The Reynoldz

As for Taupo trip continued. I enjoy taking nature pictures and I will share some with you.

I thought these mushroom shots were cool because I have only seen this type of mushroom as a picture from my mom's mushroom jigsaw puzzle. We used to put it together on New Years Eve when I was a kid. I think it is a Amanita Muscaria, after doing some searching some on the web. Maybe not, but I thought the pictures were cool.

Something took a bite out of these two. I swear it wasn't me... I really did get on that zip line all by myself. No help from this mushroom... :-)

A little note about this bee on the flower. I took this picture at the start of our hour and a half walk. On the way back, this bee was still on the flower. Only it was raining and he was sitting under the the flower. I wish now I would have taken that picture too.

Gail on the zip line and sheep dog chasing after me. Now do I look like a sheep? I think that is fleece I'm wearing, but it is the recycled plastic bottled kind.

Matt zippity do daa.

Now onto Tuesday 4/17. We drove an hour north to see the Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) Thermal Wonderland. A place to see geysers, craters, mud pools, boiling water and some pretty cool colored water.

At exactly 10:15 am each day, Lady Knox Geyser goes off. How does that happen at the same time everyday? And how does it know about daylight savings time? Well, the geyser is active and would go off at unpredictable times, so they help it each day at 10:15 by adding a cup of soap into the top of the geyser. This soap loosens the crust or mineral sediment that formed on top of the water, which allows the geyser to shoot off the steam that it has built up during the past 23 hours. The geyser then continues to spray for 45 minutes or so. The hot stream of water turns into cold water when it hits the air. We managed to get a shower as we had our pictures taken. The wind cooperated so well. Hence, some of the sour faces on my children.I did take Anna's picture too, but on my 35 mm, so you'll have to wait for that.

We moved on to see the mud pools. The ground was bubbling with mud. It was close enough to touch, but that might hurt a lot. Careful not to fall in or we might become a fossil.

The rest of the park was a 30 minute to 75 minute walk to see all the craters. Well, you know us with a 30 minute walk... Anna and the 4 young girls went on the 30 minute (1 hour) walk, then they went back to get a treat in the Cafe while Dani, Matt and I went on the rest of the walk. PU, it smelled so bad.

Hurry along girls, (that is Anna on the bridge over some hot water). The steam just engulfed you with this huge egg stench. It was pretty though.

There are birds that nest in the sides of the craters. The heat from the boiling water below incubates the eggs. We didn't see any birds, but could see the holes in the sides of the craters. The girls pretended turning into unicorns amongst the unicorn trees. I liked the arches the trees formed.

A view of the valley with the lakes. A waterfall. I think the water levels were lower than normal.

Some of the different pools of hot water. We called the green one Shreks bathtub. They called it the Devel's Bath. I prefer Shrek. Oh and yes, the depth is farther than the pictures show.

Time to head back to the cabin. On the way back we stopped at Huka Falls. The place we tried to walk to the prevous day. The color of the water was amazing. So blue. The flow of the falls is controlled by gates from Lake Taupo. The energy produced from this water is used to support the electric usage on the North Island. Here is the info if you want to know more. Otherwise, just enjoy the beauty.

We finally had a clear day to view the vocanos. Quick stop before the clouds come in.

Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe, both active. These two are next to each other in the Taupo volcanic zone. Ngauruhoe is covered by clouds.

Baa baa black sheep. Feed meeee baaa baaa. They came running up to the fence as soon as we stopped. Either they are trained to entertain the tourists or they really thought we would feed them. Sorry Sheep.

Leaving on Thursday, 4/19/07. The gang waiting by security. No, don't go.

If you look at the caption closely, it says Wild at Heart. That is what these girls are. I guess all of us are a little bit. That is what makes all of us who we are. I sure enjoyed our stay with Anna, Eric, Haidyn and Athea. We hope to visit again. For now, I'm signing off as the guest blogger on the Reynoldz site. Love ya all. Aunty Gail.