a touch of Geyser snobbery having been one of the last people to see THE Geysir erupt in Iceland back in the 80s.
Now that took a bit of tickling with a lot of soap and so did the one we saw today but the guide gave us a very entertaining account of its discovery by some convicts clearing and planting forestry nearby who thought they would wash their clothes in the hot water. The soap they used acted as a surfactant set the geysir - then a pool - off and sent their clothes into orbit. It is called The Lady Knox Geyser after the prison inspector's daughter and while rather diminutive in size it proved quite impressive in duration. There were 700 of us there to watch it start - and 7 an hour later when it seemed to be spluttering out. In fact there were some quite unseemly selfie-stick fencing between the very annoying Japanese and German late coming tourists standing in front of those patiently sitting.
After that we walked round the "Wonderland" and I have to report it was "wonderful" and worth every penny. There was the Primrose Terrace (the biggest in the world after the demise of the pink and white) The Artist's Palette, The Champagne Pool and the just plain ridiculous Devil's Bath and about 25 other pools, pots, caves and fumeroles. Also bubbling mud baths.
We were there for Four Hours!
After that we enjoined a quiet drive through beautiful scenery to Camp near Matamata - some of you reading will realise the implications of that!
Bakers2
Motorhomer