Volcanic Valley

Posted by Emily

During our trip to the thermal wonderland, we were also supposed to visit an area called Waiamangu (?) Volcanic Valley, but our shuttle driver advised us to try to sell our ticket because the weather was so bad and the visit involved walking downhill through native bush. We tried to sell our tickets but the weather was so bad that there were hardly any people to try to sell it too! Since we did really want to go to the volcanic valley, he said that if the weather was better the next day he would pick us up again and bring us to the park. We woke up to another gray sky, but since it wasn't raining, we decided to go.

The volcanic valley was also very interesting but this time, instead of feeling that we were walking around on another planet, we felt as if we were walking around in prehistoric times (in "The Land Before Time" to be more specific, if you remember that movie, and also reminisced about the plastic puppets Pizza Hut gave out with Book-It and the personal pan pizzas. Anyone else rememeber that?) because there are hot spring pools all over, causing steam to rise into the air all over, and there are many fern trees (think fern on a tree trunk) that just look like they belong with the dinosaurs. Some of the areas looked like a huge brontosaurus would fit right in.

The area we visited is a preserved park because of its past volcanic activity and it aqpparently the only area that has As mentioned before, the hike through the area was a gravel path that lead down through native bush, following the interesting sigts of course. The entire thing took us about an hour and a half, with a little running at the end to catch our bus back up the the visitor's center. We passed the world's hot spring, a huge steaming lake really, but it's quite impressive to see and looks very mystical and acient. Also, the water can get very acidic so no bathing in that hot pool! I'm having a lot of trouble remembering all of the things that we pased a long the way (I took pictures though!) but think steaming swamps and bogs, rocks colered bright green and orange from minerals, steaming springs, oh and a steaming turquoise lake. That was very amazing. it lloked like the ocean in a tiny lake form.

Yes, very amazing and if I was a geologist (Sarah!), I'm sure I would have loved it even more!