We found out about Waimangu at the Waiotapu visitor center and since we had the whole afternoon to ourselves we decided to check this out. You can walk from the visitor center into the Waimangu valley, and then return by bus, at the end of the walk is Lake Rotomahana, and you can take a boat cruise on the lake too. We got to the visitor center around 3:30 PM, the last admission for the walk closes at 3:45 PM. since we were so late, we would have to catch the bus back from the valley to the visitor center and this would be the last bus out of the valley for the day, also we had missed the last boat ride. Though we were short of time here, I had my first WOW moment in NZ, read on..
It is about a 4 KM walk from the visitor center to the end of the trail at Lake Rotomahana. The weather was nice. The first photo below explains a lot about this place, we just enjoyed the walk. Also these walks were seemingly part of our preparation for the 4 days on Milford Track too. It looked like the valley was letting off steam through every vent, pore and water body. There was also a stream with warm water (no need for water heaters!!!)
Since we were short on time, we couldnt explore the 2 odd alternative routes that would have be possible otherwise. We reached Lake Rotomahana with just over 15 mins left before the last bus was due out of the valley. We walked onto the boat jetty and into this picture perfect setting. In front of us lay the lake and the other end of the lake were meadows at the foothills of a mountain. There wasnt a soul in sight, it was windy and there were quite a few black swans playing in the lake. I sat there on the jetty for the 10 minutes, taking in the view and generally feeling at peace. There seemed to be the right mix of everything, the setting was truly prefect and I was developing goose bumps. Since we were the last persons on the track, I guess, we had a chance to experience those moments all by ourselves, without having to share it with all the other tourists!!!
We caught the bus back to the visitor center and drove to the Waikite Valley for a dip in the thermal pools.
No comments:
Post a Comment