Sarah WallockWai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland is ‘one of the most surreal places on earth.’
TripAdvisor
Visiting Wai-O-Tapu, an active geothermal park, was the first moment in New Zealand where I thought deeply about how unique this area is and how it can only be found here. It was stunning and other-worldly. I kept thinking I was on the set of Jurassic Park. On a windy, rainy, and cold day, Wai-O-Tapu still managed to take my breath away. According to their website: the park is an 18 square kilometer active geothermal region, at the perimeter of a collapsed volcanic crater. It formed 230,000 years ago. After spending the day in Rotorua, Nick and I headed down to Wai-O-Tapu, with much anticipation.
Because we arrived at 3:30 pm and the park closes at 5 pm, we booked it through the 5k loop, which interweaves between the pools. Around every corner, there were different sights and colors. I especially liked the famous Champagne Pools that ooze gas (shown below). Roto karikitea, a bright green geothermal pool, was also an incredible sight. The greenish-yellowish hue of the lake looked like toxic waste or a reflective neon vest, but the color is a completely naturally occurring phenomenon!
Champagne Pools 
Lake Ngākoro 
Oyster pool 
Roto karikitea 
After visiting Wai-O-Tapu, we headed to a campsite by the legendary Huka Falls for the night. Little did we know, we were just a 3-minute drive to the bridge over-looking the falls. It was our first night camping in the Green Machine, our 1997 Mitsubishi Chariot, and it went pretty well. We woke up early and headed to see Huka Falls and it was incredible! 220,000 liters of water per sec barrel over the 11-meter high waterfall, according to the Pure New Zealand website. Huka Falls was powerful and slightly intimidating. It would have been fun to go out in a jet boat and get a closer look at the Falls if we had time. Something that I found especially interesting was that we had not seen anyone for miles, and right as we pulled up to Huka Falls, there was an abundance of tourists. The same thing happened with Wai-O-Tapu. I was curious to find out whether they stayed in hotels or camped locally, or were just making stop-offs while driving through the North Island. Anyway, there were plenty of interesting walking tracks by the falls, but we hopped back in the Green Machine and made our way to Wellington.
If you ever make it to the North Island, both Wai-O-Tapu and Huka Falls definitely are worth a visit!
