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| Virginians short tour of the North Island | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 26 2007, 04:18 PM (439 Views) | |
| Kahu | Feb 26 2007, 04:18 PM Post #1 |
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Posted Image After the wedding we went on a short tour of the North Island, over four days, which really is just a whistle stop tour. We left Martinborough and headed north, through the Manawatu Gorge, up to Taupo and Rotorua, where we spent two nights, and then across to New Plymouth for one night, then home to Lower Hutt. Travel by road in New Zealand is a bit different to travelling by road in bigger countries. By this I mean, travel in Australia, Canada, or the US on a 100km triangular course by road and you probably would not leave one type of landscape over the 300kms. While in NZ you would very possibly move through as many as five different sorts of landscapes over the same distance. This makes for an interesting drive, with the landscape changing quite quickly as you drive. Travel within the UK is similar, but there are heavier densities of population centres, transport routes, high country hedges or walls which block landscape views from the road to contend with. I've added the map so you can follow the progress of each photo as I add them. |
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| Kahu | Feb 27 2007, 11:28 AM Post #2 |
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Posted Image Mt Ruapehu - from the Desert Road. This is the active volcano which has a crater lake which threatens to to cause chaos when the ash dam collapses. There are lahar warning monitors all the way around this mountain. Posted Image Lord of the Rings Country Mt Ngauruhoe - an active volcano, which has smoke and steam issuing from the crater like a sleeping dragon. Its slopes are like a pile of loose cut glass. To the right is the lower outline of Mt Tongariro which in past ages blew apart in a huge eruption. The volcano is not considered active, but merely sleeping, there are two coloured lakes (Blue and Emerald), a Red Crater, and active hot springs on the northern slopes. Both these B/W pictures were taken when the camera was set to Landscape. Can anyone explain what may have happened? All other settings produce normal colour scenes. Posted Image The downstream view of the waters above the Huka Falls. The waters of Lake Taupo drain down the Waikato River, through a very narrow neck of extremely hard rock on the way to the Tasman sea. The Waikato River is the longest river in NZ at 355 km (220 miles) and has numerous hydro dams along its course. Posted Image The falls although not very high, are impressive through the volume of water and the noise and vibration it creates. Posted Image The Craters of the Moon at the Wairakei Geothermal Field. Posted Image Soon after the nearby Geothermal Field began generating electricity in 1958 this area experienced increased levels of activity, and hydrothermal vents, and earth tremors. |
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| agate | Feb 27 2007, 07:18 PM Post #3 |
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Looks very interesting Alan. I was watching something the other night that was filmed in New Zealand and it looks so much like here in B C. They were in the mountains and panning gold from a river and it could be just about most places I have been here in B C. |
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| Kahu | Feb 27 2007, 08:46 PM Post #4 |
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Lady Knox Geyser Waiotapu This is about a good half hour series of the geyser erupting. I don't know exactly how long the display usually lasts, but it was still going when we left about an hour later. Maximum height was about 10 m, about 33 feet. Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image |
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| Kahu | Feb 27 2007, 08:56 PM Post #5 |
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Join the club Shirl! I have felt the same way myself! In Cornwall, if I just looked at the plants around me rather than the buildings, I felt I could have been quite easily at home..........they had native NZ plants growing in their gardens! Going through the Black Forest in Germany, we both looked at each other and said almost at the same time Akatarawa Road! There must be more to this.......just like WWS members.....places are more alike than different! :): |
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| Kahu | Feb 28 2007, 11:09 AM Post #6 |
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Waiotapu Thermal Area THIS IS ONE AREA WHERE YOU DO NOT LEAVE THE MARKED PATH! Believe it or not, but hardly a year goes by without some stupid tourist trying to get the best photos gets badly burned instead, despite the warning notices. Actually this warning also extends to activities in the Alps too, four people recently have been severely injured by ignoring warnings and getting too close to the terminal mouths of the glaciers and been crushed by falling blocks of ice. Despite global warming, our glaciers are advancing! It pays to remember that this area is one huge caldera, like that of Yosemite, and quite often a hot spring or geyser can erupt in your backyard, or public park, or even in the middle of a roadway! This area was once far more active than it is now. The geothermal field covers an are of about 18 sq km. Posted Image Hot water stream. There are stretches where hot water and cold water currents flow side by side. Posted Image A collapsed crater, steaming away, with the water on a continous rolling boil, not too far below your feet! Posted Image A fumerole. Posted Image A series of collapsed craters, with a boiling mud pool, in the first and hot springs and steam vents in those further away. |
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| Kahu | Mar 1 2007, 11:42 AM Post #7 |
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Waiotapu Thermal Area The Artist's Palette Posted Image The Artist's Palette is a beautiful place of great tranquillity and peace, with a constantly changing spectrum of pastel shades. The wide range of colours is produced by high concentrations of various elements in pools of water and in the sinter. Posted Image The orange colours are due to antimony and the antimony sulphide realgar, the yellow and grey shades are due to sulphur, and green is due to ferrous iron. Posted Image The result is a visually stunning interplay of colours across the flat. Posted Image The steam in the background is rising from the Champagne Pool, which is the largest pool at Waiotapu, which is situated in an sinter-lined explosion crater that is 600 - 700 years old. The 2 000 sq m pool discharges alkaline chloride water that is rich in carbon dioxide, which bubbles like champagne. Posted Image A narrow boardwalk allows visitors to walk across the sinter terraces safely. |
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| agate | Mar 1 2007, 11:55 AM Post #8 |
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Yup...been there...did Yellowstone Park in 1996!!! And your right seems some fool of a tourist has to always stick a finger into the hot mud/water!!!! :wacko: |
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| Kahu | Mar 1 2007, 12:12 PM Post #9 |
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In this case.......as a minimum........ they are badly burned on their lower legs. In the nearby thermal area of Whakarewarewa a couple of years ago, two Japanese students were trying to photograph Pohutu Geyser. The ground around them collapsed and they were badly scalded by steam. I think one later died! Worse still is the burn that can occur from boiling hot mud, it is very sticky, and retains heat. |
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| Kahu | Mar 2 2007, 03:10 PM Post #10 |
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Posted Image The Devil's Bath Posted Image Posted Image Part of the Primrose Terrace Posted Image The boiling surface of the Champagne Pool Posted Image The sinter terracing - buildup of silicates. |
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