Taupo

Geothermal activity at Craters of the Moon

We learnt a lot about geothermal activity at Taupo and Rotorua.  This is common in New Zealand because it lies on the edge of two colliding tectonic plates.  Large pools of magma, heat underground water to extremely high temperatures.  When this water rises rapidly through cracks and faults, its boils produces steam and results in steam vents, hot springs, mud pools and geysers.

Craters of the Moon, near Huka falls in Taupo, is a perfect example of this.  This area is still very active and expanding.

Waio-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

At the Waio-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, we saw similar wonders.  This is also an active geothermal area, which has many hot springs noted for their colourful appearance, as well as boiling mud pools.

Huka Falls

Huka Falls are situated near Taupo, on the Waikato River that drains the lake Taupo.  The volume of water flowing through approaches 220000 litres per second!!

Fishing lines of the Glowworms

Waitomo caves are a cave system thought to be over 2 million years old.  The main caves are the Waitomo glowworm caves, Ruakuri cave and Aranui cave.  There are fantastic stalactite and stalagmite displays in the limestone.  As well as this, there is a fantastic presence of glowworms, providing light in the darkness.  Below you can see a photo of the glow-worms and their fishing lines - which are used to catch food for the glow worms!