Mt. Doom, smoking earth, churning rivers and honey.

Tue, Nov 17, 2009

Last night we camped again in LOTR land. We stopped at a little campground (very little and very rustic) in a place called Mangaweka. Jeff chatted with a couple of young ladies who were working for the DOC (Dept of Conservation) and living in a tent for a few months and they told him there was quite a lot of filming done right in that little river valley we were in. It certainly was nice to wake up in the middle of a forest with barely another soul in sight. The birds were noisy and we could hear the river gurgling and just our own footsteps as we navigated the stony beach.

After a breakfast of leftover spaghetti (we’re dropping the RV in two days and need to eat what’s left in the cupboard and fridge), we headed out for Turangi and Taupo and Rotorua – geothermal territory. To get to Turangi, you drive through Tongariro National Park, home of three active volcanoes, include Mt. Ngaurohue which was used as Mt. Doom in the LOTR films. The first one you see coming from the south is Mt. Raupahu, which I mistakenly thought was the one used at Mt. Doom. When we first saw it, it was covered in clouds, but they cleared away and we could see the snowcapped peak. We pulled over and got a photo of ourselves, then a few km up the road, we found a better spot and did it again. We were pretty excited about getting a shot of ourselves with Mt. Doom behind us. Then I re-read my source material and realized we had the wrong volcano. Oh well… it’s just as well we got those photos since Mts. Ngaurohue and Tongarirro were shrouded in clouds all day. We never did get to see the peaks. After the information center told us the wind gusts up at the top were 70km/hr and the weather cold and rainy, we decided to save that walking adventure for another trip. So it was on to Taupo.

The drive from Taupo to Rotorua is along a thermal area highway and the closer we got the more steam we saw coming out of the ground. Just outside of Taupo is a geothermal area called the Craters of the Moon. Some folks we met at a campground a few nights earlier had mentioned it and it sounded interesting, so we went in and had a look around. I understand why they have you go in a clockwise direction. The craters and vents get more and more impressive as you go along, until you end up at an overlook where you can see the entire steaming, bubbling area. The entire area smells like boiled eggs. There are ferns and lots of green stuff thriving in the warm, humid air, but you can see where there are places that have gotten a little too hot and in those spots, things are black and cooked looking.

Our guidebook mentioned a place just outside of Taupo called Huka Falls, which was pretty impressive. From the guidebook: “these stunning falls are the spot where NZ’s longest river, the Waikato is slammed into a narrow chasm, making a dramatic 10m drop into a surging pool.” Yes indeedy appleseedy, things where slamming and surging for sure. Once again, the water was that impossibly blue turquoise shade and this time it was magnified by all the air bubbles. The falls were positively churning and the water at the base was just boiling and bubbling away. It was mesmerizing. I could have stood and watched it and the river all day long.

Then, following the advice of the guidebook once again, we stopped at a little shop called the Honey Hive that was just a short distance from the falls. It could easily be a tacky tourist stop, but it’s pretty tasteful in how things are presented. Their specialty, to state the obvious, is honey. They have a glass enclosed viewing hive which is fascinating. You can really get a good look at what the bees are doing and what the inside of a hive looks like. The shop sells their home-brewed honeymead and offer tastings of that as well as the various honey varieties (clover, manuka, etc). They even make something called Beenut butter, which Jeff said was very good. He also sampled several of the different meads, which he liked, and had a very thorough education in the art of mead-making from an enthusiastic shop worker. I enjoyed trying out all the hand creams featuring honey as a therapeutic ingredient. They even sold honey ice cream. Made me wish I liked honey.