Wai-O-Tapu: New Zealand's "Sacred Waters"
After our adventures in Matamata and Hobbiton, we drove an hour down to Rotorua to spend a night at Crash Palace Backpackers. After a night of pool, card games, and one or two of the bartender’s “special,” we headed out of Rotorua for the area’s main attraction: Wai-O-Tapu.
Maori for “sacred waters,” this beautiful tourist hotspot is a geothermal area at the southern end of the Okataina Volcanic Centre. The area has a number of hot springs that are known for their dramatic colors (and seriously disgusting smell…mmmm sulphur).
The four of us, two friends we made from France caught a ride with us, arrived just before the Lady Knox Geyser was set to go off. This geyser erupts once a day and is one of the main attractions of the area. We opted out of running to watch and ended up being so glad we did. The park was completely deserted as we ambled through it and it made it much easier to take some seriously stunning pictures.
The entrance fee is around 30 NZD per person, which seems a little steep, but the walk through is definitely worth it (especially when there’s no one there).
Overall, our favorite part of the park was the Champagne Pool, which is a stunningly weird combination of turquoise and orange and is one of the more famous attractions at Wai-O-Tapu.
If you’re ever in that area of New Zealand and are considering a visit, think about doing what we did and timing it so you can skip the crowds and walk through an empty park! When we walked back towards the exit, the crowd had come back and it was seriously packed (and we’re talking off season here).
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