Around the World in 8000 days: July 2016

Welcome to our travel blog. We are Tabitha and Nic. In 2011 we 'retired' in our early 40s and set off to travel the world. We spent our first year in South America and have been lucky enough to make two trips to Antarctica.

Our blog is a record of our travels, thoughts and experiences. It is not a guide book, but we do include some tips and information, so we hope that you may find it useful if you are planning to visit somewhere we have been. Or you may just find it interesting as a bit of armchair travel.

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Napier - Earthquakes and art deco

Haku Falls, New Zealand

After leaving behind the not-so pleasant smelling Rotorua, we drove down to Napier, with a couple of quick stop offs along the way.

The first was at the Haku Falls on the Waitako River. The name is Maori for foam, and you can see why they called it that. Apparently 200,000 litres of water goes over the nine metre drop every second. That is the equivalent of five Olympic swimming pools worth of water every minute.

Haku Falls, New Zealand

Lake Taupo

The second stop was at Lake Taupo for lunch and a look around. There wasn't a great deal here, but it was interesting to see an aeroplane at McDonalds.

Lake Taupo

Napier

After lunch, we soon arrived in the beautiful art deco town of Napier. This being New Zealand, with around eight major fault lines running through North Island alone, it is perhaps not surprising that the town was destroyed in an earthquake. Not when we arrived - just previously.

The 7.8 magnitude Hawkes Bay earthquake struck at 10:47am on 3 February 1931. It lasted only two and a half minutes, but in that time many of the buildings in the centre collapsed, caving in on those inside, and raining down the masonry of their ornate edifices on those outside. 258 people were killed, including 161 in Napier, and 93 in Hastings.

Napier

After the quake, came the fires. Chemists in the central business area caught alight, and the fire spread vigorously. That it was brought under control within 36 hours was a testament to the hard work of those involved, as water pressure was ridiculously low and attempts to pump sea water failed when the shingle blocked the hoses. Eleven blocks of the town centre were gutted.

Napier

With insurance companies not paying out for earthquakes, much of the money for rebuilding came from the charitable donations that flooded in. Rather than rushing the rebuild of the town centre, they took the opportunity to do it in a planned way over several years. In the meantime, a temporary shopping area called Tin City was put up.

Being the early thirties, the architectural style was art deco, and that is how the town was rebuilt - a world away from the fancy stonework that killed so many people when it crumbled in the quake. It has made Napier a real destination for art deco fans.

Napier

The quake also presented another opportunity for Napier to improve itself, as it raised the ground level elements slightly, including the seabed near the shoreline, permanently pushing the sea further out. The town took advantage of this to build a new Marine Parade with gardens and other facilities.

Napier

As someone who likes art deco, I enjoyed being in Napier. You can take guided tours around the town, or do as we did, which was to buy the tour route and notes from the Art Deco Centre.

Napier

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Rotorua - Wai O tapu and Orakei Korako

Lady Knox Geyser, Wai O Tapu

Our next visit was one of our favourites. We had to get to Wai O Tapu early enough to see one of its main attractions, the daily eruption of the Lady Knox Geyser.

Apparently, the geyser first erupted when members of a prison party were washing their clothes in the pool and someone dropped in the soap, triggering the reaction. They set the geyser off here every morning in basically the same way.

Lady Knox Geyser, Wai O Tapu

Wai O Tapu

If you do visit here, bear in mind that the geyser is a short drive away from the main gate, so leave enough time to get your tickets and then to drive back to it, before it is set off at about 10:15am.

Wai O Tapu

The rest of the park has plenty of good thermals to see, but our favourite was undoubtedly the Champagne Pool. Despite the name, this had nothing to do with alcohol, though that does come from the bubbles in the pool. It is quite stunning to see, although if you want to take a photo you have to seize your opportunity in those brief moments that the wind is blowing the clouds of mist away.

It is also well worth stopping off at the mud pools, where we couldn't help but think of the three witches in Macbeth - 'hubble bubble toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble'.

The post continues with the last place we visited beneath these photos....

Wai O Tapu

Artist's Palette, Wai O Tapu

Champagne Pool, Wai O Tapu

Wai O Tapu

Orakei, Korako

Our final geothermal visit was Orakei Korako down near to Lake Taupo. Thankfully, being off season here not only meant that we had the place almost to ourselves, it also meant that we had an empty car park, so could choose a spot well away from the vent of steam that was coming up through the surface.

We took the little ferry boat across the lake and set off around the park. There are quite a lot of steps here, so it's not really suited to wheelchairs or buggies, but otherwise it is worth the walk. The geothermals here may not be the biggest or best necessarily, but they are impressive, and the walk around is lovely.