Hells Gate Thermal Area Rotorua

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More fascinating steam vents, large craters, colourful rocks, boiling mud, hot waterfalls and more. Welcome to Hells Gate.

I won't add to much to this post as I have, by now, covered so many thermal areas I think you get the picture as to what to expect.

Once again if , like me, you find geology and thermal activity interesting you'll love this place. If however you've seen the other thermal areas I've mentioned you may consider you have inhaled enough sulphur fumes for now and decide to do something else instead.

Personally I like the fact that the Earth is more powerful than any human and New Zealand is one country where we can get up close and personal with the raw power of our planet.

Boat Plane Ride over Rotorua and Mount Tarawera

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 Looking at Mount Tarawera and the amazing surroundings of Rotorua and beyond from above is an experience you will never forget.

You may therefore wonder why I am NOT going to recommend it?

Well I am and I am not. 

I thoroughly recommend doing it but NOT in a boat plane or any small fixed wing aircraft.

Instead use a helicopter option, perhaps the one now available at the Agrodome?  http://new-zealand-north-island.blogspot.com/1991/02/agrodome-rotorua.html

Why?

Because the turbulence in such an aircraft can make you feel so incredibly sick it detracts from the enjoyment of the flight. I know this may not affect everybody in the same way but there were 4 of us on the flight and it made us all feel really ill. Although funnily enough we all tried to be heroes during the flight saying we were having a wonderful time. It was long after we landed before everyone confessed how sick we had felt.

There's another good reason to opt for a helicopter over an aircraft and that is the fact that a helicopter usually gives you better visibility for photographing the ground and a wider panoramic view.

From memory I think the only reason my father did not opt for the helicopter was that, with his long engineering background, he always insisted that according to the laws of physics a helicopter should be unable to fly and was therefore unsafe. He swore he would never fly in one.

Being somebody who has enjoyed a helicopter flight, although not over New Zealand, I know which gave me the smoother ride. When we next return to Rotorua a helicopter would be first choice.

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, Rotorua

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Of all the geothermal areas in New Zealand the most famous and well known is probably the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland in Rotorua.

It really has got just about every type of thermal activity you could imagine. Volcanic Craters, steaming ground, bubbling mud pools, the famous champagne pool, other naturally coloured pools and the world famous Lady Knox geyser. This geyser with a helping hand from a human with a piece of soap erupts every day at 10.15 am

New Zealand claims to be the youngest country on the planet. Wai-O-Tapu is living proof that in the "baking" of this fledgling country this place is a long way from coming out of the oven.